Equality for the disadvantaged.

Last but one post actually

Well clearly my last post was written in invisible ink anno
?

I saw for the first time on the news last night the wheelchair he was offered. I'd never seen one like it. It looked uncomfortable and dangerous. My local airport has ordinary wheelchairs.

As the young man concerned is a wheelchair athlete, he must have massive upper body strength, so it might not have done him much damage to drag himself around the airport. He was protesting against
a) the loss of his customised wheelchair
b) poor provision of an alternative on landing at the airport
This protest seems to have been successful as it's reported that Luton Airport has now decided to introduce 10 self-propelled wheelchairs. He has now dropped his legal action.

Us wheelchair users dont get to choose our seats in the venue. It would be nice to do so although I'm aware I have to sit where access is good and emergency evacuation is easy.

Less choice less charge? I dont know, it has never been something I've thought about. As I've said, full price is the norm for me.

I've less disposable income now that I cant work so I expect that is taken into account too. We don't have the same ability to earn.

I thought the implication was that if theatres had to 'lose revenue' in using space for wheelchair users & "carers" they recouped the loss by increasing all ticket prices. No idea if that is true but how I read the post!

nanarose Your theatre sounds lovely and sensibly priced to all.
A good way to keep people visiting.

I've paid full price for my tickets and could take a carer free of charge.

I think the idea is that I pay because I choose to attend but the carer may not share my choices and is roped in to go! Hence they don't pay.

gmelon: It varies with different theatres. In my experience, most offer concession price to the person in a wheelchair / with a disability and to one companion.
However, I have been to some (usually major) theatres that offer significantly higher discounts. I went on a theatre outing once where the person with a disability got a free ticket if they had 2 paying companions (who could get 'concession' prices) and another where one companion could go for free + one at concession price.
I help out at a small theatre / concert hall near my home, and we offer no concessions (except for children at certain performances) so that, in a low-wage area, we keep prices low for everyone. We do rattle a bucket for the better-off to throw a bit extra though! Our disabled access is excellent as well.

FarNorth posts like JE can only imo be interpreted and understood through the prism of disabilism which is pretty common sadly

I don't understand the OP comments about the Theatre.
Tickets are the same price for me in my wheelchair as they are for everyone else.

Jennifer Eccles did you not read maryeliza's post at all?

Well it was obviously a publicity stunt, wasn't it?

He was offered a wheelchair with someone to push him after all.

His little stunt will not help the handicapped at all.

The update on this is heartening ( although it’s still sad it had to happen) -as a result of all the publicity, Luton Airport have now bought 10 self propelled wheelchairs and as a result, JL has dropped his case. Sometimes you know ( she says as a sometimes very weary disability rights activist) only publicity and direct action makes organisations do something. Congratulations to him

I can understand that wanting to be independent when travelling is of great importance to someone. The airline losing his chair and no other self propelling wheelchair being available. That said all of us have probably experienced poor service at airports so possibly he was being treated equally. I would have thought rather than just behaving as he did (although I suppose it got him publicity) he would have done better to accept being pushed (after all it wasn't the staff on duty who caused the problem) he would have been better being gracious to them then launching a tirade against the executives demanding that wheelchirs be carried in safe assigned places and that self powered ones are supplied at all airports.

Jane10 We had poor service in Edinburgh twice , first time they put me in a wheelchair in a holding pen ! then forgot me ! nearly missed the plane . Second time , this year we were held in a shed outside the airport , my DD actually ended up taking me through to the airport and then we had to meet the porter to wheel me to the security when I had to walk through the scanner , then was abandoned again till he came looking for us to get to the plane , so I clambered up the stair , couldn't have managed if my DD wasn't with me . The lady behind me was left to climb up with her hand luggage till the steward saw her and went to help her . When we landed in Belfast the nice girl sent to meet me insisted on taking me right out to the carpark

Now and again all of us need some help, and now and again all of us suffer from the problems when the system breaks down.

