The ramp with the bars around it, tied with the drop curb and big curb and posts. As a new scooter user accessibility is now a new experiance for me. I am starting to vlog accessible walks in my area but intend to film some accessible nightmares as well. Having been quite an independent person before my restricted mobility I have been finding it shockingly hard. Keep up the good work.
I'm pretty sure I remember seeing a video of a city planner going out in a wheelchair recently to see what it's like! I think that's slowly becoming part of the training
It’s actually a thing at the university I went to that people studying any courses that involve building design (eg architecture) do a day where they use a wheelchair all day. It’s amazing. However, the building is extremely accessible but not really when there’s 60+ extra wheelchair users
KT when I was 8 in primary school we had a workshop on disabilities where a company came to the school and taught us about wheelchairs and amputees and other things I can’t quite remember 12 years later. I do remember we all had a turn in the wheelchair to learn how to control it and understand how difficult it can be to manoeuvre. I imagine much of the class just saw it as fun, but looking back I remember how frustrating I found it trying to go around the cones and not understanding how to turn properly
I cant tell you how many times i have called ahead to ask if they are wheelchair accessible and the reply is " yes, there is only a couple steps." And they are serious...
Re: the staircase with the yellow wheelchair logo on each step. I think a big issue with accessibility is the lack of representation in the choice of logos. The "person in wheelchair" logo is what everyone uses for a generic "disability" logo. It looks like that staircase was designed for people with visual impairment, or perhaps balance issues. The steps have yellow logos, the treading is raised and appears to have better slip resistant grip. It's also closer to the rail for people with visual impairment to use to help guide them as to when the stairs start and stop. I've noticed some places that have quiet sensory rooms for people with autism just use the generic wheelchair logo because there's no universal logo for autism.
Yep - Visually impaired / Moter control issues. Those steps with the yellow disability stickers would have been great for me! Not so much for her :(. Although some of them really were making me go "WTF WHHHHYYYYY" Like with the bars, or what i presume was supposed to be a disability ramp path that got blocked off by a 2 inch concrete wall >.
@@Rebeccarochelle22 nah lots of autistic people, such as myself, find it offensive because it implies we're incomplete Within neurodiverse communities but especially the autistic community use the rainbow infinity sign but it isnt that well known to the general public
When I was using a cane, I was trying to set up accommodations at my university, and I was sent to an accessibility advisor. Their office was in a building under construction so the accessible entrance was blocked, I had to use an entrance with stairs--the open door button at the top didn't work either. It was a huge energy cost with the cane but would've been straight up impossible with a wheelchair--to see an accessibility advisor!! (Needless to say I had to drop out of that school lmao)
This reminds me of my pain clinic where the door opener is broken snd it is the heaviest door Ive ever seen. I usually aggravate my next for days after an appointment.
@@ChrisPage68 where is lake been true that some municipalities would push back, you cannot get anywhere unless you’re willing to stand up and say this is not acceptable! Ash Christine Fitzgerald, community advocate, Silicon Valley Independent Living Center, Santa Clara County, California
In my city the municipality built a very nice wheelchair accesible beach walk. And then a lot of people who went by bike there went very fast and people complained, so the municipality put up things to hinder bikes from going too fast.... which also hindered wheelchairs from even entering the beach walk >.< great job!
My province stopped using trains in the 80s, and the government turned all the rail beds into a very well maintained cross-province public trail way. In recent years, people who walk on the trails have complained about bikes going too fast on the trails within the capital city's metro area. Now we've got poles and bolders preventing anything wider than an umbrella stroller from getting through. This prevents most wheel chairs, most larger baby carriages, and all quad bikes (which were not the problem) but DOESN'T effectively block off dirt bikes (which were the problem to begin with.) So now we've got inaccessible trails for "foot and bicycle traffic only" with a posted speed limit.
Horrendous. I work for Motivation, a charity that provides wheelchairs for people in developing countries, and we’ve been fighting against those things. In fact we helped Free Wheelchair Mission design their second and third generation wheelchairs to stop those things appearing.
I think the bars across the ramp at 9:45 are there to prevent people using it for health and safety. They were probably unable to remove it so they put bars across it.
@@reachandler3655 Me three. I think they realized their ramp was _way_ too steep, and put those bars there until another ramp (a safe one) could be built and/or that ramp remodeled.
To be fair, the ramp with the bars across it at 10.13 could have been the council building a ramp, realising the ramp was terrible, then blocking off the ramp.
I think there is a case for making an effort to provide "accessible" toilets in places that are not wheelchair accessible. Remember what they say "no all disabilities are visible", so all those people might manage the stairs and still need the extra space/facilities disabled toilets have. I've heard people with stomas find they need the space to do what they need to do, but I don't expect them to have problems with stairs. Even myself, if I do take on the challenge of going somewhere on foot and navigate some stairs, I still might struggle with a non raised toilets, different muscle groups! I don't know how you should label it, but upstairs in a listed building isn't ever going to me wheelchair accessible but a disabled person might still need the bathroom.
