Community / Systems Advocacy

Finally, one person shouted in frustration, “That’s it!  I have had it!” and walked away. Shocked, someone called after them, “Are you walking away from these babies that need saving?”

 

The person replied, “No, I am going upstream to find out who is throwing these babies in the river and I am going to stop them!” With that, several others took off up river to help her.

 

• INACCESSIBLE MOVIE THEATERS - ABIL had received complaints about movie theaters with accessible seating only in the back.  We were also told embarrassing stories of consumers wanting to sit with friends closer to the screen being told they presented a “fire hazard” sitting in the aisle.  ABIL responded to these complaints and stories by helping the consumers meet with the theater owner at ABIL.  The group of consumers were abile to voice their concerns and the the theater owner created more accessible seating.

  In other instances consumers have actually used the American’s with Disabilities Act to successfully advocate with national theater chains to improve accessible seating.

• DRIVING– A few years ago, Arizona advocates were successful in fighting a proposed policy of the Arizona Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) that would have given their staff the authority to require a person to get a medical clearance before getting a drivers license. 

  Advocates felt this practice was discriminatory, especially since the MVD staff would be making a judgment based on their viewpoint and not on medical expertise.  It was felt that a better practice was to simply ask the consumer to perform a driving test, like they do with non-disabled persons.  ABIL was instrumental in alerting advocates who then testified at several hearings on the topic.  The DMV policy was not instituted.

• INACCESSIBLE SHUTTLE VANS – ABIL responded to complaints that shuttle vans which transport consumers from the Phoenix Airport to Tucson was not accessible.  We knew that the ADA required them to provide accessible transportation if they provided a public business, so we first informed the service of their obligations under the ADA, verbally and in writing.  When they did not respond after several attempts, ABIL and several consumers filed a complaint with the Arizona Attorney General’s (AG) office under the ADA.  The AG’s office negotiated a settlement with the shuttle company who promised to supply accessible transportation.  ABIL then followed-up to enure they did provide the service required.
• SELF-DETERMINATION - ABIL staff and advocate volunteers have participated on many policy-making bodies within the Arizona Division of Developmental Disabilties and Vocational Rehabilitation to shape policies and practices that promote self-determination and consumer choice. 
• SUFFICIENT PUBLIC TRANSIT -  ABIL has worked for many years with other disability and transit organizations to improve public transit including buses, para-transit or Dial-A-Ride and Light Rail.  We have kept advocates alerted to public meetings and hearings where they testified about the need for increased and improved public transit.  We have provided workshops in how to testify at public hearings.  We also developed a coalition to work on transit ballot initiatives, taught consumers how to write letters to the editor and encouraged them to do so, successfully. 

  ABIL has educated public officials to the impact of transit on residents with disabilities.  We participated in get-out-the-vote activities for the Phoenix initiative  to expand pubic transit to evenings and Sundays; that initiative sucessfully passed.  We learned how the transit system works and how it is financed, including that there was a need for dedicated city and regional funding.  We helped organize self-advocates to advocate city by city and regionally.  We successfully helped pass Glendale, Phoenix and Tempe city taxes to support public transit and in 2004 a regional Maricopa County transportation plan that included public transit for the first time.  An East Valley regional Dial-a-Ride system was created and soon through continued community advocacy we will have a countywide regional Dial-a-Ride system.  ABIL continues to distribute transit information to the disability community to notify them of transit advocacy opportunities through our advocacy listserv Empower!

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