DISABILITY FRIENDLY: HOW TO MOVE FROM CLUELESS TO INCLUSIVE

IN PRAISE OF WORLD-RENOWNED DISABILITY ACTIVIST AND CONSULTANT, JOHN D. KEMP’S BOOK

For decades, I have been involved in creating a better built environment for people with disabilities – so they can more easily access jobs, education, recreation and daily activities in their communities.

I also have long said that corporate and civic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts fall flat if they do not emphasize disability as a major aspect of DEI initiatives.

Now there is a book, a breezy read considering the wealth of outstanding information, statistics and anecdotes, that addresses the benefits of DEI through the lens of disability.

The book Disability Friendly -- by John D. Kemp, Co-Founder of the American Association of People with Disabilities – states the case for inclusion with spot-on statistics plus easy-to-follow instructions for companies committed to disability inclusion.

I agree with the press material that states:

“Disability Friendly shares why people with disabilities must not be left out of America's work on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and explains how everyone can harness the untapped potential of disabled employees, make reasonable accommodations, and create cultures of dignity, respect, pride and inclusion."

Kemp also explains Disability Culture from the perspective of a person with the lived disability experience. and discusses the barriers and opportunities for accommodating the millions of Americans with disabilities.

Published by Wiley, Kemp’s book cuts to the bone with stats that must motivate a call to action:

“Although 90% of organizations say they prioritize diversity, the unfortunate reality is that only 4% consider disability in their DEI initiatives. People with disabilities make up at least 15% of the population (more than 1 billion people worldwide) yet are too often overlooked.

Saturday is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, observed worldwide and initiated by the United Nations.

Kemp's compact, compelling book was just published and it's a must-read for everyone who cares abut people with disabilities.

Kemp's clear prose makes it clear that employing people with disabilities in an inclusive workplace is not simply a benefit for wheelchair users and others with disabilities.

Inclusion benefits companies in real dollars and helps fuel the economy via a more diverse workforce.

https://www.wiley.com/en-us/Disability+Friendly%3A+How+to+Move+from+Clueless+to+Inclusive-p-9781119830092

LISBON, PORTUGAL

 CIDADE DOS MIRADOUROS

Ponte de Abril 25, Cristo Rei, Rio Tejo and old Lisbon panorama from the city’s highest hill in Graca, Sao Vicente, Portugal.

LISBON, PORTUGAL

CIDADE DOS MIRADOUROS

Another perfect summer night in Lisbon. Photographed from Miradouro da Graca (Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen).

No crop, no edits. Just visual perfection across one of Europe’s oldest cities.

LISBON, PORTUGAL

 CIDADE DOS MIRADOUROS

Sunrise over Lisbon, from Castel da Sao Jorge to Rio Tejo, from Miradouro da Senhora do Monte in Graca, Sao Vicente.

THANKFUL THAT MY STREET PHOTOGRAPHY

 CAN HIGHLIGHT SOCIAL ISSUES

There is some kind of cruel ironic message about the gap between haves and have nots here. 

Gianni Versace luxury brand box serves as part of roof of homeless tent city in the once affordable now hip Bairro Arroios of Lisbon.

We just celebrated Thanksgiving.

Let's dedicate ourselves to solving the housing crisis.

UNITED SPINAL MEMBER FLIES TO THE MOON

AS A VIRTUAL ARTEMIS I CREW MEMBER

“You can use Alexa to set up your home environment,” Rhonel Cinous says. 

“You can check the front door via Ring, play music, turn on a light, control a fan, and more. It can be boundless in the ways it gives you independence.”

Alongside Alexa’s journey during Artemis I, Amazon will introduce new ways to make space exploration more accessible to its customers. 

Just ask your Alexa-enabled device, “What is Artemis I?”

“This is a bigger story than my own,” says Cinous about being an Artemis I crew member.

“If one person looks at this and their takeaway is to go above and beyond any limitations they have — or that people put on them — it will be a successful mission.”

 

 

UNITED SPINAL MEMBER FLIES TO THE MOON

AS A VIRTUAL ARTEMIS I CREW MEMBER

“I joined the Miami Chapter, got a peer mentor, Ryan Gebauer, looked up New Mobility magazine and got active via Zoom when meetings went more virtual during the pandemic,” he says.

Before his injury, Rhonel Cinous used Amazon’s Kindle to read vast volumes of content across his phone, tablet, and laptop. 

Post-injury, he explored the possibilities of voice-activated commands via his smartphone. Currently, he uses an Echo Dot to interact with Alexa.

