Disability Needs?

[Rathany]

Yay for most event space being ground floor level in 2011.

[BrockRoshiVanni]

Hello. I am a disabled person and just attended Kumorcion for my second time last year. Great convention and good disability service. In addition to personal elevators for medical emergencies and the like as stated above, ramps would be an excellent idea.

[loroo]

Seeing as the con will be held in two separate locations in 2011, are there going to be arrangements made to help people with disabilities get from one hotel to the other quickly?  Some type of golf cart/people mover situation would be helpful otherwise I'm not going to be able to attend the con since I won't be fully able to participate.

Its been a few years since I've gone to Kumoricon (I even offered to be a disability liaison and was told more than once in meetings it wasn't needed) so I'm glad to see at least a bit of change.

One of the suggestions I did have that may have already been addressed is to allow people with disabilities a chance to go through the dealers room without the huge crowds that make their way in and make it almost impossible to move around or for me to get out of the way with my wheelchair.  Also, depending on layout, when they used the Vancouver Hilton before they made us use the driveway ramp to enter the dealer's room in the garage (even though we should have been able to use the elevators).  Let me tell you that that driveway can't be ADA compliant.  My husband lost his grip on the wheelchair several times (and even got muscle cramps) and I almost fell out every time we wanted to go spend money.  No fun!

And my comments after reading through the thread.

First, having elevator attendants man the banks of elevators on the primary floors of the con (not necessarily actually riding in them) is VERY helpful.

Second, I would NEVER want a badge identifying myself as disabled.  I would much rather plan my "strategy of attack" for the con by planning my activities and find out before the con actually happens who I talk to for accommodation.  FWIW I don't have issue with letting people who need to know (i.e. a liaison, chairperson, etc.) in advance (like on a registration form) I just don't want the world to know.

Third, there is nothing you can do about educating the attendees.  Being courteous to someone who looks like they may be having a difficult time is just something you have to learn.  Or possibly risk getting run over by a wheelchair or losing a beautiful costume to one.  At this point in my life I realize I have to accommodate the "normal" people more than they need to accommodate me, unfortunately.

Fourth, having people help keep the hallways clear is always key.  Sometimes this is a problem and sometimes it isn't.

Fifth, in previous cons there haven't been clear areas where chairs have been removed or not placed in rooms so that wheelchairs and walkers have a place -- and not necessarily at the very back of the room.

Sixth, Vancouver has a sizeable deaf/blind community.  I think it would be great to reach out to them and let them know how fun the con is and how available it is to them.

Seventh, I've actually resorted to purchasing VIP tickets to help me get around the con better.  I was treated completely differently when people realized I was a VIP.  Possibly some of the VIP perks can also be used for the disabled attendees.

Eighth, I hate pushing myself to the front of the line.  I would feel more comfortable, for example, picking up my registration badge in the convention offices rather than looking like I've just trounced in ahead of everyone else waiting for registration.  I have found this trouncing attitude tends to lead to hostility and disrespect more than anything else I do.

Ninth, I would be more than willing to help the con any way I can.  I just got tired of being turned down before.

Tenth, well I just had to put a 10 in here somehow, lol.  Give me time and I'm sure I'll come up with one.

[Rathany]

2 - That has never been the plan, except for adults who are too mentally disabled to be without a caregiver.  We have done cards that go in the back of a badge, and they can also be hidden by turning them inward.  

4 - Can't say we always succeed, but we always try.  

5 - Since it is the venue's responsibility to have accessibility issues for handicapped people, and because they are the ones who do the room setups, they should handle this.  We, however, should be better at checking that they do.  

6 - Cool

7 - I get sad when I hear that.  Maids, who help the VIPs, should also be helping with certain disability issues.  They can hold places in line, bring people to the front of a line, etc.  But, one problem is that there are so many types of disability that it is impossible to prepare for all of them.  

8 - That would be great.  But, 99.9% of our disabled attendees do NOT tell us in advance that they need help.  If they did, we'd have a better idea of what to expect.  We have had disability situations that would never have occurred to us.  If we tried to move the badges of disabled attendees in general, it would create chaos.  If you want your badge held separately, email reg and talk to them.  If you are not VIP this year, maybe we can have your badge at info or Member Services.  

9 - This likely should not be happening.  However, certain disability things cannot be done by our staff.  They are the venue's responsibility.  

10 - Email our facilities liaison at hotel@ [Edit by JeffT: Corrected email address] about shuttles between the hotels.  I don't deal directly with the hotels, so he can tell you more about what is going on with that.  

[Taikei]

Way late, but I just wanna say thanks, I have mild scoliosis (which makes everything from my shoulders down out of alignment) as well as chronic migraines and I had been standing and walking for a few hours when a huge migraine suddenly hit second day of con and I was lucky enough to talk to a yojimbo and get through the elevator line to my room where I had some medication and took a long nap.

<3 thank you guys.

[Animeman73]

I'm actually forward to the convention. The last time i was at the vancouver Hilton i noted that the panel rooms and event halls all had computer screens with large print on them. And for someone with my visual impairment that is a God sent.

