Austin [Texas] American-Statesman columnist Ben Wear analyzes the heated discussions that are cropping up in his city these days as officials debate changes to the city’s special transit services for people with disabilities.

The local transit authority says its paratransit costs have almost doubled since 2001 to $26.9 million annually, and consume almost 19.3 percent of its budget to serve about 2 percent of its ridership. It is cracking down on some services. People with disabilities oppose changes in curb-to-curb service. The real question, Wear says, is this: ‘Just what do we owe such people?’

Plans to transform the lives of disabled people are announced

From the [UK] Guardian:

The British Office for Disability Issues has released its plans for giving people with disabilities more choice and control over the support they need and greater access to employment, transportation, health and housing opportunities.

Said Prime Minister Gordon Brown, “We are committed to a vision of equality for all disabled people by 2025. A vision for Britain where all citizens are respected and included as equal members, and where everyone has the opportunity to fulfill their potential.”

Called the Independent Living Strategy, the document brings together initiatives on employment, housing and social care to remove barriers and improve access to services.

According to the strategy, “independent living” means not necessarily doing things for oneself, but having choice over support and equipment, and equal access to public services and opportunities.
(more…)

From the Washington Post:

Educators across the country are protesting a Bush administration plan to strip $3.6 billion in federal Medicaid funds from schools over the next five years.

The rule, to take effect in June unless Congress intervenes, will bar schools from billing Medicaid for busing special education students to and from school and for certain administrative expenses, including enrolling children in Medicaid and coordinating and scheduling services.

Administration officials said schools, required under federal law to provide education to children with special needs, should pick up the bill for expenses that are part of their “educational mission.” But educators said it would further strain schools in a time of lean budgets, hitting big city and poor rural systems hardest.

… Dennis G. Smith, director of the federal Center for Medicaid and State Operations, said the change will help reign in a system in which federal auditors have found improper billing in some states. (more…)

From the New York Times:A report from the City Council assailed the state of transportation for people with disabilities in New York City and recommended sweeping improvements.

In addition to problems that have long plagued the public transit system, like the dearth of subway stations with elevators and a shortage of taxicabs that are wheelchair-accessible, the report also cited problems — including rude paratransit drivers, insensitive subway employees and poorly maintained equipment — that council members believe can be quickly and inexpensively corrected.

The report recommended better training for Metropolitan Transportation Authority employees who provide paratransit services, and increased inspections and maintenance of wheelchair lifts and other accessibility components on buses. (more…)

From MSNBC.com, a feature that says cruise ships are becoming more and more accessible these days, although smaller and older ships still have problems.

Although the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in 1990, the act was not extended to foreign-flagged cruise ships until 2005, following a class-action lawsuit filed against Norwegian Cruise Line that went before the U.S. Supreme Court. The court ruled that cruise lines whose ships carry passengers to and from U.S. ports must provide features like grab bars, handrails and wheelchair-accessible water fountains; however, the court also held that cruise lines were not required to make major structural changes to their in-service vessels, such as widening doorways and adding new elevators.

Fortunately, many cruise lines are upgrading their older vessels simply because there is demand for fully accessible cruising. In fact, cruising has become the preferred style of vacation for many travelers with limited mobility because ships have become so user-friendly and offer a convenient platform from which to explore the world’s exotic destinations.

From the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

D.C. Superior Court Judge Patricia A. Broderick had always wanted to visit Venice, but thought all those canals and steps and water taxis would make it impossible for her to get around in her wheelchair. Not so.

In the dark, Pat wheeled toward the span as we both focused on the steps looming ahead. I knew I could easily push her chair up two or even three steps, but not this many.

It was the kind of obstacle for which she has a saying — one that she heard years ago and has used frequently in the more than three decades since she lost the use of her legs in an automobile accident: “Inconvenience is adventure wrongly considered, and adventure is inconvenience rightly considered.”

(more…)

From the Rocky Mountain News [Denver, Colorado]:

The city of Denver gives businesses four hours after a snowfall to clear their sidewalks, while homeowners have 24 hours. But the city has been lenient in enforcing the policy, generating complaints from disability rights advocates who say lax enforcement leaves people trapped.

After the back-to-back snowstorms last winter, some people were trapped in their homes up to 60 days, according to Ed Neuberg, director of the Denver Commission for People with Disabilities.