Access Denied Diaries

I was using a computer screen reader to read my email, which included a promotional flyer from the Chemist Warehouse. The graphics in the email were unlabeled, which my screen reader converted into audio as ...

I went to use the accessible bathroom in the new shopping complex in Frankton, Queenstown. I had visited the facility before and applauded it, sharing with others this good example of planning using universal design principles. It was one of the best accessible bathrooms I had come across.

To my horror and absolute frustration I discovered that the toilet had since been 'disabled' by having a stainless steel pipe installed with a back rest, to stop - I guess - the toilet lid going back too far and damaging something. This made it very difficult to maneuver on the toilet seat.

Mobility Parking for a wheelchair user isn't fun. Here's how it goes for me and many of my peers ...

I was checking in with Air New Zealand and I couldn’t see the hand-held barcode zapper for my luggage. I had already explained that I am visually impaired, but the attendant said crossly, "Just like you do at the supermarket!"

Councils don't allow wheelchair accessible carparks in front of schools. They have to be on school land, which is not always possible, and not necessarily the closest carpark. This makes it very difficult to pick my older son up from Nelson Intermediate (his brother is a wheelchair user), or to go to teacher interviews, or other school social events. I end up having to park way down the street.

I have tried to use a Travelscoot - "the world's lightest foldable electric mobility scooter" - on public transport, such as buses, a number of times. I've had bus drivers refuse to allow my Travelscoot onboard as a mobility device, or to give me any assistance with loading and unloading it.

I was taking my Mum for a haircut and some grocery shopping at a local shopping mall. I have a Mobility Parking Permit and we managed to find an empty accessible carpark.

However, it was very difficult to get out of the car because only the passenger side had wide enough access space to safely exit. The driver's side was right next to a kerbed garden, so it wasn't easy for me to get out of the car, and an extra hazard to negotiate once I did. Also the carpark was on a slope, so it was difficult to prevent my mobility scooter and my Mum's walker from rolling back into the path of traffic, and to get everything into the car after shopping.

I was in training at a new job and, because I have a neurodiverse disability, I couldn't learn properly in the employer's neurotypical environment.

Prior to a recent procedure at Wellington Hospital, I was given small print text paperwork stating all the important things that I should observe when I go into the hospital for my operation. I am blind, so it was impossible for me to read this information!

I love films. I wanted to watch a film with a friend at the Lighthouse Cinema.