Flying: I Know I’m Special
By RoboDad
Every once in a while I get reminded of how special I really am. No, it is not related to “special needs.” That is a term that gets applied to people with disabilities far too often, and which most of us don't like, so I am not adopting that description. I'm talking about just plain “special.”

In the dictionary, the synonyms for special include: unusual, superior, distinct, different, exceptional, distinctive, extraordinary, out of the ordinary, unique. Any of those words would probably work, but my friends on the airlines have a unique way of showing what those terms mean to them. They provide me with the unique requirement of showing up at the ticket counter at least two hours before my scheduled flights because I use a power wheelchair. They give me the distinct honor of being the first to be loaded, sometimes unceremoniously, onto the plane. I'm often loaded on before those anonymous air marshals, which they don't really like.

My shoulder gets an exceptional amount of bruising, as 140 fellow passengers who are not paying attention bang into me with their oversized carry-on bags as they look for their seat numbers. To make it even more fun, the airline usually assigns the window seat in my row to someone with short legs and an overactive bladder so they end up climbing across me numerous times during the trip.

Special treatment doesn't end there however. After landing, I have the unique honor of being the last passenger to be unloaded, sometimes with a delay that extends past the time it takes to clean the plane for the next flight. The pattern of an exceptional amount of bruising continues, as contract staff with minimal training bounce my sore behind across the immovable armrests found in bulkhead seating on virtually every airline.

That is not the end of the special treatment either. My power wheelchair is not out of the ordinary, yet on almost every flight it receives unusual handling that results in additional delays and often exceptional damage. Despite the presence of basic instructions for safe wheelchair handling that are printed on brightly colored paper, it seems there is always someone who handles the chair who thinks that it might be fun to tinker with it. They ignore the instructions and unplug complex wiring harnesses, remove fuses or battery boxes, and generally muck it up to the point where it may be inoperable when arriving at our destination.

In the process of flying well over 100 times during the past few years, I have gotten to know over three dozen complaint resolution officers (CROs) who worked for a variety of airlines. They are highly apologetic and adept at filling out the necessary paperwork to authorize repairs, but seem unable to get rid of those uncaring employees who caused the damage enroute.

Don’t get me wrong; I love to travel. There is a special sense of adventure about waking up in a strange hotel room in the middle of the night and trying to remember what city you're staying in. To be realistic about balancing time and costs, we need to remember that anything that involves flying will require at least three extra hours of time; and that includes time spent waiting on planes to be unloaded and the requirement to arrive at least two hours before the flight time. I can drive quite a distance during that three hours, and won't have to pay airport parking to do so.

New rules for traveling by air will result in eventual improvement for people with all types of disabilities. All new aircraft will have removable armrests on every seat, including first and business class seating which has been exempt from that requirement in the past.

We have already seen a great improvement regarding what are known as Tarmac Delays. In June of 2009 there were 268 occasions when aircraft were delayed and sitting on the runways of this country for periods exceeding three hours. A few of those delays extended longer than eight hours. Airline executives insisted that such delays were beyond their control because they were caused by factors such as weather or poor air traffic control. After the Federal Aviation Administration put new rules in place that result in heavy fines for any such delays which exceed three hours, the number of tarmac delay incidents was reduced to a total of just three during June 2010. It's amazing what the airlines can do when they decide to avoid fines.

Until the air carriers start receiving stiff fines for mishandling my wheelchair and me, I guess I will continue educating everyone I meet on my travels and hope that eventually the special treatment I seek will be of the positive kind. Another cross-country trip is scheduled for next week: wish me luck. I'm curious: how have the "friendly skies" been treating you lately?

 © 2010 Michael Collins

By RoboDad

It’s estimated that less than half of eligible voters will bother to vote in this non-presidential election year. They will decide who controls both houses of Congress, whether local taxes are raised, and the fate of many controversial issues that will be put before the voters in the form of initiatives and referendums.

Maybe you're okay with letting so few people determine our destinies for us, but I'm not. It is not clear to me that that small percentage of eligible voters actually have my interests in mind. When I look around my neighborhood, I doubt that any of them share all of my interests and concerns. I think it's time to show that the power of voters with disabilities can actually be “the tail that wags the dog.”

More than 30 million citizens with disabilities are eligible to vote, as we are 18 years of age or older. Since we all have different opinions and political persuasions, we don't vote the same way on every issue. However, we can make a difference. Many elections have ended with vote counts of less than a thousand determining the winner.

Withholding the right to vote has been a tool used to suppress the political power, or even social standing, of subgroups of our society since our country was formed. Originally only white landholders, Christian males, were allowed to vote. Not being allowed to vote initially disenfranchised several subgroups, but eventually people of any religion, people of color, women and citizens as young as 18 were all granted voting rights.

Many people with disabilities are still being disenfranchised when barriers to voting impede our access to the polls. In the 2000 elections, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that about 16% of polling places had absolutely no impediments to the ability of people with disabilities to vote. In the 2008 elections there was some improvement, yet only about 28% of the 750 election sites surveyed had no barriers to voting. To put it another way, about 72% of voting places still had some barriers present less than two years ago!

In that same election, only half of the people with disabilities of voting age bothered to vote, even though it was a presidential election year. That’s not a very impressive turnout for what could potentially be one of the country’s largest voting blocs.

The Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA) required states to make voting accessible, and has since resulted in the distribution of millions of dollars to make that a reality. Many states used the funding to purchase “accessible” voting machines for each polling place. In 2004, the Department of Justice distributed an ADA Checklist for Polling Places, yet significant barriers still exist. Why?

Perhaps it’s the lack of political will to open voting to all of us, as demonstrated by the large percentage of inaccessible polling sites. Amazingly, some states have even failed to upgrade their state laws to match the HAVA, for fear that there might be additional costs or lawsuits involved if they fail at accessibility. That's the case in New York, where the governor recently vetoed a bill that would have created a right to accessible voting.

Absentee voting isn't a great solution either. I have been an absentee voter for years, since my jobs often forced me to be away from my hometown on election days. That meant that my vote was often mailed before last-minute surprises that seem to be revealed at the ends of many close election races. It also meant that my neighbors, poll workers, and perhaps even those I vote for (or against) might not even consider me to be an actual voter since they didn't see my face at the polls.

This problem has a fairly simple solution. If large numbers of people with disabilities show up at polling places on election day, it will highlight the need for unimpeded access to accessible voting equipment. There will undoubtedly be many more months or years of complaints and even lawsuits needed, but progress will be made.

Look what happened with the ADA; 21 years ago there were very few people with disabilities visible in local malls and other businesses, or riding public transit buses and trains. Today we are everywhere, and people expect to see us out and about. I believe that the same can happen with voting if enough of us exercise our right of citizenship by registering to vote and showing up in person on election day.

© 2010 Michael Collins