Dennis,

I think you should send a copy of your experience to the airline that
transported you.  In fact all airlines should be made aware of how they are
treating their handicap passengers.  It certainly opened my eyes to the
thoughtless way I may have wheeled my 97 year old mother-in-law who would
never say anything if I left her facing the wall with a floor plant
tickling her in the ear.

>Nothing prepares you for the shock.  No amount of intellectualising can get
>you ready for that first moment when your view of the world, and the world's
>view of you, changes because now you are in a wheelchair.
>
>For me this moment occurred early one morning at Perth Airport as I began
>the long journey that would take me half way round the world in just over a
>day.  I had been invited by my friend Joan Snyder to visit her in the small
>central Illinois town of Chillicothe to work with her on an anthology of PD
>related writings.  The invitation was one I found hard to resist.  Not only
>was I excited by the project but I was also eager to meet 'in real life' a
>woman I had come to think of as a friend since first meeting her on the
>Parkinson's Information Exchange some two years ago.  But there were
>compelling reasons not to make the trip - not least of all that for a
>variety of reasons my wife Jo would be unable to accompany me at that time.
>
>Just a few years ago that would only have been a problem because we like to
>do things together - these days however the thought of travelling across the
>globe, and managing for two weeks without her unobtrusive care and support,
>was daunting.  But one by one the problems solved themselves until only
>two facts remained; I really wanted to go - and both Jo and I were worried
>about me travelling alone.  Eventually we compromised - I would go, but as a
>wheelchair assisted passenger.
>
>Which is why early one morning a few weeks ago I found myself looking up at
>the suddenly tall young woman who moments earlier I had towered over.  For
>an instant I felt small, childlike, almost insignificant - and then a
>cheerful voice said "off we go" and the 'tall' woman behind her imposing
>counter disappeared and I was able to regain my sense of being a 49 year old
>adult as we moved through the wider spaces of the concourse.  Clutching my
>cabin baggage as if it contained my life (it did - my passport and a months
>supply of meds), I was wheeled to security, relieved of my bag, wheeled
>through, reunited with my bag and wheeled straight on to the aircraft and
>to my seat.
>
>'Piece of cake' I thought - little did I know.
>
>Little did I know that the next 30 hours would be a learning experience as
>intense as any I have ever had.  The first thing I had to learn was that
>unless you establish yourself as a human being as you meet them many of the
>people assigned to help you will treat you like a piece of luggage.  They
>will push you face first into elevators and leave you facing the back wall.
>They will leave you in empty rooms with minimal explanation ("back soon" or
>"wait here").  They will push you uncomfortably close to corners, potted
>plants and a wide selection of hard, sharp edged objects.  They will leave
>you for long periods in places with no access to toilets or refreshments.
>They will even ignore your presence and discuss with a third party the
>inconvenience of allowing you to wait in 'their' wheelchair until the
>arrival of the wheelchair which is to take you on the next stage of the
>journey.  To put that in perspective there were no seats in the area and my
>uncaring friend was proposing seating me on the edge of a low brick
>flower-box. As it is hard for an 'off' PWP to assert himself I experienced
>all of the above, some of them several times.
>
>On the flip side I did meet some helpers who took the time and trouble to
>treat me with respect and care.  One cheerfully made two trips on my behalf,
>the second to bring my luggage from the carousel when no-one turned up to
>help him.  Another, on discovering that my flight wasn't boarding for
>another hour and that in the meantime he was needed elsewhere, inquired
>where I would prefer to be left.  At my request  he left me at a coffee shop
>after first  explained why he was leaving me and telling me what time he
>would be back for me (he honoured it to the minute).  It being a
>self-service coffee shop, his last act before leaving was to bring a member
>of the coffee shop staff to my table to take my order.   Strange to say,
>against the stereotypes and with one exception, I found that the men who
>assisted me were more aware of my needs than the women.  I have speculated
>that this is because I am a big man and take some pushing.  The women who
>pushed me found it very hard going, and I suspect that all of their
>resources were concentrated on simply keeping me moving, leaving nothing for
>the niceties.
>
>I found being in a wheelchair curiously liberating in one respect.. I am a
>PWP of long standing with, depending on my medication status, either a slow
>shuffling walk or a wildly erratic dyskinetic stumble as my usual mode of
>travel.  I am used to drawing looks in public places.  Compared to the looks
>I usually get, the looks I got in the wheelchair were friendly, concerned,
>dare I say caring. It was an unexpected bonus.
>
>The experience of travelling as a wheelchair assisted passenger has left me
>with mixed feelings but  there is no doubt in my mind that without the
>service I would not have been able to make the journey or my contribution to
>the book. I have no way of knowing what success awaits "Beyond the Pause"
>but I do know that my life is already richer for having met the talented
>group of people working to make it a reality.  I am also richer for being
>able to see the originals of Jane Scott's and Mark Esser's extraordinary and
>moving exhibition "The Letting Go - A Parkinson's Story".  The book will
>feature many of the pieces.  Not least of all I am richer for having met
>many of the people I have 'chatted' with for so long on the internet.
>
>I am home now, back in my familiar surroundings.  A year ago I thought my
>travelling days were done.  The last few weeks has shown me this is not so.
>I doubt I will travel alone again but I will travel.  For all its faults
>'wheelchair assisted' has given me back the world.
>
>+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>Dennis Greene 49/dx 37/ onset 32
>There's nothing wrong with me that a cure for PD won't fix!
>[log in to unmask]
>http://members.networx.net.au/~dennisg/
>+++++++++++++++++++++++++++


jjjane
http://www.geocities.com/soho/village/6263/pienet/people/hithross.html