Handicap accessibility

A letter to Our Readers Write on May 24 expressed gratitude to the Black Bear Inn of Orono for providing 100 percent accessibility for handicapped people in wheelchairs whether manual or motorized….

The letter brings to mind that it is only seven months until the handicap accessibility law goes into effect in January 1992. There are a multitude of helpful things that could be done right now. Handicapped people have been treated worse than second-class citizens for centuries. Now that some measures have been undertaken and more are mandated, this is a plea to become realistic about the efforts.

Public restroom facilities do not become accessible to the handicapped in wheelchairs by widening them a few inches. An actual person in a motorized chair should be consulted about what is necessary. We are not asking for a luxury by asking for the extra room, just for a basic necessity. There has to be room to move after a chair has entered a cubicle, to be able to close the door (some doors open inward — how on earth would you close it with the chair in the way?). There has to be room to turn the chair to come up beside the commode for those who are non-ambulatory but can manage to transfer….

The City of Bangor has a lot of work to do. In fact, the condition of downtown sidewalks is so bad that people in motorized chairs have a choice between two evils — risking the heavy traffic on such busy streets as Union Street and Main Street, or risking whiplash, spinal damage, or totaling their chairs and themselves on the curb-cut inclines which are supposed to help the handicapped, but instead can be an almost certain invitation to disaster.

It would be much appreciated if someone who can effectively make a video would volunteer to help make a demonstration tape to show Bangor city councilors that the problem is severe and should be given attention as soon as possible….

The handicapped people I know are a cheerful lot. They are intelligent, often demonstrating awareness of the joy of life, even while very “physically challenged.” We want, and deserve, the opportunity to be a part of the American world and not be confined to a small apartment and the building’s corridors. We want the opportunity to be effective, contributing citizens. We are willing to do our own errands…

The motorized wheelchairs make all this possible, but with existing conditions it isn’t always too probable of fulfillment. With the help of some of the compassionate people we know are out there (they save whales, endangered species, unborn children, and greet returning troops), conditions can change so that the possible can become the probable. Oh, how grateful we would be! Elizabeth Whitehouse Bangor