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Advocacy -- Sample Letters

 ACCESSIBLE PARKING

April 14, 1986

Mr. Todd Trembley, Manager
Perkins Cake and Steak
1711 W. 23rd Street
Lawrence, Ks 66044

 Dear Mr. Trembley: 

I have recently moved to Lawrence from Rochester, Minnesota where we have two Perkins Restaurants.  I am pleased to report that the same quality of food and service we have enjoyed there in Rochester is also maintained by your restaurant. 

I have some suggestions that I would like to make for your future consideration however.  First, as a disabled individual who uses a wheelchair, I am disappointed that your establishment does not have a couple of designated disabled parking spaces (one space at the minimum).  Most Perkins Restaurants my family and I have gone to while traveling have always had one or two disabled parking spaces designated. 

I have discussed this with some other disabled folks who live in Lawrence.  I was made aware that a M.S. support group even meets at your place of business.  Certainly this is a small consideration to review for future planning.  An issue related to the disabled signs is placement of the signs.  I would be willing to provide some free technical assistance in helping you increase access to your restaurant to all of your customers, whether able-bodied or disabled! 

I am working at K.U. in a Ph.D. program as a research assistant in the Research and Training Center on Independent Living.  Please feel free to call me concerning this very important matter.  I can be reached at K.U. 864-4950 or home 841-0321. 

I am pleased to report that the restrooms at your establishment are very accessible and the arrangement of your eating areas are also accessible.  Lets' work together to make Perkins of Lawrence accessible in every way.  Thanks in advance for your quick response. 

Sincerely, 

Glen W. White
2608 Bond Place
Lawrence, Ks 66044

PERSONAL ASSISTIVE SERVICES

March 31, 1994

Representative Marcy Kaptur
United States Representatives
House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Representative Kaptur,

Health care is an extremely important issue for me.  I am a quadriplegic due to a car accident in 1975.  Although I need prescription medicine, specialized equipment, and medical supplies on a regular basis, my general health is relatively good.  Since 1977 1 have been on Medicare and my Medicare supplement through Blue Cross/Blue Shield (self pay $103/month).  This coverage was relatively good.

Last year I went back to work full time.  My health care coverage through work will no longer pay for my catheter supplies and only covers $300 a year for equipment such as wheelchairs or wheelchair batteries/repairs.  I am in an HMO so I must have one of their doctors to refer me to a specialist.  The specialist can detect problems with me that a general physician would miss, simply because they lack training and experience with people who have quadriplegia.  My specialist who has followed my care for the last 14 years can not even get into the HMO because they have too many doctors with that specialty already.  It's not fair; I don't want to be forced to change doctors.  He's the best in town and we have a very good doctor/patient relationship.

People with disabilities need access to medical equipment or assistive technologies which optimize independent functioning.  We also must have access to the expertise of health care specialists with whom we have consulted over a lifetime and access to those health professionals with expertise in treating problems related to specific disabilities.

Personal assistance services (PAS) should also be a part of our new health care system.  I work and can afford to pay for a portion of my PAS; the rest is covered by Ohio's Personal Care Assistance program (PCA).  It's the best program in the nation for someone like me.  It allows me to hire and manage my own attendants without the involvement of a home health agency.  It is a very cost effective program.  The only thing it lacks is proper funding.  If I did not have this assistance I would have to quit work and most likely go in a nursing home.  The PCA program helps me stay a productive tax­paying citizen.

People should no longer be institutionalized!  It's cheaper and more humane for people with disabilities if services are provided in their own home.  PAS should be set up similar to how the VA does their disability pay.  They simply distribute a voucher and the person with disability hires and manages their own attendant.  These services should be based on liberal income guidelines.

For those people who have never experienced a disability, it is often difficult to understand how important the services of this type are.  Disability is not an easy road but a little assistance can make the difference between success and failure.  I know that it has in my case.  Programs such as Ohio's Personal Care Assistance program needs to be nationwide.

Please consider these issues when voting on the new health care reform package.

Sincerely,

Linda L. Peters

POLICY MAKER

March 19, 1993 

Congressman Jerry Costello
119 Cannon Building
Washington, D.C. 20515 

Dear Congressman Costello:

I am writing to ask you to support the McDermott/Conyers Bill (H.R. 1200).

It is a national single payer plan.  I am in support of the single payer plan, because it is my belief that this is the only way to provide universal, equal, affordable access to all American citizens. 

I am a person with a disability who is employed.  The combination of being disabled and being employed full time makes my situation somewhat unique.  Nationally 67% of my disabled peers are unemployed.  I feel this is due in part to the fact that when a person with a disability considers the opportunity of employment they must choose whether or not they can risk loosing access to health insurance.  Most persons with disabilities are eligible for either Medicare and/or Medicaid.  When considering employment a person with a disability must choose whether or not they can afford to work if it means risking their access to health care.  No American citizen should be forced to make this choice!  Health care should be a basic right of all Americans.  If persons with disabilities are going to be truly integrated into every aspect of American society then we need to have equal affordable access to health care. 

Please support legislation that promote the Single Payer Plan.  It is my belief that the Single Payer Plan is the only true universal health care plan. 

Sincerely,

Paulett Subka
820 W. Mill, 104B
Carbondale, IL 62901

POLICY MAKER

January 19, 1994

Representative Tim Greenwood
Ohio House of Representatives
77 South High Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215

Dear Representative Greenwood,

Please vote NO on House Bill 508, regarding the Ohio Traumatic Brain Injury Trust Fund.  We fully endorse the concept of using funds from speeding violations and people driving under the influence to assist individuals who have had accidents.