Have several stories of Wheelchair accessibility fail. Two of them stand out and both take place at a mall (two different ones). Scene 1: The wheelchair-only washroom was a tiny cubicle which was barely able to house my wheelchair. It was a small platform and right behind it is a steep and curved ramp. Had to be VERY careful not to lean backwards while doing my business. Scene 2: There are five elevators/lifts and four of them can only go to a select number of floors (I found this really weird). The fifth one goes to all floors. I needed the washroom but the only washrooms were located on the second floor. The lift that went to all floors had conked out and none of the other lifts went to the second floor.
Dhruv George that's ridiculous! I also find it ridiculous that there was only a suitable bathroom on one floor?! Shouldn't there be more than one especially in a multi-storey building?!
@@callabeth258 Ideally, yes Unfortunately, it was one of the malls closer to my residence. However, since then, I've refused to go there. Other malls which were further away, I didn't mind a longer trip, at least they were more competent
The worse thing I’ve seen in Sweden is when it goes: you need help as a disabled person? Please ask reception on the second floor.” And that sign was next to loads of sets of stairs.
Many years ago I participated in a "Disability Awareness Day" at St. Rita's Hospital in Lima, Ohio. Able bodied individuals were assigned a disability, say one person was assigned to be a T4 paraplegic like myself."Bill" would then foolow me, the actual paraplegic and try to duplicate my task while the able bodied chaperone stod by to help Bill if needed. Other participants were given issues such as blindness or crutches, you get the idea. At the end the media was invited in to cover the panel discussion that followed. Various community leaders and a few hospital executives participated. In short, lets just say that many were humbled that day.
Should be the norm in all workplaces for all new staff, if not how are working conditions ever going to offer equality and business clients ever going to receive it?
I think the ‘wheelchair steps’ (6:35) are actually designed for other disabilities, they are beside a handrail and have extra wide marks at the edge for use with a white cane or walking stick. The wheelchair symbol is the universal symbol for disability
I went to a sort of park/garden last year that had a whole page about how accessible it was. And this was true! If you only wanted to see about 10% of the park. Most of the paths were far too steep for a wheelchair. I tried anyway, and I started to slide downhill, which was honestly terrifying. We decided to take a break at the tea house, only to find that there was no ramp at all. Anywhere. Honestly it kind of ruined my day and I just wanted to go home. It was supposed to be a day trip and my friend and I planned around accessibility (as we have to do) so we get there and paid an entrance fee for a park I couldn't get to most of.
this brings up a great topic i would love for you to give your opinion on: the disability symbol. i'm not talking about the active vs passive logo, i cant think of a reason anyone would be against that change. i mean does it ever bother wheelchair users that the symbol for all of us is a person in a wheelchair when most disabled people dont know what its like to be in a wheelchair? like when something is related to disabilities that symbol gets slapped on it when that might make it misleading because its not wheelchair specific? for example, someone pointed out those stairs with the lip on them but no ramp could be for another type of disabled person, but because the universal symbol for accessibility is ♿ its makes us think somehow those stairs were intended to be wheelchair accessible? idk i know as a mentally disabled person, i ALWAYS feel guilty about that symbol representing me cause i feel like it implies that ive struggled with certain things that i have not. but i also wouldnt want it changed just to include people with invisible disabilities. so im just really curious if it ever annoys wheelchair users that we use a person in a wheelchair to also reflect people who dont rely on wheelchairs? do u wish we would stop using that symbol and make up our own? i cant find many people discussing it.
I think the only defendable one was the stairs with the edge strips and the railing. Not wheel chair accessible of course but for people with low vision or who use a cane.
I once had a meltdown at disney and lost my mom so this cast member wrote yes or no questions on a notepad and brought me to a quiet place while they called my mom.
Just as a bit of a heads up re the garden chairs. These chairs are often hand built by people living in countries that experience poverty and are not provided with government assistance. Poverty should not affect someone’s ability to be mobile and not everyone has the means to access proper mobility aids.
@@ChrisPage68 when you live with abject poverty and have to make medical devices with whatever you can find, what is "sound" isn't necessarily the prime motivator.
6:50 are they not the stairs that convert into an lift/elevator? I saw a video somewhere and they all flattened out and then raised up to the higher floor once a button was pressed.
When I saw the picture 6:54 the first time I thought it looked like the left side of the steps flatten out to become a ramp, but if they become flat so you can get your chair onto them and then it's a lift then that's pretty cool
I just ordered my first mobility device yesterday. I know a lot of people have zero choice but because my disability of lupus is episodic and comes and goes, I've felt a lot of shame involved with getting a mobility device, I think that comes from my mom telling me I was faking my illness for attention. But I got a walker that converts into a little wheelchair to be used when my fatigue and pluerisy gets really bad. I can walk a good 3/4 of the time and I'm very excited and nervous for when it arrives next week.
Gem, we are going out for Easter lunch, we have picked a pub which is very accessible for wheelchairs and it’s a great pub my father-in-law really enjoys this pub so it’s a win all around
My school has so many steep ramps into their buildings. I always have to ask some random stranger to help me up so I can get to class. Some have handrails so I have to use that as leverage and pull myself up a couple meters until I get to solid ground. Sigh....
