[ST] [SA] Arisia Elevator Management

[Rose Fox]

On 2008-03-05  , at 11:02, Kestrell wrote:

> A couple of more reasons why the audience you are trying to target  
> -- that is, people with disabilities -- are less likely to take  
> advantage of this service, even if it were to be put into practice:
>
> 1. most people with disabilities are very self-conscious about  
> asking for preferential treatment, and would probably be unlikely  
> to use it;
> 2. most PWD, like myself, don't like leaving their friends in order  
> to get somewhere a little faster, particularly as often some of the  
> best conversations at con happen while waiting in lines;
> 3. a lot of PWD view the quote special unquoe form of id with a  
> high degree of suspicion, felling --and often rightfully so-- that  
> being designated as "special" is a form of labeling.

I don't see how any of these things would be problematic if  
requesting and displaying such a badge were entirely voluntary and  
available. Again, the parallel is to blue parking spaces and  
"disabled" placards or license plates. Your point 1, while well  
taken, doesn't stop people who need it from applying for those.

It could and probably should be quite separate from the standard ID  
badge; maybe just a small blue pin or badge with the Arisia logo and  
the year, that people can choose whether to put on depending on  
whether they feel a need for it. I know plenty of folks with  
handicapped plates who park in regular parking spaces when they're  
feeling well enough to walk further, and no one stops them! I'm  
certainly not advocating for forcible separation of the disabled and  
able-bodied.

> I appreciate what a fine line it can be to increase access while  
> also not taking away from the limited resources of the group, but  
> hopefully something like elevator resources can be left to the  
> public at large to manage.

I wouldn't be suggesting it if I thought ad hoc management had worked  
in past years; I agree that that's the ideal. It just doesn't seem to  
have worked out well.

--Rose


-- 
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