Bronwyn Anderson on Awareness Education

Ko Bronwyn Anderson ahau. I'm blind from macular degeneration. I'm a retired psychologist and I'm currently still a leadership coach

I think some funded education for people around the likely needs of people who, for example, are blind. A lot of people don't recognise what a white cane means. And I know of people who've not been allowed to take a guide dog on buses.

And a quick example is the other day at a hotel I needed to use the bathroom. When I asked for a public bathroom, the receptionist tossed over a very, very tiny key and I looked at it in horror because that meant I had to try to get it in the lock. I had my white cane with me, but it obviously didn't mean anything to her. By the time I followed the very vague instructions to get there, I found that the public toilet was in a very narrow, dark corridor with no lighting. So, I ended up in this dark space, legs crossed, fumbling around trying to find the keyhole to get the key into it. By the time I got in there, my dignity was sorely, sorely pressed.

I think that having the white cane, as a symbol, should be known by everybody as to what that means.

Another example of people's lack of education around such a thing as blindness is when, you know, I say, "I need some help in a shop and I'm blind, so I can't read the labels."

People look at me and say, "Well, you don't look blind."

And I'm thinking, "What on earth am I meant to look like?"

So, there's a huge lack of education with New Zealanders.

The same day that I had the trouble finding the key and getting it into the lock, I was trying to get a taxi that took the total disability card. And that was really, really difficult, far more difficult than it needed to be. So, I think outside every railway station and airport, the first parking space in every cab rank should be allocated to disability taxis and the taxi company that is taking the total mobility card. And that would enable people who have a disability to know exactly which taxi to go to, right at the front of the queue. I think it's a very simple thing to do.

There needs to be enforceable standards in New Zealand around such things as I've just talked about, like having that first taxi stand for people with disabilities. There needs to be enforceable standards around ramps, having rails.

There are a lot of areas in New Zealand that have not got any enforceable standards around them and I think that's something that our politicians need to be looking at and listening to people with disabilities as to what those standards need to be.