[YukonChelsa]

I am going to be attending and may need to use a wheelchair at times (can't stand on my feet too long, I have severe arthritis) I hope this won't interfere too much with my con experience! I think we're staying at the Red Lion; anyone know how well they deal with disabled patrons? Also, how hard will it be to get to things like the vendor hall? I expect we'll be spending a lot of time there

[Titus_Love_Doll]

Well i think if you head down to the hospital area like mine here we have a small place around the hospital that rents out wheel chairs. ^^ I hope that helps or ask your local phamacy and see if they can help you find a place around your area to rent one for the con weekend

[AllyKat]

I am going to be attending and may need to use a wheelchair at times (can't stand on my feet too long, I have severe arthritis) I hope this won't interfere too much with my con experience! I think we're staying at the Red Lion; anyone know how well they deal with disabled patrons? Also, how hard will it be to get to things like the vendor hall? I expect we'll be spending a lot of time there

The beauty of this years hotels are their accessibility (to me anyway)...

Both hotels have *Most* of their meeting rooms on the main floor... the only exceptions to this are the Hilton's 2nd floor rooms (at least two elevators go here!) and the garage.

Since I don't know whats going where, I can't tell you if you'll spend most of your time in any given area, but it seems like more often than not, what you will want will be on ground level, giving anyone easy access, beyond that, two elevators is a fair amount for getting to the garage and to the 2nd level in the hilton!

-Ally

[TalaRedWolf33]

Just a quick question. I dont have much of a disability, but i do have a heart and kidney problem. I will be bringing an extra supply of my meds but on the off chance that i faint or, sadly this has happened once before, have an acctident, will there be a place where i could sit and have things checked out? Not like a nurses station but more of a first aid place?

[Jacob_Blackfeather]

I am happy you have a disabled line my mother has a heart condition and bad knee's and you did a helpful job by just getting her upfront to get it dome witch was really nice :3 thank you I hope to have the same experiance

[ThiefKingsHier]

This years registration went so smooth/quickly it was never an issue for me, and I really can't stand very long without my body exploding) Thanks for being awesome reg-staff.

[veraca]

Wait... What? You can skip waiting in the reg line if you have bad legs? I'm pretty confused. "Bad legs" can be put into different categories for a number of reasons. Allowing someone like myself with what I consider minor leg issues to skip in line is pretty unfair. However, add in something like highly sensitive to humidity and heat, does that mean I would qualify for a special badge or just be confined to being in the hotel all the time with the A/C?

Yes, I'd be happy to have these benefits for myself, but at the same time I feel I don't require a special badge. I kind of expect to be in pain from conventions.

My point is, unless they can get ahold of your medical background or you can prove it in some way, there will be people trying to muscle in on this system to take advantage of it. I remember talking to a woman in line at SakuraCon about her assistance dog and how much of a headache it was for her dog to be OK'd but how she really needed it due to crowd stress.

Also, I don't know if this was a policy in place for this convention... But I do recall my friend stressing out at this year's AX because she didn't have someone to escort her in her wheelchair for about an hour and how she got fed up and just walked around, and thoroughly regretted the pains it gave her later. Is there a policy for people with wheelchairs to be unable to attend unless escorted by their own friend/family they set up (not Staff)?
I was very pleased to see when a staffer helped a person in a wheelchair get through a crowded corner of lines though one night, and how most people when they saw people in the chairs did try to make room for them.

[superjaz]

Wait... What? You can skip waiting in the reg line if you have bad legs? I'm pretty confused. "Bad legs" can be put into different categories for a number of reasons. Allowing someone like myself with what I consider minor leg issues to skip in line is pretty unfair. However, add in something like highly sensitive to humidity and heat, does that mean I would qualify for a special badge or just be confined to being in the hotel all the time with the A/C?

Yes, I'd be happy to have these benefits for myself, but at the same time I feel I don't require a special badge. I kind of expect to be in pain from conventions.

*other staff correct me if I am mistaken, this is what I have witnessed first hand*
There isn't a special badge.  But Kumoricon takes care of the attendees best it can.
What is encouraged is if you have (but not limited to) a disability or some other physical, (or other) issue (wheel chair/illness/blindness/crutches heck I have heard of some developmental needs in past cases, ect) contact registration via email explaining the situation and we can accommodate the best we can to make registration as painless as possible, also helps us be on the look out or have any needed staff, (such as acting as a helper to a blind person) on hand

If unable to email before con, then people can notify maid squad and they can escort people to the front of the line.  Kumoricon does not ask for proof of needs.  If some one wants to lie to skip ahead, there really isn't much the con can do to prevent that, but why take a stupid chance?

As for the friend needed help with a wheel chair that's a situation that I would recommend e-mailing ahead of time so a staff could be found to be of service.  I am sure yoji's and staff would love help but at con staff have assigned duties as well.

