walking . is . overrated

In what’s being hailed as a “landmark victory” for disabled Canadians, domestic Canadian airlines will no longer be able to charge an extra fare for a disabled person’s caregiver. That means it effectively puts an end to the one-person-one-fare policy, and enables disabled people to travel by plane without having to pay extra for a […]

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To be honest, the title of this blog post may be a little misleading, as no one actually said it, but when you see situations like the one pictured left (click on it to get a bigger view), such statements are quite overtly implied. Why is it that there is this perception amongst the general […]

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Perhaps it’s old hat now, considering it’s been more than 400 days since the Ministry of Health agreed to replace the ageing wheelchair stair-lift that was forcing Arthur and Barbara Broomes’ lives apart, but I’d like to join the growing public cry to hurry up and fix this ghastly situation!
For those of you who […]

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It seems that a number of airlines in our friendly neighbouring country of Australia have recently applied to their Human Rights Commission for an exemption to the international law requiring access to transport for disabled people. The airlines are mainly the very in-vogue “budget” airlines, who are (understandably) looking to cut costs across the board. […]

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If you haven’t already heard, New Zealand was recently awarded the prestigious Franklin D. Roosevelt award in recognition of the efforts made by both the NZ Government and the disability sector in improving the lives of disabled people through economic, humanitarian and social efforts. Did you know Roosevelt was in a wheelchair pretty much all […]

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Following on from this post, regarding some right-wing politicians’ view that disabled children are better off segregated within their educational environment, a recent local study has shown that in fact, disabled children usually thrive in an integrated classroom.
A huge factor in the success of integration is the part played by the classroom’s teacher, say […]

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Advocates Celebrate International Disabled Persons Day by Launching Treaty Ratification Campaign
Disability rights advocates are marking December 3, 2007 – International Disabled Persons Day – by launching RatifyNow, a global campaign based in the U.S. to maximize the number of nations that ratify the new Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. RatifyNow (www.RatifyNow.org) […]

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After hearing about Felicity’s nightmare at Britomart, I wrote to Maxx and requested an official response. They responded in due course, and told me they had forwarded it onto the train operators, Veolia Transport Auckland Ltd. To my surprise and their credit, they emailed me this morning with an official response. This is what they […]

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Gosh, this is such a tough one. I know I’ve harped on about this before, but reading this article in the Herald today made me think about it all over again, and I’m interested in your thoughts too. The gist of it is this: that a new law being introduced next week will make it […]

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Thanks to Terry for bringing this to my attention!
A local mother has reached out to the media after she says a school went overboard while restraining her child. Isaiah Moore came home from Oak Hammock K-8 last April looking like he had just been in a fight. But the autistic boy’s injuries didn’t come from […]

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