If this gentleman wants to be as fully integrated into ordinary life as he says, he would have accepted that his wheelchair should not have been lost - and followed that up with the airline and then done what fit people do when their suitcase is lost, moan and groan, but accept that the best thing to do, is deal with it as best you can. In his case accept being pushed across the concourse in a wheelchair that needs to be pushed and wearing a seat belt.

What he has done is shout loudly about his determination to be independent - and then protested when he is expected to behave like an independent person when something goes wrong, in his case accepting being pushed across the concourse in a wheelchair pushed by an attendant. I very much doubt if a short journey like that would give him pressure sores. Anyway, he could have asked for some padding,

There are other stories of airlines losing wheel chairs and not being well prepared to manage the needs of some disabled passengers. Frank Gardner has been stranded on planes, more than once, because his chair has got mislaid, and been left waiting on a plane for over an hour to disembark!

None of us want to be treated as less important than any other passenger and our physical disability should be minimised by thoughtful management and organisation.

It seems Luton airport was not equipped well enough to manage Levene's needs particularly once his own wheelchair was mislaid.
All of us have had to make compromises and it might be that other passengers, in a similar position, would have accepted being pushed in a wheelchair. I am not disabled so do not know what my response would be.
One could argue that propelling himself on the floor and using the luggage trolley was as likely to have caused injury/sores and been as undignified as much as having to strap into a pushed wheelchair. He should not have been put in that position in the first place.

Hopefully, going forward , all British airports will have a range of wheelchairs/scooters available for any disabled person travelling. Hopefully too airlines will be more efficient and work out how not to regularly lose passenger's wheelchairs

I'm amazed aggie. I had a great experience at Edinburgh Airport. Such kind efficient staff at the airport assistance dept. You were very unlucky.

If the facts reported are indeed factual I think this is a non starter story for me and is not an equalities issue .

Justin Levene was quite rightly annoyed that his customised self propelling wheelchair was left behind at an airport , very poor service.

However to choose to scoot along the floor rather than accept the wheelchair assistance offered by the Luton Airport staff could have caused more danger to his body than the ' possibility' of getting a pressure sore. I have never seen or been offered a motorised wheelchair at any airport at home or abroad so asking for one and one not being available is of no surprise to me. If Luton Airpirt has no motorised wheelchairs or buggies what could they do?

As for his comment

" I've worked very hard for a number of years to try and maintain all of my independence,” he said, adding that being in one of the chairs he was offered would make him feel “humiliated and degraded”.

I can honestly say as a wheelchair user at airports if that was my feeling I would never travel but I am very greatful for the availability of a wheelchair , the courtesy I have received from airport staff both here and abroad. I must say I have never been asked to ' strap in ' and I do wonder about that aspect of the story.

I have been on that "cherry picker ! and in the door on the otherside from ambulant passengers ! then left to be hoisted out ! thank goodness I am now able to walk and use the stairs . I found Belfast International was the most humane assistance provider . Edinburgh was the worst , so much so that I am chary of flights to Edinburgh now

"People who need assistance generally have to wait until everyone else has disembarked . ." but to compensate for that, they generally embark first, or at least DH and I did when he needed assistance and a wheelchair. At the start and finish of the journey, they can settle into their seat before others are crowding in and leave it after others have crowded out. That is practical and efficient.

was the point not the provision of self propelled chair , but that his own chair had been mislaid by the airline ?

They usually get on first, tho, Nonnie.

I'd also like to know if one can get a pressure sore that quickly.

After a broken ankle I had to be pushed round 2 airports and was just glad there was someone to do it! On another occasion (yes, I know I shouldn't make a habit of breaking ankles!) we were issued with a wheelchair and DH had to push it but, again, it never occurred to me to be other than grateful. In order to get on the plane I was put into what I think are called cherry pickers and hoisted up to the top of the stairs!

People who need assistance generally have to wait until everyone else has disembarked, it that another way to make them feel humiliated?

Everyone, disabled or not, has to compromise sometimes and use common sense. There was no way he was going to get a pressure sore in a belted wheelchair for 5 minutes going across the airport.

If he felt strongly that the airport should acquire some self-propelling wheelchairs then he could have written to them afterwards and made his case.

I think he was making a silly fuss.