Clinton News-Record, 1985-07-17, Page 17Page 18-CLINTON NEVIS RECORD, WEDNESDAY, .fUt. 1.9115
Rep�rt sets polielestowanis
handicapped
A team of graduate students in the
University of Waterloo's School of Urban
and .A,egional Planning have completed a
report on how the needs of handicapped
cidzena are being met in five Ontario coun-
ties - Wellington, Perth, Huron, Bruce,
Grey and the , Regional Municipality of
Waterloo.
Team members were: Glenda Clarke,
Alison Haworth, Beth Hemens, Chris Kailio,
and Steve Yuen. They were asked to make
their study by the March of Dimes.
The student researchers were concerned
about obstacles that .e it difficult and
sometimes impossible disabled people to
work and move about.: r example, a non -
handicapped person ca:; easilycross a
street, stepping down and up ove :e curbs;
a person in a wheelchair • a so only if the
curb has been cut away - sloped to the level
of the roadway.
On the other hand, if a community pro-
vides curb cuts for people in wheelchairs,
these in themselves may represent a new
problem to those with severe vision im-
pairments. The vision -impaired may walk
out into the roadway without realizing
they're off the curb.
Thus, the report concludes, dealing with
the needs of the handicapped is com-
plicated. What, then, are the chief com-
plaints or needs of such persons?
They vary from a need for better
transport services (you can't board a bus if
you're in a wheelchair) to buildings design-
ed so dthe pentranceways rsons cane as t inwell them
as
(rampss at
stairs). The UW students reported on in-
conveniently located parking spaces for the
handicapped in shopping plazas and
begs ... even on prejudice and ig-
norance
underlies some reluctanceart of the r to al public
Even where transportation services do ex-
ist,
xist, such as the "Project Taft" service in
Kitchener -Waterloo or the "Mobility Bus"
service in Stratford, there are problems.
For instance, Project Lift will not drive peri
sons to nearby Guelph, though it may at
times be important for some of them to be
able to go there. The Stratford service is
nice, but it is much more costly than a
regular urban transit service;_rioreover,
one has to have a friend along to help one on
and off the vehicle. Combined, these repre-
sent a considerable added cost and inconve-
nience that the non -handicapped person
completely escapes. -
In short, the services society provides for
disabled persons still do not permit thein to
get about as conveniently or cheaply as the
non -disabled; they have an extra burden to'
bear, in addition to their handicap.
Even if a disabled person drives his or her
own car, there can be problems.. If such a
person parks in a handicapped persons'
area in a public parking lot, the car may be
ticketed unless the appropriate community -
issued sticker is displayed; thus a disabled
person cannot park in City A if his or her
sticker was issued by City B.
In fact, a handicapped person may not be
able to park in City A, even if the car has a
licence plate symbol from the provincial
government.
Sometimes too, the parking spaces
reserved for the handicapped are little bet-
ter than useless because they are not wide
enough to permit a wheelchair to be fitted in
beside the car.
Shopping malls are sometimes difficult
for handicapped persons to access; even
when they are not, individual stores within a
mall may be. Landscaped areas, the UW
students report, offer problems; potted
shrubs and plants, decorative lampposts
dcobblestone sidewalks may make a
improvements. an
SOON IT WILL BE
'1985
WHEAT
HARVEST
TIME'
Deliver your crop to a
THOMPSON
ELEVATOR
1
Over 60 years
serving the
Agricultural
Community
The Home of
High Yielding
'Augusta
Seed Wheat'
street or shopping area look attractive but
they also make it difficult if not impossible
for a person in a wheelchair to go anywhere.
Elevators are often a source of frustration
- it's impossible for wheelchair users to
reach the floor buttons in some of them.
Washrooms in public buildings are another
cause of embarrassment, though many
have beethrr fitted with larger doorways and
grab rails, in recent years.
The UW students' report suggests one way
to deal with the problems of handicapped
persons would be through local legislation -
municipal bylaws which could make sure
certain design features are incorporated in
the development of new shopping plazas,
new public buildings and so forth. Federal
and provincial governments need to become
more involved, through changes in federal
and provincial building codes, CMHC pro-
grams, the activities of the provincial
secretariat for social development and in
many other ways.
Behind law changes and administrative
changes within government departments
and public agencies, people - including
politicians at the municipal, provincial and
federal government levels, and the public -
must become more aware of the needs and
problems of disabled persons, .the report
recommends.
Our attitudes must change.
themselves
selans
the attitudes of the handicapped t
also have to change, the report says. They
have to learn to work together to present
their case to the broader society. They must
insist on becoming more involved in
decision-making.
We need, the report concludes, "a greater
willingness and ability to formulate policies
for the social and physical development of
our communities which more adequately
respond to the needs of all members of
society."
The report, prepared in extra large type,
is available as a working paper from the
School of Urban and Regional Planning,
University of Waterloo; price is $5, postage
paid.
16,
Bill Hearn and Don Stewart are co-owners of Epps Manufacturing on Highway 8 at the
east end of Clinton. The company expanded its product line incheck a5 to desae nh
pressure cleaners which augment the sale of fresh water well supplies,
foot valves, for example. (James Friel photo)
Internal changes,recommendations made
By Stephanie Levesque
A study of the Huron -Perth Roman
Catholic separate school board has resulted
in a few internal changes at the board level
as well as recommendations to improve the
school system.
The Co-operative Evaluation and
Development of School Systems (CEDSS)
study was originally conducted. in the
Huron -Perth system by the ministry of
education over a year ago. A board commit-
tee has gone over the study and made a few,
recommendations of its own:
The major recommendation, a study of
the organizational structure as it relates to
Kindergarten to Grade 8 organization ver-
sus Kindergarten to Grade 6 and Grade 7
and 8, will affect the board's 19 schools.
Now, only four of Stratford's Catholic
schools are organized. on a Kindergarten to
Grade 6 basis. The fifth school is a Grade 7
and 8 only school.
School board administration will be mak-
ing a report to the board on the organiza-
tional.structure in November.
The board's accommodation review com-
mittee will make a policy statement on the
minimum standard of the physical facilities
of its schools. It is expected this statement
will indicate each school should at least
have a gym. This has been given number
one priority by the school board.
One of the recommendations that has
already been approved is combining the
religious consultant position with the family
life co-ordinator.
The trustee -clergy committee and the co-
operative action committee (teachers and
trustees) will look for ways to improve com-
munication with . principals, teachers and
ratepayers. A recommendation expected
from this is making the board's meetings
moreaccessible to the public. Although the
board's meetings are open to the public,
they don't start until after 9 p.m. ,
1
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