It is very concerning that the DDA (Disability Discrimination Act UK) does not appear to have addressed the areas of safe refuge in multi storey buildings for people with Learning Difficulties, should it be expectable to escort a LD person to such an area and then expect them to wait patiently until help arrives? OK we would hope or even expect that nobody would be left unaccompanied in such a situation but it should be remember that in an emergency, life or death situation many people think only of their own safety. A sad but true fact. In fact, anecdotal evidence suggests that disabled people are often forgotten during emergency evacuation.
As a wheelchair user I fully agree that we should be able to have access to most reasonable public buildings, however as an access auditor I feel if we cant get out of the building safely, we should not be going in it, at least not until those responsible have addressed all issues including egress.
My advice to all people when entering a building, is: think about how you (Or the person with you) will get out in an emergency as well as how you will get in.
[url]www.access-auditing.com[/url]
Re: People with LD and their evacuation from buildings
Apologies for the confusion but it has at least brought a very important issue to light and one that I must say you too have added to the increased awareness with your obvious high level of knowledge and caring. For that at least I thank you.
As the home page of this very site states [quote]‘disabilities involving oral language, such as vocabulary weaknesses, may affect written as well as [b]oral expression’ [/b][/quote] This in itself can prevent safe egress from muli storey buildings and not mearly due to physical Capabilities or the lack of, however I am not here to argue the rights and wrongs or correct/incorrect translation of ‘Learning Disabilities’
[quote]many of the people here are intellectually gifted and they are hurt by being classified with those who cannot care for themselves; this leads to severe discrimination and is very inappropriate[/quote] As a disabled person myself, I am truly surprised you wrote that. ‘Intellectually gifted’ are words that I would also use, so at least we are on the same boat there.
In closing I will wish you a very happy new year and leave you with this (VERY BROAD) discription of ALL disabilities and please note that this is in no way aimed at any Single, specific or individual disability, be it physical, mental or sensory. Enjoy.
Who are the so-called “handicapped” or “disabled”
According to stereotypical perceptions they are;
People who suffer from tragedy of birth defects.
Paraplegic heroes who struggle to become normal again.
Victims who fight to overcome their challenges.
Categorically, they are called retarded, autistic, blind, deaf,
learning disabled, etc., etc., etc.
Who are they, really?
Well, they are in fact, Mums and Dads…. Sons and Daughters…
Employees and Employers
Friends and Neighbours…Students and Teachers… [b]Leaders and
Followers [/b]Scientists, Doctors, Actors, Presidents, and More
They are people
But They are [b]people,[/b] first.
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Re: People with LD and their evacuation from buildings
THe point isn’t whether there is one correct or incorrect definition of “learning disabilities.”
The phrase means two different things in the two different places. It’s not that one is right and one is wrong.
I believe we have mentioned this issue to you before:
The term Learning Disability or LD was invented specifically to denote the person with *normal or higher intelligence* who however has some specific difficulty with school-oriented tasks.
In your area in England the term LD has been misused to cover mental retardation and severe mental disabilities, leaving the truly LD to try to find another term to distinguish themselves.
This chatboard is aimed at helping the Learning Disabled of *normal or higher intelligence* and their teachers and parents, and while we certainly will do what we can to help others, that is not our focus. Also, many of the people here are intellectually gifted and they are hurt by being classified with those who cannot care for themselves; this leads to severe discrimination and is very inappropriate. Our clientele here generally are more than capable of getting out in case of an emergency and in fact many of them may be leaders.
As far as the issue you mention, it has long been a concern of mine as well. I worked in a college in the US where I had a deaf client whose interpreter had CP and was in a wheelchair, as well as a client with sickle-cell anemia who had a large oxygen tank, and another employer who was blind; I had many arguments with various people over leaving fire exits unblocked. Unfortunately this put me on the troublemaker list and my contract was not renewed, sad but true.
I think you need to keep advocating and to bring legal action when advocating fails.
As the daughter of a safety engineer and the mother of a firefighter, as well as having done first aid and rescue myself, I constantly notice dangerous situations that are allowed to go on through apathy.
Here in Canada we have regular fire drills as part of our education. Fire is a severe hazard here, with wooden buildings heated extensively winter; so fire drills are required by law and are supervised by the fire department. In a fire drill, all students are required to stand, leave all their belongings, and exit the building by a predetermined exit, without talking. Every school, no matter how big, must be completely evacuated in less than two minutes, preferably one minute. I have not been involved with special classes for these evacuations, but they must have a system and a plan. If you are dealing with groups of handicapped people, you should work out a fire/emergency drill and practice it regularly.