Feeling very like the beat reporter she once may have aspired to be, your Bohemian Crip attended the Department of Transportation webinar/ ADA celebration Tuesday. At 32, the ADA is now old enough to have a big important job it hates, but is still seen as the country’s first civil rights suggestion, by many.(Not if you attended the webinar, though…if disabled aliens heard this message from space, they would probably sprain a tentacle to get to the America where everyone is ready to welcome the contributions of those with disabilities. Even I believed, for a hot minute, in between feeling ancient about all the poised young activists, and even government liaisons who “ have never known a pre- ADA world.”.) I felt like saying “You’re welcome!1” but I don’t have it like that…what activism teenaged me engaged in was almost as compulsory as other homework and as little remarked on. My teenaged self would probably be annoyed that I do this now, instead of something with a little sparkle in it.
I suppose I thought there’d be something for the Disability Organizing Team to chew on, but it seemed a bad time to bring anything new into the mix for them right now., but we are making a beginning at consolidating some efforts and team-building without trust exercises; it’s coming along.
I am concerned that governmental efforts to respect wheelchair-using flyers and their equipment will not be fast enough…people have died over that. Still, theDisabled Travellers' Bill Of Rights seems like a promising beginning.
I am a lot less excited about driverless vehicles than the people at the meeting. Maybe it will be more of a relief for people with sensory disabilities, maybe not like the mobility disabilities I've got going on.
Something that I had not been aware of about the infrastructure bill I wasn't aware of was a project to invest in modifying transit stations for access. Many people I know have been waiting for this for years; it's past due.
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