The Traveling Wheelchair

Boston Commons
Corner of Beacon and Charles Street
Boston, MA 02108
http://adaptiveenvironments.org/neada/site/ada_20th_anniversary 
 
Yesterday I was proud to attend Boston’s 20th Anniversary Celebration of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) which has improved my life as well as the lives of the 60 million other people with disabilities currently living in our nation.

The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed by President George H.W. Bush on July 26th, 1990. After signing the ADA President Bush eloquently stated: “With today’s signing of the landmark Americans for Disabilities Act, every man, woman, and child with a disability can now pass through once-closed doors into a bright new era of equality, independence, and freedom.”

The passing of the ADA has helped make a huge stride forward in protecting the civil rights and liberties of people with disabilities during the past 20 years yet more work is still needed. Needed improvements  in the city of Boston and the commitment of State and City officials are clearly outlined in yesterday’s Boston Globe article which you can read by clicking on  ‘Accessibility compliance still an issue for disabled’ By David Abel / Boston Globe / July 26, 2010.

Yesterday’s celebration took place at the Boston Common at the corner of Charles & Beacon Street. I met Governor Patrick and as always he was very kind, caring and compassionate as he took the time to greet me and have a quick chat. I was glad to see Governor Patrick at the celebration as he wasn’t originally scheduled to speak. You can view Governor Deval Patrick’s Personal Message for the ADA 20th Anniversary @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbIgtAPS_WM.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Boston’s Mayor Tom Menino. Mayor Menino and his assistants were very kind and sensitive and he even took the time to say hi to me. Mayor Menino himself has a slight disability due to a knee injury and is committed to making needed accessibility improvements in the City of Boston.

The ADA law is one of the greatest civil rights laws to have passed in the 20th Century! The ADA celebration was well organized and very accessible to persons of all abilities.  Portable ramps were temporarily placed in the areas of the celebration at the Boston Common to ensure it was fully wheelchair accessible; a portable ramp with railings on both sides were placed at the rear entrance of the stage where guest speakers spoke; a sign language interpreter was standing on stage so the hard of hearing could hear the words of all speakers; there were Portable Port-a- Johns temporarily placed that were fully wheelchair accessible and ADA compliant. Disability advocates who put the event together did an awesome job. I enjoyed my time celebrating the 20th anniversary of the ADA with everyone yesterday. The speakers and entertainment was wonderful.

Getting to the ADA Celebration at the Boston Commons was another thing altogether. My friends and I couldn’t find any street handicap parking spaces close by so we had to pay $34.00 at the Beacon Street Parking Lot to park our handicap accessible van. I hope the City of Boston will place more handicap parking spaces on public city streets or private and public parking will offer a disability discount for persons with a RMV placard.

After parking we found most pedestrian crosswalks did not have the necessary curb cuts needed for my wheelchair to access the other side of the street where the Boston Commons is located.

I had to wheel quite a long distance on Beacon Street to get to the accessible entrance of the Boston Common at the corner of Charles & Beacon Street. My mom, friends and I all found this unsafe! I hope one day the City of Boston places curb cuts at all Pedestrian Crosswalks. I hadn’t been to the Boston Commons before and realized today that the accessible entrances to the Boston Commons are very limited.

I was also able to see a MBTA wheelchair accessible bus which was parked in the Boston Common during the Anniversary Celebration of the ADA. Lorraine, a very kind and knowledgeable MBTA instructor showed me how a person in a wheelchair is safely seated, facing forward with the proper Wheelchair Tie Downs and Occupant Restraint System (WTORS). We told Lorraine about the important MA legislation filed “An Act Relative to the Transportation of Individuals Seated in Wheelchairs” which you can read about by clicking on House 3785 or Senate 1948. My friends and I are going to write a separate 5 Star review of this safe accessible MBTA Bus.

A State Park Ranger riding his beautiful Clydesdale Mix Horse Breed was very kind and helpful in directing us to the accessible entrance located on the corner of Park Street for me to safely access the Beacon Street Parking Lot where we parked our van.

One day soon my friends and I are going to revisit the Boston Commons and write a full wheelchair accessibility review in hope it will help future visitors in wheelchairs.

I’m so happy the ADA celebrated their anniversary of 20 years. We’ve come a long way in 20 years! Yet we still have a lot of work ahead but we can get it done if we continue to bring about public awareness of the importance of full and equal access for all!

I give Boston’s 20th Anniversary Celebration of the ADA FIVE STARS for wheelchair accessibility and give the ADA civil rights law FIVE STARS for improving the lives of all disabled American citizens. As for the accessibility of the City of Boston, all I can say it needs much improvement!

Thank You Governor Patrick and Mayor Menino for your commitment on improving the accessibility of Boston and our State!