INCLUSION IS A MUST!
Well, this
is one of 3 wheelchair ramped houses on the short side street of SW 18 Ave between
SW 14-16 Aves.
That much
need for access is proof positive that:
Disability
is NOT an outlier.
Inclusion is
a MUST!
CLOSERS FOOLISHLY FORCE MULTIPLE CROSSINGS
OF DANGEROUS TRAFFIC TO COMPLETE A JOURNEY
Tragically,
dozens of downtown Miami sidewalks are closed for construction — putting people
on peril.
AND EVERY BIT AS LOATHSOMELY BIGOTED AS RACISTS
Every time I
post a picture of neglected landscaping blocking sidewalk accessibility, I get
"If it bothers you, why don't you trim it." snotty response.
Many find
requests for the basic dignity/civil rights of wheelchair access so offensive,
that they demonize the person requesting them.
No one would
tell a burglarized person to become police and solve it.
But
underscore a barrier and they scream at you to fix it yourself.
Diminishing
the needs of people with disabilities is ableism.
Ableism is toxic.
PLEASE HAVE INCLUSIVE SEATING THIS YEAR
Last year’s
book fair had an outdoor food court produced by Smorgasboard Miami.
It had 24
picnic tables and another 12 metal tables.
Not one had
a space for wheelchair users.
We reported this
10 minutes into the opening day of the street fair.
Nothing was
done.
This kind of
ableism and exclusion cannot be repeated.
AS THE ACCESSIBLE BOOKLEGGERS LIBRARY MOBILE TRAILER
Ramping both sides of a moving
trailer filled with used books = a huge commitment to accessibility and
inclusion for all.
Kudos to this small nonprofit’s
commitment to people with disabilities.
ARE DISRCIMINATING AGAINST PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
Illegal car
parking destroys pedestrian safety and forces people with disabilities into
Miami’s dangerous street traffic.
Perpetually
2 or 3 cars park on NE 9 St @ Marina Blue mixed use tower.
Miami has a Downton
Development Authority that has a quality of life team in the streets each day.
I wonder if
they have any training on ADA accessibility.
I fear they
do not spend one day out of 365 trying to make mobility better for people with disabilities
in the city center.
WHILE APPROVING FAULTY WHEELCHAIR ACCESS
THAT FAILS ALL THE TIME
This is what happens when you segregate the wheelchair accessible entrance from the main entrance in an urban area.
An
impenetrable gauntlet of human waste, broken glass and homeless person’s
bedding.
When a city
allows adaptive reuse of a building, but permits lousy wheelchair access – it is
ableism at its worst.
Millions of
dollars were spent converting an old post office into a craft brewery in
downtown Miami.
The excuse
is historic preservation prevents an appropriate ramp at the main entrance.
It’s total
BS.
Stairs are
NOT historic.
Facades are.
THEY CREATE MAXIMIM DENIAL OF BASIC RIGHTS
FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
This is what happens when clueless architects & feckless city regulators allow one wheelchair accessible access point at each end of a super block.
Restaurants
block the access to create more dining space.
This is 1900
block of Miami’s Calle8.
All those
who cannot go up steps, have to journey four times the distance shown in this
image to the eastern ramp hidden on a side avenue.
El Toro Loco
is violating the ADA and destroying mobility for people with disabilities with
its selfish blocking of the accessible route.
In Town
Miami, the company that leases the space to the offending restaurant MUST open
the accessible route immediately.
The City of
Miami has 100% neglected to fix this – refusing to protect our seniors and
people with disabilities.
AN INTERVIEW WITH STEVE WRIGHT BY HAWA ALLARAKHIA, M.ED.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Hawa Allarakhia has a Master in Education from the University of South Florida and is currently a doctoral candidate at USF.
She is studying Program Development with a research interest in Disability Services with a graduate certificate in Academic Advising.
She holds the positions of Graduate Assistant in the Office of Research, on the Sarasota-Manatee campus of USF.
For questions, please contact her by email at
hawa1@usf.edu
AN INTERVIEW WITH STEVE WRIGHT BY HAWA ALLARAKHIA, M.ED.
Q How did you incorporate the experiences and challenges faced by individuals with invisible disabilities?