UNITED SPINAL MEMBER FLIES TO THE MOON

AS A VIRTUAL ARTEMIS I CREW MEMBER

“This virtual crew opportunity will show the world that individuals like myself with a mobility disability still have opportunities,” says Rhonel Cinous.

“It might be digital or virtual, but you can be a core part of it.

You can even be part of a groundbreaking team guiding a first-of-its-kind experiment to put Alexa on a spacecraft.”

Cinous is a leading voice for United Spinal’s Tech Access Initiative, advocating for inclusive technology to empower wheelchair users to find greater independence and quality of life.

He discovered the organization by joining one of its spinal cord injury support groups.

DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT AND THE MODERN CORPORATION:

HOW TO PARTNER FOR JOINT PROSPERITY

I'm thankful to share this Forbes piece by friend and colleague Vincenzo Piscopo, CEO of United Spinal Association.

This is one of the best-written columns I have read this year.

It is thoughtful, logical and filled with solutions.

We in the disability advocacy field MUST bring solutions to problems.

We cannot trade in charity and "feel good."

We must lay out the facts and educate the corporate world about how much people with disabilities bring to the table -- that their resourcefulness and problem solving skills are a limitless untapped asset.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesnonprofitcouncil/2022/11/15/disability-employment-and-the-modern-corporation-how-to-partner-for-joint-prosperity/?sh=3d0b0344773e

UNITED SPINAL MEMBER FLIES TO THE MOON

AS A VIRTUAL ARTEMIS I CREW MEMBER

“I was awestruck when I found out I was part of the crew, and I’m humbled to represent the disability community,” says Rhonel Cinous, a Haitian-American based in Miami. 

He wonders how assistive technology may help his career as a podcaster — his current show is Ramp. It. Up! 

As an Artemis virtual crew member, “I can test digitally accessible, voice-activated communications, and I’m excited to help drive technology to new levels.”

Amazon believes voice technology may make astronauts’ jobs more straightforward and efficient onboard the Orion spacecraft. 

Virtual crew members like Cinous will simulate potential Alexa interactions with future astronauts by making various requests.

Disability Etiquette PSA-Living Spaces

UNITED SPINAL MEMBER FLIES TO THE MOON

AS A VIRTUAL ARTEMIS I CREW MEMBER

Throughout the mission, Amazon, Lockheed Martin, and Cisco will invite guests to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, to become virtual crew members. 

Amazon invited United Spinal, which chose Rhonel Cinous, a C5-6 quadriplegic leader with the Tech Access Group, to be its representative.

The mission will also test Callisto, a technology demonstration payload developed by Lockheed Martin, Amazon, and Cisco.

UNITED SPINAL MEMBER FLIES TO THE MOON

AS A VIRTUAL ARTEMIS I CREW MEMBER

United Spinal Association member Rhonel Cinous is flying to the moon! Virtually, that is, as a member of the Artemis 1 mission’s virtual crew.

After months of delay, Artemis I finally launched at 1:47 a.m. November 16. 

It will orbit the moon over the next 25.5 days before splashing down off the coast of San Diego. 

NASA hopes Artemis I will prepare the way for a manned spacecraft to return to the moon.

Artemis I is the first integrated test of NASA’s deep space exploration systems — the Orion spacecraft, the Space Launch System rocket and the ground systems at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

GIVING THANKS FOR FINALLY BEING HEALTHY

I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT I LOOK HALFWAY IN SHAPE

This is not me.

http://Pedestrianspace.Org asked for a full length photo.

I’m still used to seeing the 300 pound me. 

This is the 170 pound me. 

Eating healthy, working out has transformed me after 4 decades of being overweight.

LEONARD MAYBERRY’S PATHWAYS

TO (SELF) EMPLOYMENT

Leonard Mayberry praised the Pathways to Employment program as both practical and a form of group therapy.

“You go to a job interview in a wheelchair, you can’t hide it.

You go through 100 `no’s’ to get to one `yes.’ I’m still looking for that one `yes,’” he said.

“The city medically separated me – they say ‘you’re broken,’ Mayberry said.

“I’m the kind of person that the minute you count me out, you made a big mistake — I’m not going quietly.”

LEONARD MAYBERRY’S PATHWAYS

TO (SELF) EMPLOYMENT

Leonard Mayberry said the Pathways to Employment team and peers have helped him persevere.

Mayberry credits Rafferty Laredo, United Spinal’s former Houston chapter president, who he met at an Abilities Expo, with fueling his entrepreneurial spirit. 

Mayberry will continue to reach out via the Pathways virtual social hour for support as he explores grants, low interest loans and other support for a small business launch.

“United Spinal, I credit them with getting the ADA laws in place and pushing to protect rights of people with disabilities.

