Panel hears multiple concerns from persons with disabilities

Kelcy Dolan
Posted 7/30/15

The Governor’s Commission on Disabilities made a stop at the Warwick Public Library Tuesday afternoon. The forums, which are being held across the state during the next couple of months, invite …

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Panel hears multiple concerns from persons with disabilities

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The Governor’s Commission on Disabilities made a stop at the Warwick Public Library Tuesday afternoon. The forums, which are being held across the state during the next couple of months, invite members from the community to come forward and express concerns in regards to those with a disability in the state.

Beth Pinkman, one of the panelists from the Ocean State Center for Independent Living (OSCIL), which hosted the forum attended by about 25 people, said, “We are here to identify concerns so the commission can help to improve quality of life of those in the state with disabilities.”

Besides Pinkman, the representatives for the meeting were Jane Cannata, from the Office of Rehabilitation Services; Bob Fricklas, the Special Education administrator for Meeting Street; Deb Belanger from the RI Parent Information Network; Kathleen Kuiper from the Department of Health’s Office of Special Healthcare Needs; Kate Bowden from the Disability Law Center; and Meredith Sheehan from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Although the majority of those testifying for the forum had a disability themselves, there were also those who represented friends and family, such as Kristen Clark. Clark has a friend, who she kept nameless, who is disabled and has a disabled son. Both were receiving SSI and reliant on the SNAP program but had consistently “traumatic experiences” with the employees from the SNAP program.

Clark said the offices don’t have the manpower to handle the “piles upon piles” of paperwork that is coming in, and her friend was constantly in fear of losing her own benefits because employees couldn’t find her information.

“It’s hard to get the word out,” Clark said, “because who do you turn to pass the information onto?”

Jim Hickey also represented a friend who was in a wheelchair and staying at Section 8 housing and experiencing problems with his landlord.

“They are at that point where someone needs to step in there,” he said,” suggesting that there needs to be more oversight over landlords.

Concerns were also brought up about the redesign of Medicaid and the lack of persons with a disability given a voice in the discussion.

“It’s frustrating trying to advocate for yourself when there’s no place at the table for yourself,” said Will Bowdwin, who spoke for someone else. He said that those with a disability are already “behind and can’t seem to catch up.”

Some had very succinct suggestions such as Douglas Woodworth, who said Rhode Island Hospital needed a video remote interpreting (VRI) system. Woodworth, who is deaf, had surgery at Rhode Island Hospital, but it took hours to be discharged because without an available VRI the hospital had to wait for an interpreter.

Similarly, Barbara Henry, who is blind, suggested that the RIPTA bus system had some way of audibly announcing which bus has arrived. She noted that the signs do have Braille on them, but only about which station it is, so she needs to ask the other passengers around her which bus is which.

“I believe it is discriminatory to those who are visually impaired,” Henry said. “I have to ask others and that puts my own safety at risk. There are some suspect people telling me they think this or that bus is the one I’m waiting for. What if they are wrong or lying?”

Henry wasn’t the only speaker concerned about transportation; others expressed similar concerns as well.

Trent Ferrara was less concerned about how he can get around and more worried about the accessibility of handicapped parking spaces.

He said he often finds cars without the proper placard parked in the handicapped spots or people leaving shopping carts and other obstacles in the way.

Ferrara, who has MS, said he often chastises those he sees doing it but is “tired of policing” what should just be common sense.

“I’ve had my life threatened, been cursed out. I should absolutely not have my life threatened because I asked someone to do something right that they are supposed to anyway.”

Especially this winter, he found that plows often left snow in handicapped spots and, “what good do they do us then?”

Placement of handicapped spots was also a concern for Ferrara. He said he often goes places where there are two by the door but the rest are further away, but there just to “make a quota.”

“Just because they are meeting their quota doesn’t mean it’s helping the handicapped of Rhode Island.”

Despite his complaints, Ferrara did say he was so grateful that the commission is hosting these forums because there needs to be a more consistent method for people with disabilities to talk about the challenges they face and discuss methods for improvement.

All of the forums will be transcribed and posted onto the commission’s website in a few months.

For more information visit www.diability.ri.gov.

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