Month: June 2015

#1.  A couple of readers have asked me why my writing is negative? For this question, I advise the readers to consider the title of my blog: Issues of the Disabled, the target word being “issues.”  I am not writing about puppies and kittens and cute things here.  The word “issues” exactly means serious matters that require change or reform. These matters decide the quality of lives. These are critical issues. If I want to write about happy, cute things, I promise I will be positive. To this point, I am actually being positive because if I wanted to show the extent of my passion concerning these issues, my voice would also contain some anger for certain injustices disclosed.

#2.  Another important misinterpretation to clarify:  Certain people have inferred that I am not the author of this blog. Most published authors have editors.  I have a disability in the area of writing (among other disabilities.) I have dysgraphia which is a broad term for processing problems with writing.  No matter how hard I try as of this date, I will leave out words, write words out of order, misspell words, and assume that the reader can read my mind.  Believe me.  You do not want to read my text without the benefit of my editor! It is absolutely convoluted! However, make no mistake: the writing published here is mine. The voice is mine. The ideas are mine.  And for you who are skeptics: GOT IT?

Please write back if you agree or disagree. Thank you for your thoughtful  comments. Please get your family and friends to follow as well, especially young people my age who seem to  be too busy to get to know a handicapped person.

 

 

June 14, 2015

PITFALLS AND POTHOLES 

Safety is a primary issue for handicapped people. Following is a story I want to share involving safety:

I go to the San Diego Public Library, North Clairemont Branch, twice a week for tutoring in reading and math. My mom or a care provider takes me. We have trouble getting into the library because there is a HUGE pothole in the middle of the accessible walkway.

Also, there is only one accessible parking space, so on most days we must park at the end of the parking lot. The problem is that the entire parking lot is filled with HUGE potholes. To my mom and me, and as my mom describes it, walking through this parking lot of potholes in my walker is like walking in a mine field. To make it even worse, one of the biggest potholes is right smack in the middle of the accessible walkway. It is difficult for me to miss that pothole due to my visual motor issues. By the time we get to the library door, we are usually trembling and exhausted and late for tutoring.

We told the library staff on the first day we experienced this problem, and they let us know that they were well aware of the issue and that they had already called the City on many occasions. It seems to be a standing joke among the library staff. They said that the City does not come out to address the complaints, and that when they did come out in the past, they fixed one pothole by building a mound, so that now instead of a hole in that place, there is a great big hump, which is just another hazard.

The staff told us that two people have fallen there, and still the City does nothing about this hazardous problem.

The library is not the only place where this happens, but this location is among the worst I have seen. It is the responsibility of all people to care about, report, and follow through on this problem that affects the safety of everyone—especially, the elderly and disabled people.

Please let administrators of hazardous sites know of these problems, and please write your local representatives to enlist their help in getting these hazardous areas corrected.

The person ultimately in charge of the area for the North Branch of the San Diego Public Library is Chris Cate, and his contact information is as follows:

Chris Cate
Council District 6
City Administration Building
202 C Street, 10th Floor
San Diego, CA  92101
(619) 236-6616
ChrisCate@sandiego.gov

Thank you all for your continued concern and efforts to improve the lives of disabled people.