Abilene city officials spend a day "disabled"

From The Reporter News in Abilene, Texas:

A conference call doesn’t usually make a city council member nervous.

A stroll across campus typically isn’t tough for the McMurry University president.

Oct. 22 was a different story.

Nine local officials agreed to take on temporary disability as part of Abilene Disability Awareness Day, which was coordinated by the Abilene Disability Advisory Committee. The event’s goal was to demonstrate the workplace challenges faced by people with disabilities and also reveal services and technology available to help them be successful.

For instance, City Councilman Anthony Williams wasn’t quite sure what he was going to do when his job as auxiliary services officer at Abilene Christian University required a conference call the same day he agreed to become hearing-impaired.

“I wanted to honor my commitment,” he said, so he discovered a Web site that listened to the phone line and transcribed the conversation for him as it was happening.

“I was pleasantly surprised with some of the technology available,” he said, but he realized people with disabilities are forced to take extra time to plan ahead for special accommodations.

McMurry University President John Russell sported black goggles and carried a walking cane as he navigated his way around the college.

“I know we don’t complain about rain in West Texas, but I found out where some of the low spots are on our campus when I ran right through some puddles,” he said. “The toughest thing was navigating the stairs. But luckily I know my way around campus. A new student might not.”

He said some of the most menial tasks were the toughest.

“Something as simple as eating we take for granted,” he said, noting it took him a while to find his mouth with the fork. “I know my dry cleaning bill would probably go up.”

The first thing Sammy Garcia did when his motorized wheelchair was delivered was to take it for a spin around his State Farm Insurance office. He was happy to find the office fairly accessible — until he reached the bathroom.

“I know some of these doorways are tight,” said Garcia, an Abilene school board member, as he bumped around the hallway. “If we need to change anything in this office, we need to widen that door. If I have clients or hire employees that might be in a wheelchair, that would be a problem.”

Garcia also took his wheelchair to Abilene’s two high schools to experience their accessibility.

To get there, he rolled onto the lift and wheeled into one of Abilene’s CityLink buses. The fleet of 21 buses transports up to 90,000 passengers a year, about 60 percent of whom are in wheelchairs, said Merle Wilkins, the para-transit coordinator for CityLink.

Each bus has space for at least two wheelchairs that are secured with up to six latches.

“Anyone can call by 3 p.m. the day before they might need a ride to a doctor’s appointment or something,” Wilkins said.

At Abilene and Cooper high schools, Garcia learned to open doors and found that both schools had various accommodations for handicapped students, such as higher computer lab and cafeteria tables for wheelchairs and low book shelves in the library.

He also coincidentally ran into two parents, Anford and Kimberly Long, who were visiting the school to prepare for their visually impaired daughter to attend the school next year as a freshman. They were pleased to see Garcia.

“I know he’s got bigger fish to fry, but you get one of these guys with this experience and they can inform others,” Anford Long said. “It can only give him a good perspective.”

The city officials completed their disability awareness experience with a luncheon at Oakwood Trails in the Abilene State-Supported Living Center, where state Rep. Susan King was the keynote speaker.

She explained her experience as she spent her morning wearing ear plugs and patches that allowed her to see out the corner of only one eye.

“Many people I know avoided me today,” she said. “I don’t know if they thought I was in a car accident or a victim of domestic violence. I felt like an invisible person. But my sight isn’t totally gone, so I could see the way they looked at me.”

She said technology and devices can help people with disabilities function, but they need respect more than anything.

“You must have human accommodation,” she said. “Common courtesy.”

Tommy Higgins, chair of the ADAC, thanked the officials for taking part and encouraged them to spread the message that employers should not shy away from hiring people with disabilities.

“It’s not about tax credits or public service, but it’s about good business,” he said. “It’s about hiring people — qualified, motivated, people who want to do good work for you.”