However, Bill 508 is much too restrictive.  Speeders and drunk drivers cause accidents everyday, but head injuries are not the only injuries that people receive.  They also get spinal cord injuries, severe injuries to their arms or legs, and a variety of other life-altering injuries.  These injuries can change a person's life just as head injuries do; the financial problems can be just as bad, sometimes worse, family's just as frustrated, and services just as insufficient.

The Ability Center works with people who have disabilities and want to live independently.  We help them try to piece together the meager, most often insufficient, resources that are available. The funds that will be generated from speeding violations and driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs should be used to assist all individuals whose disabilities were caused by accidents, not be limited to one group.

Please vote NO on Bill 508 and send it back for revisions.  If you would care to discuss this issue with me call me at (419) 885-5733.

Sincerely, 

Richard Gunden, CEO

PUBLIC ACCESS

October 14, 1991 

Mr. Lester Hash
Aviation Department
KC International Airport
P. 0. Box 20047
Kansas City, MO 64195 

Dear Mr. Hash: 

I am a wheelchair user since sustaining a spinal cord injury at the age of 15 in 1964. In my occupation, I do a lot of air travel.  I congratulate you on the fine service you offer with the airport shuttle van for those wheelchair users who park out in the satellite parking. 

However, I am writing to suggest a few other changes you may wish to strongly consider for the future.  Some of the problems that I have encountered as a wheelchair user in your facilities include the fact that your satellite.parking lots do not have any designated handicapped parking. It would be nice for those air travelers who desire to park in the satellite parking to have access to such spaces as well as access to at least one of the waiting areas where the shuttle vans can pick them up.  This would especially be desirable during inclement weather, or if a person with a disability needed access to the phone.  

Finally, another issue of great concern to me is the handicapped toilet stalls at the airport.

Presently, you have grab bars which are directly attached to the stool.  These bars are in fact, dangerous and can cause broken legs as well as a number of other problems that may occur during transfers from the wheelchair to the toilet.  The American National Standards Institute, which is the basis for the new Americans with Disabilities Act portion of the new law which deals with public accommodations and accessibility, requires that grab bars be mounted on the wall rather than onto the toilet (see attached The University copies).  This is a critical issue, and I hope that it is one that you will give careful attention to.  Such changes would better accommodate people with disabilities and avoid potential litigation.  

If I can be of any further assistance to you, please feel free to call me (913 864-0590).  

Sincerely,

Glen W. White, Ph.D.
Training Director  

PUBLIC ACCESS

March 8, 1989 

Mr. Allan Heinze
University of Kansas
Director of HPER Facilities
146 Robinson
Lawrence, KS  66045 

Dear Allan:

     Recently, I was appointed as the Training Director for the Research and Training Center on Independent Living, located in Haworth hall.  I suppose that qualifies me as an official "staff person" and that I will be able to enjoy the full privileges of swimming during lunch hour at Robinson pool.  I just want to thank you for allowing me to swim before while I was graduate student status only. 

    May I ask your assistance in working out a little problem I am having concerning access to the Robinson Facilities from the handicapped parking entrance on the east side of the building?  I take my children each semester to the Saturday a.m. swimming classes offered and on other occasions in the evening, I take my family swimming at the Robinson pool.  In order to get in the east entrance, I must call ahead and get transferred to security and tell them I am coming and to turn off the door alarm and be there to open the door about the time I arrive.  I usually tell the security person the approximate time I will be at the east door.

    Often when I call Robinson, the phone is busy and I am not able to get through to security.  On some occasions, I have made contact with security and they have forgotten to come to the door, or have turned off the alarm and thought the door was then open.  There appears to be no clear procedure of what is expected for security to do when a person with a disability calls to enter the east door. 

    May I offer some possibilities?  Perhaps some type of a buzzer could be placed on the outside east entrance so that when a person with a disability wants to come in, someone at  the front desk will know that there is somebody at the east door.  Under the present system of calling ahead, if the phone is busy, you cannot get the message through that you are coming.  This is frustrating, as is waiting outside in a subzero wind-chill and you have little kids with you waiting to get inside.  Perhaps you have other ideas that could help resolve this situation.  You have been a real champ in making the facilities at Robinson accessible for persons with disabilities, and I have confidence that you will find a solution to this little glitch as well. 

Again, let me say that I enjoy coming to Robinson, and that I plan on swimming there as much as I can.  Further, I plan on continuing to enter my kids in many of the special opportunities you offer, such as the Saturday swimming program and the summer sports programs, and evening and weekend swim times that my family can take part in.  Should you need to talk further on this, please call me at your earliest convenience at 864-4095.

Sincerely,

Glen W. White, M.A., M.S.

TRANSPORTATION

September 7, 1988

Senator William Armstrong
United States Senate
Washington, 0. C. 20510

Dear Senator Armstrong:  

I am writing to again request and urge your support of Senate Bill S 2098 which was introduced into the Senate by Senator Ernest Hollings.  

The blind in Colorado and throughout our nation disparately need Senate hearings an the "Air Travel Rights for Blind Individuals Act", S 2098, to prevent the Dept. of Transportation and the FAA from setting restrictive and unreasonable seating regulations for the blind on air planes.  Passage of S 2098 will amend the Federal Aviation Act of 1986 and will assure fair treatment for. the blind in air travel.

Many blind Colorado voters supported you at the polls.  Now, we very much need your support of S 2098.  Senator Tim Wirth has co-sponsored S 2098 and we are very grateful to him for his support.  Will you please do the same before Congress recesses in October?  

I, and all the blind of Colorado, thank you deeply for your help and support.  

Sincerely,

Alice L. George
State NFB Board Member.