walking . is . overrated

13 responses so far ↓

• 1 barbz // Mar 29, 2008 at 10:29 am

  When is ENABLE going to get the funding it needs to last the whole year.

  The ACC/MOH thing aside, funding for equipment that we are entitled to is totally inadequate, as in my case,when I applied in Nov, the funding was only being used for priority A, funding started in July. I have heard that priority A people are now being turned down.

  Okay, so we there isn’t the funding for us to have the equal access like ACC, but surely if we qualify for equipment we should be able to get it.

• 2 Matt // Mar 29, 2008 at 11:44 am

  Is there any plan to increase the Job Support allocation of $16,900 p/a administrated by Workbridge? Because it hasn’t been increase since it started in 1989! People who have high needs like myself are really struggling to cope as the allocation doesn’t go as far as it did in 1989

• 3 Caren // Mar 30, 2008 at 1:12 pm

  I agree with barbz ,When do we get equipment that is needed but not priorityA, as funding is so short.

• 4 Caz // Mar 31, 2008 at 8:57 am

  I agree with Barbz and Caren I was told that ENABLE ran out of funding last year to and we weren’t sure when I would get my chair, luckily I got it a few months ago in early February.

  My question is
  In the Disability act and Human rights act, can it be made possible where all Government agencies have to have at least one staff member who knows Sign Language?.

  Where I work the company I got my job through (Career Moves is alittle like Workbridge but is more active) Every staff member knows NZSL (one even knows the Deafblind manual alphabet)
  because they like to make their Deaf clients and myself when I need it.

• 5 Gilly // Mar 31, 2008 at 3:57 pm

  Is there any plan to change the rules whereby I can qualify for wheelchair funding (through AccessAble) if I need a wheelchair to get around my own home, to access study, or to work–but NOT if I can’t LEAVE my home without a wheelchair, but can manage okay inside? Is it fair to trap people in their homes? Is it reasonable that I can get a wheelchair if I enroll in university study, which goes on my student loan, thereby costing the government thousands of dollars more than if they simply bought me the wheelchair I need in the first place? Is mobility equipment for people who medically, clinically, need it an area of the health system in which there ought to be penny-pinching?

• 6 Gilly // Mar 31, 2008 at 3:59 pm

  If ripping out the level crossing at the Swanson Railway Station and building a million dollar overbridge really is the only thing OnTrack is legally allowed to do, and if the length of ramp I will have to navigate in order to use this overbridge is really reasonable–why do the plans include stairs? Surely they cost money? Surely it’s reasonable to expect able-bodied people to walk along a very long and rather steep with multiple corners in it if it’s reasonable to expect me to manage the same in my manual wheelchair? Why are they *allowed* to waste taxpayers’ money on a staircase? What happened to the idea of universal access?

• 7 Gilly // Mar 31, 2008 at 4:01 pm

  Why is the University of Auckland permitted to renovate and refit university buildings and lecture theatres (eg the general library, and lecture theatre HSB 1) to leave them *less* accessible than before?

• 8 Gilly // Mar 31, 2008 at 4:11 pm

  Why is the funding for home help/carers so low? I’ve heard of people choosing to top-up carers’ pay above the hourly rate paid for by the government just to keep them. I gave up getting the home help I’m entitled to because the people are paid so little that the staff turnover is incredible, the good people don’t stay, and I was always having to ‘retrain’ (read ’supervise’) people who then never returned. The people supplied to me by my local agency didn’t even get petrol money. The agency was so short of people I was even asked if I had a family member they could pay to help me out. Sure, I have a family member who’d be willing. But he lives 20 minutes’ drive away and it’s not worth him making the trek at his cost for a minuscule hourly rate. I realise the economy would probably collapse or the world explode if everyone was actually paid what they’re worth, but it would be nice if people in jobs such as these were paid enough that they’d consider doing it long-term.

• 9 Gilly // Mar 31, 2008 at 4:40 pm

  Does New Zealand have any plans to follow the UK in setting a deadline (I think it’s 2011) for all new homes built to comply with the Lifetime Homes Standard, or another protocol which will make them all nominally accessible, at least so far as getting a wheelchair in the front door goes, and reasonably suitable for access modifications in future? I still see houses being built with steps to the front door–those are houses I can never visit, never even get into to decide if my family might want to buy & modify. Usually these are on already reasonably-level sections! Why is this okay in this day and age? Fine, you might be building in a place that floods, but do you really need so many steps? Are steps the best way to protect your house from floods? Is the risk of possible floods worth the definite fact that many people with disabilities are going to have trouble getting in the door? And the fact that steps cause injuries? I know that able-bodied people often don’t appreciate/accept/consider the likelihood that someone in their family sooner or later WILL become disabled, but WE know this and there’s no reason we couldn’t have legislation that would make that transition easier for them, is there? Require one level entrance. Require a toilet and hand basin on the ground floor. Require enough space to turn a wheelchair in the living space. Require that there be a logical place in a multi-storied house for a lift to be put in in future, even if it’s just a cupboard that could be ripped out. Basic accessibility now, and a thoughtful design for the future.

• 10 kiwijan // Apr 2, 2008 at 3:28 pm

  I personally do not know outcome of court; but if it was a negative outcome then - WHY WAS IT NEGATIVE - to Melanie Trevethick`s efforts on MOH vs ACC battle?

• 11 Jonny // Apr 3, 2008 at 10:01 am

  Hi Red, I have three questions for Ruth Dyson.

  1. Do you think the Minister of Disability Issues should have a disability?
  2. America, England and Australia all have legislation particularly aimed at disability discrimination. Why doesn’t New Zealand have its own Disability Anti-discrimination legislation?
  3. When the NZDS was introduced, you promised several different audiences that a campaign similar to the ‘Like Minds, Like Mine” media campaign would be produced to promote the value and inclusion of people with disabilities in our communities. Why hasn’t this happened?

  Thankyou Red and look forward to reading the transcript of the interview.

• 12 Nicola // Apr 4, 2008 at 8:23 am

  Sorry for delay - hope you still have chance to include these:
  When will NZ ratify the UN convention on the Rights of people with Disabilities, and what work is being done to ensure our legislation meets the requirements of the convention?
  What is being done to improve the funding for “Special education” as may schools do not havethe resources they need to support children who don’t qualify for ORRS funding?

• 13 concerned Mum // Jul 30, 2008 at 12:58 pm

  Why such disparity between ACC and everyone else? I have young son with CP and have been horrified with the blatant differences between equipment care support funding etc. Why Why Why? It is nearly criminal with the way the two systems are set up with one receiving so much and the other nearly nothing!

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