Posts tagged feature
Air Travel Explored
Air travel is not without its horror stories for disabled travelers: broken or lost wheelchairs, refused admission onto planes, arguments over seating, begrudging assistance, airplane toilets you can’t swing a hamster in – to name but a few of the problems.
But it does seem that, little by little, improvements are being made. One recent, significant piece of legislation regarding air travel for disabled people is European Regulation No 1107/2006 on Disabled Persons and Persons of Reduced Mobility (PRMs Regulation) which was published by the European Commission on 5 July 2006.
The PRMs Regulation allows people with reduced mobility, which includes older people and those with a temporary mobility problem, greater access to air travel and ensures they receive assistance when travelling by air. It also stipulates that operators make available safety rules on carriage of passengers with reduced mobility. The regulations apply to any flight leaving an airport in the European Union, and also to flights on European airlines arriving in the EU.
The regulations came into force in two stages. Since 26 July 2007 it is now illegal for an airline, their agents and tour operators to refuse to accept a reservation on the grounds of disability or deny a disabled person board an aircraft when they have a valid ticket and reservation. (more…)
New Access: Exhibition Road in London
Exhibition Road in London is home to some of the UK’s – indeed the world’s – most culturally important institutions, such as the Victoria & Albert Museum, Science Museum, Royal Geographical Society and Natural History Museum. Attracting millions of visitors every year, a new scheme is about to begin that will significantly improve accessibility levels to its attractions.
At the helm is access champion Councillor Andrew Lamont, who is keen to illustrate the significance of the project. He told Able: “It’s absolutely crucial on a global scale because it sets the whole scene for accessibility within possibly the most important cultural destination worldwide. It’s estimated that 11.5 million visitors come to the part of Exhibition Road in Kensington and Chelsea and that figure rises to 20 million if you include Hyde Park and the Serpentine – those are numbers larger than visitors to Venice!
Feature: The First Holocaust
Disabled people were the first to be targeted in Adolf Hitler’s dream of creating a Master Race. Able magazine looks back at what happened in the 1930s, why it’s still relevant today, and how disabled people are now at the forefront of bringing this hidden history to light.
MEMORIAL DAY
At moments, the contrast seemed almost unbearable: hearing about the inhumanity of the officially-sanctioned sterilisation and murder of disabled children and adults, while outside the sun shone brightly in a near cloudless blue sky, birds sung and a cooling breeze rustled through the surrounding trees.
Early May; Able magazine was among several hundred people invited by the National Holocaust Centre, in the heart of rural Nottinghamshire, to witness the official dedication of a small memorial commemorating the million-plus deaf and disabled people persecuted, sterilised or killed during the German Third Reich. While the Holocaust is rightly remembered for the murder of millions of Jews, the fact that the whole process began with Aktion T4 – the systematic sterilisation, abuse and murder of people with learning and physical impairments – has been largely forgotten. Until now.
At the heart of “Disability and the Holocaust: We Shall Not Forget” was the dedication of a rose and plaque in the Centre’s memorial gardens, paid for by members of the Nottinghamshire Disabled People’s Movement (NDPM). Supporting this was a schedule of talks and discussions on the subject of the disabled holocaust.
Writer and film director Liz Crow discussed her recent research trip to some of the actual sites where Aktion T4’s murderous activities had taken place. Some of the facilities are still operating as mental health institutions today, although Liz seemed more shocked that the plaque marking the site of the program’s long-demolished headquarters is next to a modern bus station – given the program’s increasingly iconic use of dark-windowed buses to transport disabled people to their death. (more…)
Travel Tales: Paralympics A Barrier-Free Olympics
As China gears up to welcome the world to the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Welsh ex-pat Christian Saunders – who now lives in Beijing – gives us the lowdown on this vibrant and bustling city.
Some half a million foreign visitors are expected to descend upon China’s vibrant capital city between 8 and 24 August to witness the 2008 Olympic Games. But since China is still classified as a developing country, there has been some concern about the standard of facilities on offer in Beijing – not least for the many disabled people who will travel to the city to participate in and support the following Paralympic Games, which take place from 6 to 17 September. (more…)
