PORT TOWNSEND — For people with physical disabilities, little things can make a big difference.
The slightest grade on a sidewalk throws a wheelchair askew, the size of doors on bathrooms limit accessibility, the grades between sidewalks and crosswalks facing into the street can be disorienting — and silent, hybrid vehicles become a problem when you rely on your ears rather than your eyes in an intersection.
People not usually blind or confined to a wheelchair learned about the challenges first-hand Wednesday when Disability Awareness Starts Here!, advocates for the disabled population of Jefferson County, held its seventh Assume-a-Disability day.
In their shoes
The event put people behind walkers, in wheelchairs and wearing blindfolds into the busy intersections, crosswalks and sidewalks of Port Townsend and Port Hadlock for a few hours.
“One of the goals of this year’s event is to help the participants understand that a livable community must have accessible pedestrian walkways and safe crossings of busy roads,” said Lynn Gressley, president of Disability Awareness Starts Here!
“We also hope to increase the community’s awareness of the importance of including people with disabilities in our everyday lives.”
Port Townsend resident Bill Miller, who serves on the Jefferson County Planning Commission, wore a blindfold during the simulation, and said the goal of the event definitely sank in.
“I have a tremendous appreciation for sidewalks that I never had before,” Miller said.
“This gave me the motivation to be an advocate for keeping pedestrians and traffic safely separated.”
Each participant was paired with a disabled community member who knew the lay of the land, or a person with experience and training in working with those with disabilities.
Jefferson County Auditor Donna Eldridge spent the day navigating across Sims Way and into the Port of Port Townsend boat yard.
Eldridge and her guide, Cathy Jarvis, a rehabilitation teacher from Quilcence, both went through the walk temporarily blindfolded.
“Without Cathy, I would have been completely lost,” Eldridge said.
“Where we were instructed to go, a blind person can’t get there.
“The Larry Scott Trail is a great place, but if you are blind you are going to have to have someone drive you there.”
Jarvis, who isn’t blind but who has an extensive history of working with people who are, showed Eldridge some of the techniques for discovering vehicles, fences and parking barriers throughout the boat yard.
“I felt vulnerable just sitting on a bench,” Eldridge said.
‘Scary out there’
“I have to give credit to those without sight or with limited sight because it’s scary out there.”
In another part of town, Jefferson County Administrator Philip Morley was maneuvering a wheelchair with one arm.
In Morley’s simulation, he had a bad knee and had suffered a stroke that left his right arm mostly useless.
“In a wheelchair, you learn about what a big difference an inch or two makes,” Morley said.
“In some places, there aren’t even any sidewalks, so you navigate through parking lots.
“By the end, it was weighing on me to be so dependent.”
Gressley had a learning experience during the event.
“I learned something today, and I’ve been blind for 30 years,” he said.
“The [main intersection] in Port Hadlock is the worst intersection I’ve seen in a long time.”
Morley said he was grateful that the federal Americans with Disabilities Act requires new buildings to be accessible for the disabled, but added that Jefferson County was in a difficult situation.
“We need to find the money to update the older buildings,” Morley said. “Unfortunately, with the trying economic times, that might be a long time coming.”
Since forming in May 1999, Disability Awareness Starts Here! has worked to assure that people with disabilities have opportunities to participate in every aspect of community life equal to those of people without disabilities.
Gressley said the program has successfully employed community advocacy and education to improve access to public places and programs in Port Townsend and Jefferson County, and to teach the community about why and how good access makes good sense for everyone.
For more information on the program, visit www.dashproject.org/.
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Reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsuladailynews.com.