A
This was spoken about in class, and it was featured in some of the assigned
materials for reading/video viewing/social media following outside of class
(and graded via required journal entries on these subjects).
AN INTERVIEW WITH STEVE WRIGHT BY HAWA ALLARAKHIA, M.ED.
 |
A In each of our 15 course sessions, we explained that disability is not some remote, outlier issue … that it is not just a person with a spinal cord injury.
We explained how universal design supports aging in place.
We also underscored, frequently, the truth that barrier-free design is NOT simply for people with disabilities.
That it makes the public realm and interior of spaces easier to live in for children, elderly, and all people.
And that it can be beautiful and
sustainable design.
AN INTERVIEW WITH STEVE WRIGHT BY HAWA ALLARAKHIA, M.ED.
Q How did you incorporate the experiences and challenges faced by individuals with physical disabilities?
A One of the team teachers uses a wheelchair for mobility.
Also, we had guest lectures from nationally prominent architect Karen
Braitmayer and designer Ileana Rodriguez — each of whom use wheelchairs for
mobility.
AN INTERVIEW WITH STEVE WRIGHT BY HAWA ALLARAKHIA, M.ED.
Q How did you incorporate the experiences and challenges faced by individuals with social and psychological disabilities?
A
We had an expert presenter from the Center for Autism & Related
Disabilities (CARD).
AN INTERVIEW WITH STEVE WRIGHT BY HAWA ALLARAKHIA, M.ED.
Q How did you incorporate the experiences and challenges faced by individuals with visual disabilities into the course?
A
We had a guest lecture, via Zoom, from renowned expert Peter Slatin and had a
live in-class presentation by a trainer from Lighthouse for the Blind.
AN INTERVIEW WITH STEVE WRIGHT BY HAWA ALLARAKHIA, M.ED.
Q How did you incorporate the experiences and challenges faced by individuals with hearing-related disabilities into the course?
A
We had a guest lecture, via Zoom, from renowned expert Jeffrey Mansfield (via
interpreter) of Deaf Space.
AN INTERVIEW WITH STEVE WRIGHT BY HAWA ALLARAKHIA, M.ED.
Q Did you design the course with a disability model in mind, i.e., medical, social, or moral?
A The model was certainly not medical or moral.
So I suppose it was social.
Basically, a lot of architects (not just students in the field) think the ADA is some kind of building code that can be waived or reduced by variance.
I taught that it is basic civil rights protection under federal law. I also opened eyes by sharing that the UN has identified more than 1 billion people with disabilities on earth, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) numbers say one in four of us will experience a disability in our lifetimes.
Those numbers speak to a market for design that accommodates all.
AN INTERVIEW WITH STEVE WRIGHT BY HAWA ALLARAKHIA, M.ED.
Q What impact do you believe a course about universal design will have on students with disabilities across higher education?
A A few of the students said they would dedicate/refocus their careers on design for all.
A few, in all candor, seemed to reject the ADA and universal design as something constricting or even “woke” — their words.
Overall, I think it opened minds.
AN INTERVIEW WITH STEVE WRIGHT BY HAWA ALLARAKHIA, M.ED.
Q How did you approach the University of Miami-School of Architecture about offering a course on universal design?
A approached the Dean of the School of Architecture and cultivated a friendship with him.
I performed editorial content services for the SoA and kept pitching
ideas for a course.
AN INTERVIEW WITH STEVE WRIGHT BY HAWA ALLARAKHIA, M.ED.
Q Can you provide some background on the inspiration to develop a Universal Design course that focuses on architecture and cultivating a built environment that is accessible to all?
A
I have been a journalist for nearly 40 years, and all of that time I have
covered both the built environment and the rights/needs of marginalized people.
Combing those into a survey course that educated future architects/urban designers on universal design was a natural progression.
I have worked with town planners and as an urban designer.
I frequently lecture on access for all at the
American Planning Association.
AN INTERVIEW WITH STEVE WRIGHT BY HAWA ALLARAKHIA, M.ED.
At the University of Miami, students studying architecture now have the opportunity to learn about incorporating accessibility by taking a first-of-its-kind class about universal design.
Steve Wright, the instructor of
the course, discusses how he integrated the experiences and needs of a wide
variety of individuals with disabilities into the course.
