To the Grace Gardens Community:
I am disabled. I have a very straightforward, physical disability so my access needs are quite simple. Nevertheless the idea that I can expect them to be met in a way that requires no effort and no compromise from me, strikes me as entitled, offensive and wrong.
Building ramps, door openers, lifts, fixing pavements, removing street blockages and accessible design takes effort. It is work from other people. It makes the world worse in other ways. Look at the head injuries with no solid bike lanes for example. Fine young people that will never speak, walk or swallow and defecate again. Our neuro wards are full of them, I know I lived there for a very grim year in care and recovery. My wife took 10 years to die from a brain injury that left her unable to talk or swallow living screaming in a diaper. It cost us our home and our savings and our retirement.
I can put the work in to deal with other people or go the long way round. Sometimes it is on me to put the effort in. Such as asking for assistance if I require it, because that’s what adults do. That is how the community works. That is what it is to be human. It is only certain folks who think that all their wants and needs should be met below the cost it imposes on others.
A social organization that is fine tuned to be just what some subset of users want is not helpful. It is a virtue of the community that it is really irritating and requires a load of effort. It is human like that.
Thank You
Jerald Blackstock Dip. ACAD, BFA
Blackstock Art&Design
