HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2018-04-26, Page 9THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, APRIL 26, 2018. PAGE 9.
Sawchuk works to become Hansen accessibility expert
A new look
Blyth's Julie Sawchuk has just returned from two weeks in
British Columbia where she was part of the inaugural Rick
Hansen Foundation accessibility assessment class. She
now hopes to bring those skills — pending successful
completion of a final assignment and passing the exam —
back to Huron County to help businesses and students
think about accessibility from the earliest stages of building
design and construction. Here, she is seen engaging in a
disabilities exercise, where she wore visual impairment
goggles to replicate blindness. (Photo submitted)
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Blyth's Julie Sawchuk is now a
completed assignment and a passed
exam away from being a Rick
Hansen Foundation certified
accessibility assessor.
Sawchuk has just returned from
two weeks in British Columbia,
where the course was offered at
Vancouver Community College.
Once she's passed the course and is
officially certified, Sawchuk hopes
to offer her services locally — not just
assessing the accessibility of
buildings, but also educating on the
need for accessibility during all
stages of a project.
With the help of generous
sponsors, a GoFundMe campaign
and some of her family's own funds,
Sawchuk spent 14 days in Vancouver
learning the ins and outs of assessing
accessibility. She feels the work
she'll soon be able to do could very
well be the next phase of her career
as an educator that was interrupted
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Conservatic
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1
Leaving a legacy
Grant Sparling, chief development officer for Blyth Cowbell
Brewing Company, was the guest speaker Friday night as
the Maitland Conservation Foundation held its annual
spring dinner and auction at the Brussels, Morris and Grey
Community Centre. The theme of the night was "30 Ways to
Leave your Legacy" and Sparling spoke to the
environmental legacy of the brewery, including the planting
of many trees, a closed-loop water system and efficient
brewing equipment that bests industry standard water
usage. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
in 2015 when she was hit by a car
while cycling and paralyzed from
the chest down.
After the two weeks of instruction
and practical work, she's now
working on her final assignment,
which is to conduct a comprehensive
accessibility assessment on
Vancouver Community College,
where she took the course. Once
she's successfully completed that
assignment, she'll have to take an
exam through the Canadian
Standards Association (CSA) in
order to be certified.
Sawchuk says the course is the
only one of its kind in Canada and
she was part of its first class,
meaning they have been "guinea
pigs" for some of the instruction.
She feels she has learned a lot, not
just about universal design, but
about disabilities in general.
As a Rick Hansen Ambassador,
Sawchuk became interested in
taking the course. Sawchuk was
made aware of the course and felt it
could benefit Huron County.
Achieving Rick Hansen Foundation
Accessibility Certification, or even
the foundation's gold status, she
said, could serve not only as a badge
of honour for a business, but as an
economic development tool that
would attract those with
accessibility needs to certified
businesses.
The process takes every aspect of
the building into account, including
parking, travel corridors and
washrooms.
Sawchuk says that certification
isn't required by law. So, if a
business requests an assessment and
doesn't achieve it, no one has to
know. If a business does get
certified, however, they can then use
that certification to attract people to
the business.
The assessment takes a number of
factors into account, like parking,
public transit accessibility, indoor
and outdoor paths of travel,
STILL
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wayfinding and sanitary room
access. The accessibility in these
categories is then graded, which
leads to the assessment's final score
and a business's certification.
When the class began, the first
thing the foundation did, Sawchuk
said, was try to put those taking the
course (Sawchuk was in a class of
16 — many of whom were building
or design professionals and were not
differently-abled) into the shoes of
someone with different abilities than
their own.
Sawchuk, on her first day, was
given vision impairment goggles so
she could experience trying to get
around the college blind. It was very
challenging, she said, but it helped
her learn what it would take to make
a building accessible to someone
with impaired vision.
She had trouble getting around
(she was unable to use a visual
impairment cane due to being in a
wheelchair) so a blind member of
the class told Sawchuk to follow him
and he led her out the building and
into the parking lot. Sawchuk jokes
that the process was literally the
blind leading the blind.
Similarly, those who were able to
walk tried to get around the building
in wheelchairs so they could find out
what changes worked and what parts
of the building needed improvement.
From there, she was able to learn
more about universal design and
how, if accessibility is considered
from the first stages of a building's
design, people don't even notice
how accessible it is if it's done
correctly.
Because Sawchuk was one of only
a few in the class with different
needs, she actually taught the class
on one of the days. She spoke about
accessible washrooms and optimal
support bar placement.
When certified, Sawchuk plans to
start her own business: Sawchuk
Accessibility Solutions. There, she
hopes to offer accessibility
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assessments for businesses or
municipalities that want them. She
hopes to start with her nearby
municipality of North Huron and its
recreation facilities.
When Sawchuk begins assessing
buildings and handing out
certifications, the foundation will
always have the final say. She said
that when she scores a building, her
work is reviewed by the foundation
to ensure that she's reviewing
businesses properly.
However, as a teacher for a
number of years, she said that she's
hoping one day to serve as a speaker
in local high schools. Whether it's
budding architects, plumbers,
contractors or designers, she says the
more education on accessibility and
universal design that can be done at
that early level, the better.
Not only that, but part of the
training was also disability
awareness training, which would put
those trained in the right mindset
and attitude to assist those with
disabilities. This would ensure that
while a business might be accessible
in terms of its design, its employees
would also be trained to help those
with different needs.
And while the course helped
Sawchuk learn more about her life's
potential next act, what she
experienced in British Columbia
helped her know that accessibility is
on the minds of many, which made
her feel good.
"I learned so much there, but
mostly I learned that I'm not alone,"
she said. Hearing from planners and
other professionals who are working
to make the world more accessible,
she said, gave her "warm, fuzzy
feelings" inside.
For more information on the
program, or the foundation itself,
visit rickhansen.com.
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