I didn’t know anything about ADA when I got injured. 

Now, I have [United Spinal] telling me about accommodations, saying they have to accommodate me through this process of getting a CDL, a DOT number and getting through the red tape,” he said, referring to the Pathways to Employment live chats.

LEONARD MAYBERRY’S PATHWAYS

TO (SELF) EMPLOYMENT

Leonard Mayberry said it’s a long haul.

He has to get a Department of Transportation (DOT) number and he has to pass the Commercial Driver License (CDL) exam – which entails driving a big rig and other intense physical requirements that will not be part of his driving a wheelchair-accessible van with an automatic transmission. 

After medical bills and loss of income, he also needs to seek funding for a good condition used accessible van – which costs about $40,000. 

Then comes insurance, scheduling, dispatching, location for a growing fleet and other operational expenses.

LEONARD MAYBERRY’S PATHWAYS

TO (SELF) EMPLOYMENT

“I’m working on starting my own non-emergency medical transport business,” Leonard Mayberry said. 

“The Pathways to Employment group has been great – giving business plan support and even talking about location. 

I was thinking about cheap land outside Houston, but I got good advice that having a small central location for the fleet means I’m closer to the heart of the city and clients."

Mayberry said it's a long haul.

LEONARD MAYBERRY’S PATHWAYS

TO (SELF) EMPLOYMENT

Leonard Mayberry is focused on starting a business that will combine his experience with the opportunity to help other people with disabilities. 

He has seen first-hand the failings of publicly-operated paratransit. 

And he has met wheelchair users who have paid sky high prices for medical transport ambulances – sometimes using them simply to get from an airport to a conference at a nearby hotel because of lack of accessible transportation.

Mayberry, the blue-collar guy who “used to rodeo” when he was young, now is using “the other side of my brain” to work up a business plan and cut through the red tape. 

LEONARD MAYBERRY’S PATHWAYS

TO (SELF) EMPLOYMENT

“People say you did great at the city, you were promoted, you’d been with them almost 10 years, why didn’t you fight?,” Leonard Mayberry said. 

“And I explain, I was fighting for my life. 

It’s just one more thing that is difficult after an injury. 

And in Texas, you only have to carry $30,000 in liability insurance, so the woman that caused the crash – that’s all she had. 

And SSI doesn’t cover expenses, not even rent in a small apartment in an expensive big city.”

WHEN CITIES VALUE VEHICLES AND PARKING MORE THAN HUMANS

DANGEROUS, NEAR MISS, WOULD BE TRAGEDIES HAPPEN DAILY

I saw a person who uses a wheelchair for mobility almost hit by a car because this oversized truck blocked the sidewalk.

The illegally blocked sidewalk forced everyone to go out into the dangerous street to finish their journey.

This is at 1619 Pennsylvania Avenue, footsteps from Lincoln Road pedestrian mall.

The City of Miami Beach must ticket and tow vehicles that block pedestrian access.

LEONARD MAYBERRY’S PATHWAYS

TO (SELF) EMPLOYMENT

“I couldn’t get in the bathroom and get in the shower. I wasn’t strong enough to get in or turn myself over in my bed,” Leonard Mayberry said. 

“I had to get my health back, because my mom’s health was declining because she was focusing on me.”

Though he tried to return to work for the City of Houston – detailing how the use of drones and other technology would allow him to return to his work as a field supervisor – 

the city balked and forced him to separate from the city on disability status. Mayberry is still exploring legal options on that front.

LEONARD MAYBERRY’S PATHWAYS

TO (SELF) EMPLOYMENT

Leonard Mayberry had his own place and was working as a supervisor of a bridge inspection crew for the City of Houston. 

He had worked hard, with his hands and body, all his life – learning to be a welder at age 18.

“I worked on some of the biggest high rises in Houston.

I used to take people to show them where I welded my name into a spot,” he said.

“I always told my bosses to give me a full day’s work, because I wanted full pay.”

When he left rehab, Leonard Mayberry moved in with his parents – in their 70s – because it was more accessible than his home, though not outfitted for a person who uses a manual wheelchair for mobility.

LEONARD MAYBERRY’S PATHWAYS

TO (SELF) EMPLOYMENT

“They taught me how to live, put my clothes on, go to bathroom by myself — how to live independently,” Leonard Mayberry said.

They told me my body went into lifesaving mode and stopped pumping blood to my lower extremities and that’s the reason I am paralyzed.

I started out as a T 6/7 complete and recovered back to an L-3 incomplete.

I started out feeling nothing below my chest, but now I can feel to my knee on my right leg and my left leg is good – but I don’t have full function because of damage to my foot.”

