Accessibility For All

Let’s talk about awareness campaigns.

These campaigns are dangerous because they make us feel like we’re helping but really, we’re not.

Bell Let’s Talk, for example, is a huge and recognizable campaign that happens every year. According to them, this campaign serves as an effort to raise awareness and combat stigma surrounding mental illness in Canada.

Now, we know this campaign doesn’t actually raise money to support those struggling with mental health. The money doesn’t even go towards funding new research or training folks on how to support those in crisis..

All that money raised at the end goes towards a big party to celebrate all of the awareness they’ve brought about.

Awareness is Not Enough

September is officially BC Disability Employment Month here in British Columbia. 

Surprise, surprise, this is not helping disabled people.

This is a campaign where the BC government gives select businesses money because they hire disabled people.

According to one business, it’s a “financial win” to hire disabled folks because of the funding they receive.

This money that these businesses are accumulating from hiring people is far greater than what they’re paying the employee, which is minimum wage, by the way. 

The minimum wage in BC is $16.75, which equates to a little over $30,000 per year. However, the average cost of living in this province is at least $50,000 - it gets more expensive in more densely populated areas.

Anyone who is actually paying attention is going to see right away that this is not about disabled people. It’s about the government trying to make themselves look better while giving money to people who don’t need it.

I am so upset about the continuous and continued oppression of disabled people and the fact that now we have this thing happening that’s supposed to be for us, but isn’t actually helping us.

Accessibility Isn’t Free

Disabled folks can gain accessibility, but only if they’re able to pay for it.

I currently pay for an assistant to help me with things related to the Opal Door. And there are other things I need support with, but must go without, because I can’t afford it.

I have a lot of needs that go unmet to the point where I am isolated for 8+ months of the year.

This is criminal.

No employer can meet my accessibility needs if I have to work in person. And I am completely unreliable due to my disability, which is not employable. 

I HAVE to be a small business owner and make my own way in the world because I can’t rely on anyone else to accommodate me.

If I had to rely on the government or any of these awareness campaigns to actually help me, I would perish.

I have to get out there and advocate for myself. I have to fight for every bit of accessibility that I have.

Here’s Some Perspective

I have been waiting for over a year for an appointment with a doctor, and because I missed my appointment that was most accessible to me, I now have to drive 2 hours each way for a 30 minute appointment.

But it’s not just the drive. The hospital I’m going to isn’t scent-free, which means hours of work will go into trying my best not to have an asthmatic reaction.

I’ll need to bring two sets of clothes. One to wear to and from, and another to wear while in the hospital. Scent particulates are designed to cling to hair, skin, and clothing. If they get onto my person then I have to immediately start trying to get them off. That means unscented soap, shampoo, and conditioner inside a decontamination shower that has no scent particulates already in it. And once I exit the shower, I need to be able to get back to my car without encountering any scents. The hospital I’ll be going to doesn’t have a decontamination shower.

If I have a reaction in the hospital, at least they can give me oxygen and keep my airway clear, but what happens when I leave? If I get in my car with inhalable irritants still on myself or on Glenn, or on anything else in the car, I can't breathe. And I then have to clean the particulates out of the car.

If the particulates get onto my clothes, they will be sealed in a bag and brought home. It's taken down to my laundry machines where Glenn begins to decontaminate by soaking, and running through the washer. Everything has to air dry and then has to be checked for scent. Sometimes he brings things to me and if I react, we start the process again. It usually takes a month to get all of the particulates out.

All for a 30 minute appointment.

The Bottom Line

Accessibility is a big issue. And one that society likes to sweep under the rug.

I’m trying hard to access grants and funding, or anything I can to find a way to keep painting.

I feel like I’m at the end sometimes. Like this is the last thing I’m going to be able to do. And if I can’t do this anymore, I don’t know what comes next.

Disabled need help, and we are not unworthy of moving through the world comfortably simply because we’re disabled.