Doggy dreams

[ghoti_mhic_uait]

I had a dream that Colin got me a dog for Christmas, a lovely brindled Staff cross. She had a broken leg, and he said that partly he got her because she'd be ready to go for walks at the same time I would be, but not before, and partly because noone else wanted a dog with a broken leg and she deserved some loving. She was an utterly sweet dog, it's true.

Anyway, I wanted to post something much less happy. I've been thinking about places that are accessible by wheelchair, for obvious reasons, and I am really very cross at firstly myself and secondly restaurants. I can't believe I've never noticed before how many restaurants you can wheel into, but then to get to the disabled toilets you have to squeeze between tables that are set too closely for a wheelchair to get down.

Hon. Mentions to Pizza Hut (the one on Newmarket Road, I think the one in town would be less good) and Yo! Sushi, both of whom have actually accessible toilets and seemed to consider a customer in a wheelchair as any other customer.

I'm OK, I can take my crutches and walk from table to toilet, but I'm not actually disabled.

Of course, there are probably problems for other places too, but I'm not getting out a lot. Presumably any shop I can't get round with the pram is not wheelchair accessible, but there aren't a lot of those. I hadn't previously even considered how difficult the tube is, because that's pretty easy with a pushchair. In fact, I love the tube as a woman alone with a baby/toddler, because people are generally really helpful. And trains! There are more now that have wheelchair spaces and no steps up than when I first started carting a baby around, but they're still not reliable.

How are disabled people even meant to get to work let alone do the work when they get there? I mean, we hear a lot about DLA cuts, so someone must have thought about that. Maybe we're going to have a public transport overhaul to make the DLA cuts feasible. Ooh look, a flying pig.


So you can see why I would be cross with myself for having known all this and just not thought about it, reliant on my mobile-privilege and not thinking of anyone else.

Comments

[bookwormsarah.livejournal.com]

Durham Pizza Express beats all (or used to - have't been there for a decade or more). They had a disabled loo, but it was reached by going down a set of steep spiral steps...

[badriya.livejournal.com]

We took Bobby because he only had one eye and we thought nobody would want a one-eyed puppy, no matter how sweet. He has been rather high maintenance though as the bullet that took the eye destroyed some teeth and those and the eye had to come out in separate operations.

"we hear a lot about DLA cuts, so someone must have thought about that." I don't think they care.

I found many places very didfficult with a wheelchair when I was taking my mum around. Even just in the streets in the NW5 area, pavements were not level and it made it hard to push it.

[gerald_duck]

A friend of mine has invested in a pair of lightweight aluminium ramps for his motorised chair. They stow easily, and are sufficient to get him into most village pubs. He somewhat drily notes that one or two of the less reputable publicans think having a doorstep means they don't need to accomodate disabled customers and likes watching the look on their faces when the ramps materialise. (-8

With many places, I suspect the trick is to book in advance (or go at a less busy time) and make clear that you want a table with uncluttered wheelchair access door-to-table-to-accessible-loo. I've seen that work with many places like the Michaelhouse Café, Wagamama, the Cambridge Blue since its refit and Brown's as well as my favourite gastropub out in the fens (The Anchor in Sutton Gault). Thinking back, there are many others where it would stand a good chance of working.

[juliet]

The deal with trains that I have observed involves a member of station staff and a ramp at both ends. No idea how this works if at an unstaffed station. Also presumably means you need to allow extra time to find a member of staff on station arrival. And then there's all the non-accessible stations (e.g. South Bermondsey & many/most of the stations on the various South London lines).

In dog news: my dog is a brindle Staff cross! See icon. We think some of her parentage is lurcher, and in fact there's probably a several of other things in there too.

[beckyc.livejournal.com]

Maybe we're going to have a public transport overhaul to make the DLA cuts feasible. Ooh look, a flying pig.

Like you say. A flying pig.

Even were they to make them accessible for wheelchairs, it wouldn't address the wide variety of requirements that individuals would have accessing and using public transport that *aren't* related to whether or not a person uses mobility aids.

[childthursday.livejournal.com]

I do remember being surprised when I visited the U.K. over how difficult it would be to navigate most places - particularly public transportation, but also many stores had doorsills that wouldn't have been possible to pass in a chair.

I also noticed there seemed to be very little Braille around and no real standardization for where it would be put. Although what Braille I did encounter was correct, which can't be said of the U.S. (In many places it's actually dangerously wrong - like directing a person to walk into oncoming traffic wrong.)

But I also saw people helping parents with strollers quite a lot, and often without having to be asked. That was nice to see.

[numberland.livejournal.com]

The thing with the undeground is that, yes, you can get to the train level in a lot of stations but for the vast majority of those you can't actually get on the train, impossible in a powerchair and a manual impossible without help and often without getting out of the chair, so, yeah...

The Arts Picture house is pretty good though I'm in discussions with them to improve matters.