LEONARD MAYBERRY’S PATHWAYS

TO (SELF) EMPLOYMENT

Leonard Mayberry was in the ICU, still battling internal injuries, for 40 days. 

Then he went to a skilled nursing facility, where they continued to monitor deep drops in blood pressure.

Mayberry finally went to outpatient physical therapy, but an intestinal infection sent him back to the hospital.

Ultimately, he was sent to inpatient rehabilitation at TIRR Memorial Herman in Houston.

LEONARD MAYBERRY’S PATHWAYS

TO (SELF) EMPLOYMENT

An ambulance took Leonard Mayberry to a branch of Memorial Herman Hospital, where the small emergency room staff detected internal blooding and called for a life flight. 

Less than a half hour later, he was at the main Memorial Herman in Houston, fighting for his life.

“I never lost consciousness from the crash to the first hospital. 

They finally let me take my helmet off, I boarded the life flight and I woke up nine days later.

 I was in a coma,” said the 52-year-old Mayberry.

“My body absorbed 95 percent of the impact.”

 

 

LEONARD MAYBERRY’S PATHWAYS

TO (SELF) EMPLOYMENT

Leonard Mayberry – rodeo worker, welder, steel worker, supervisor of a city crew – shares his new life story beginning at June 30 2018, about 2:30 in the afternoon.

“I was an active human being with a beautiful life and not a problem in the world that I couldn’t deal with. 

Everything changed,” said Mayberry, born, raised and still residing in Needville, Texas – a rural place in the Houston metropolitan area.

“I was riding my motorcycle on a country road, not much traffic, when a lady made a U-turn from the far right lane across two lanes of traffic.

I had just shifted into third gear – 3000 RPM – about 50 mph.

I hit the ground, holding onto my bike. 

I didn’t realize how bad I was hurt, but I had a whole bunch of internal injuries.”

INCLUSION FOR ALL IS THE ONLY WAY TO DESIGN AND BUILD PUBLIC SPACE

IT CAN BE ACHIEVED BY SIMPLE TOPOGRAPHY 

AND GENTLY SLOPED RAMPS

Much of the Long Island City Queens waterfront was once industrial.

Factories depended on access to the East River.

Now most of the area is lined with exclusive apartments that feature amazing views of the Manhattan skyline.

Developers of the waterfront public space did two things perfectly:

1) They set the buildings back a big enough distance from the water to create miles of fresh public space.

2) The used simple grading of fill soil plus ramps to make the park space wheelchair-accessible for miles.

The boarding spots for the water taxi have ramps.

The various fishing/observation piers that jut out into the East River all are barrier-free.

Gantry Plaza State Park may well be the best free space in all of New York.

At sunset into the night, its views of Manhattan are unrivaled.

And its access is enjoyed by hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities and their families.

DESIGN FOR ALL IS WORTH IT

AND OFTEN CAN BE DONE AT A LOW COST

I don’t have statistics, but common sense would also prove that when you increase walkability/rollability, thus connectivity to education, jobs, community activities – you increase earning power.

That increases income (and the tax roll) for people with disabilities.

In the United States, people with disabilities are the most under- and unemployed of any marginalized group.

Access in the public realm isn’t just the right thing to do, it is sound public policy on many levels.

DESIGN FOR ALL IS WORTH IT

AND OFTEN CAN BE DONE AT A LOW COST

Adding curb ramps, protected crosswalks, wider sidewalks and smoother surfaces can be blended into all of those complete streets, pavement repaving, mainstreet sidewalk enhancements and other public works projects.

When done from scratch, rather than a retrofit to fix poor planning for accessibility, the cost is rarely more than fractionally more costly than not building for access for all.

DESIGN FOR ALL IS WORTH IT

AND OFTEN CAN BE DONE AT A LOW COST

Smooth, wide, safe, gently sloped surfaces also are beloved by those who wear heels (reduces tripping hazard) and the army of delivery people who wheel our daily online purchases to our doorstep.

I also want to bust the myth that making something accessible (we call it compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act in the United States, but hundreds of nations have similar law to make life better for people with disabilities while protecting their civil rights) doesn’t mean busting the budget.

DESIGN FOR ALL IS WORTH IT

AND OFTEN CAN BE DONE AT A LOW COST

One in four, more than one billion – people have some kind of disability.

That is neither outlier or special interest, by any definition.

When you design something that makes it easier for a wheelchair user to move about your city – 

you also have made pedestrian mobility better for young children, elderly people, those with visual impairments and dozens of others (including those who use scooters, walkers or crutches.)