[ThiefKingsHier]

Wait... What? You can skip waiting in the reg line if you have bad legs? I'm pretty confused. "Bad legs" can be put into different categories for a number of reasons. Allowing someone like myself with what I consider minor leg issues to skip in line is pretty unfair. However, add in something like highly sensitive to humidity and heat, does that mean I would qualify for a special badge or just be confined to being in the hotel all the time with the A/C?

Yes, I'd be happy to have these benefits for myself, but at the same time I feel I don't require a special badge. I kind of expect to be in pain from conventions.

My point is, unless they can get ahold of your medical background or you can prove it in some way, there will be people trying to muscle in on this system to take advantage of it. I remember talking to a woman in line at SakuraCon about her assistance dog and how much of a headache it was for her dog to be OK'd but how she really needed it due to crowd stress.

It is a pretty difficult subject isn't it? Specifically with where the line is ( no pun intended)

I find that often times logic is not really used.

At a different convention I had got in line immediately after going through DIalyasis and having a migraine due to this , and with my actually 'bad feet/knees/back in 94 degrees i had to stand in line for five hours while a person sitting in a wheel chair was moved ahead.

And for things like 'Crowd control"  To be perfectly blunt, what are they doing at convention?

And of coarse your very right about the term "Bad-" being vague.I simply use it because if my health issues are VERY rare and if I use the exact term people think I'm making it up. Even with  a Drs note. ( Really, I've tried it before)

But I don't have any answers myself so I guess I can't complain too much.

[That_Guy]

This year at Registration many of the ADA people who were waiting in line did inform a Yoji who then informed us so we tried to register them about a minute or two before we opened Reg which caused no delay and helped give our new staff some hands on training (which is one of the reason Reg was so fast this year).

We try to treat everyone equally but some people just need a little more help than others and it's not just people in wheelchairs or with canes, but also bad legs, backs, etc. and we had the staff and the room to do it this year in Reg and we didn't question it (We also don't like people who lie about a disability so they can cut in line because it's not fair to everyone else and we will catch you if you try). I can't say the same for next year but we will always try to help, and find better ways of registering everyone equally, while improving.

We also love hearing comments and suggestions on how we can do this better next year.

[veraca]

I've never really looked into it for myself, and have only thought about since my friend is now severely unable to walk around and after she told me about her experience of a bad group of friends who were always late and how that effected her amount of time she could spend at the convention since they had that policy...

I do wish you could put something to inform people of "bad" legs and backs and stuff. We had in my group this year an underaged girl with a bad back (metal in it I believe), not just myself (scoliosis and bad knees). She was in more pain than me because of her back and had I known she could've gone ahead, I would've asked a staff member about it if there was something that could be done. She ended up just sitting down while I just tried to keep moving back and forth so there was no constant pressure on my legs.
So maybe, something about it in the policies section, somewhere on the forums, or a section about it on the website (around the registration area)?
Something that tells attendees with simple issues (not crutches or wheelchairs or walkers) what they may have the option of doing when talking with the staff. I know it sounds really simple, but the thought of asking the staff if she could skip ahead in line just never came to mind for us. Our first thought was can she sit down, and should we have brought a little fold up chair (we saw someone had one farther up the line).

[BlackjackGabbiani]

I think one of the issues is that they sort of think people will take the initiative.

Anyway, I thought this con was pretty bad as far as mobility. The Artist Alley was just...unnavigatable with a walker. It was to the point where I was mentally figuring if equipping mine with a cowcatcher would be legal, only about half jokingly. And so few doors were automatic, which meant I either had to hoist them open myself and hope I could get the walker through in time or ask someone passing by if they could hold the door open.

[veraca]

I remember seeing most of the doors for the handicapped that were marked at the Red Lion, when I went around in circles looking for the button to open it and saw none, I was like "....what the heck?" So I pushed on the handle and it didn't open automatically, or even stay open on its own. It was a real pain just for taking your arms full of costumes packaged away in and out of the hotel.

[BlackjackGabbiani]

Yeah, that was a real headache. And I got an ADA compliant room at the Hilton but the door there wasn't automatic either! As I said in the "con space" thread, you can have all the bars in the bathtub you want, but it does no good if you can't get into the room to begin with.

[kaylakamikaze]

I have Cataplexy which without really getting into complicated terms, I collapse and my vision goes away when certain emotions happen like laughter...which is really embarrassing and can make it worse..I take medication for it so it helps it not happen so often. but it happend twice. once in the hallway of the hilton sadly infront of todd *sigh* and it took forever to reassure people i was going to be ok and sometimes it happens my friends are usually there to help and i can warn people if it is going to happen but i went to get ice by myself...ugh dumb dumb dumb. and another time after the voice acting panel and the staff member was very rude she was yelling at me and telling my friends it was rediculous how i was acting. When my friends were explaining what was happening she said she didnt want to hear it and she had to get ready for the cosplay judging. I was ok but that time I needed some assistance cuz I hit my head on a chair going down. Other staff members who knew about the problem were very considerate and helped me to my room, but this one girl was not.