There was a ramp just like the first one at one place I stayed for a bit. I lived at the bottom. Every day I would have to roll myself up the drive the long way, but coming home I would zoom down like a mad person. 😂
That is exactly what I would do. At the mall near us there is a ramp down from the parking garage and when I'm with someone I ask them to hold the door open so I can zoom down into the mall.
What a farce! Just got back from teacher interviews. We still have snow and ice on the ground so I couldn't use the sidewalks with my power chair. Facing traffic down a narrow street with cars parked on both sides cos teacher interviews so busy. So scary and dangerous. Finally find the lowered ramp to get back on the sidewalk to approach the school and someone had parked there. Another detour and I'm finally at the school doors where the automatic door button is a mile away from the door which has a very severe door step so have to approach straight on and within the 3 seconds the door stays open. ugh. It was an exhausting night!
I'm fairly sure the ramps at 11:14 (misguided as they were) were originally intended for wheelchairs as there are two, one either side of the handrail. It makes me think there's likely an elevator nearby and they installed the handrail but hadn't gotten around to removing the groved rail yet.
At the 6.45 ‘wheelchair stairs’ I wondered if it’s one of those magic flights that converts into a lift? I’ve seen video of steps in a London restaurant that does that.
Alternatively it is a please keep this area clear for people who have a disability but are still able to climb stairs. It is so they can go up the stairs at their pace without worrying about holding people up or being bumped. My school has one of those lifts but the stupid thing is you require one of the it technicians who are up the stairs when they are in their office. For the students it is easier to go along a route with 5 sets of double wide fire doors, 1 single wide fire door, 2 platform lifts with heavy doors and a cab lift.
From 2017 to 2022 I was a Councillor on South Lanarkshire Council. When I was elected, the Council had to spend £40,000 on door openers, as the building was almost entirely inaccessible. The lifts to the committee rooms and the debating chamber were too small for any of my various chairs, so I had to go out of the building and use the fire escape to get up there. I have visited subsequently and the mezzanine lift was out of service and had been for six months! The Scottish Parliament was built much more recently, but it is almost as bad. It’s always a case of ablebods at the front, cripples round the back! I took a wheelchair’s eye perspective to my council and to the Scottish Parliament, but it only brought minor changes.
I think the thing that was most insane to me was a crosswalk with the curbs in the middle and the ramp with a bar snack in the middle like how could you possibly build these things and think they could work. You’re definitely right that things can be built to code and following all the steps but not really beususable.
Well, the one at 9:44 I have an answer for: It is a ramp for trolleys and carts! And then the lokal youth have used it for skateboarding, bmx bikes and such, lokals got tired of it and railed it of! Happens alot here in Sweden, those ramps were everywhere on buildings from the 50´s to the 70´s...
These ramps make me think of my family’s Amtrak (USA Train system) trip to California from Texas. They made us push my grandmother up a ramp that was way too steep and then when we got to LA the train parked our car in a spot where there was a cement wall right in front of the door. That was an interesting trip.
A university buding where I went to was more or less accessible, but there was one spot that I was always shaking my head at - the bulding had two lifts, one was ok, you could get to every floor, but the other had 3 steps in front of it on the ground floor! The architect was clearly having a bad day:D
i didn t realise till i had mobility problems just because a place is wheelchair friendly doesnt mean it has to have a disabled toilet, so your welcome to go as long as you dont need the loo, this is in uk
In my hometown there was a footbridge called the miracle bridge because it was accessible just in one side and then there was stair, the person would need to walk lol
My sister, who was 10, was at Target in her wheelchair and the “handicapped” bathroom stall door opened inwards so you couldn’t shut the door, not even a child sized wheelchair could fit in it. My mom complained every time we went there for over a year. We talked to multiple managers and nothing happened
When I was visiting a school last year, we were looking for the doors to go inside, and we asked a student who was coming out where the front doors were (there were several doors and we couldn't tell which were the right ones). He proceeds to hold open the front door, and there are stairs right inside it, and to get to anything else inside the building you have to go up the stairs. I roll over to where I can see in through the door, and promptly look him in the eye and say, "I can't go up stairs in a wheelchair" - major eye roll and facepalm moment for me - so thankfully he directed us to the next door over, which was the elevator. Hope that high schooler learned from it: don't expect someone in a wheelchair to be able to go up stairs - in general, they can't.
I think some of the parallel ones were probably meant for prams and bicycles when they were built. My hometown railway station has such a contraption, it has been there for ages and has always been used by parents and cyclists. There is a lift to allow for wheelchair access nowadays. One doesn't need the lift to access the station per se, but it does provide a shortcut to the centre.
A friend of mine booked a hotel once that had advertised as having disability access. Little did they know, the only time you could enter or exit the building was when the front desk was manned and someone was able to put down the ramp that covered the front steps. So they couldn't leave until 9am and had to return by 5pm otherwise her friend that was with her was stuck on the curb.
8:15 You would have to have a very skinny wheelchair to use that curb cut and if it holds water one that can float? 8:54 That is so Getto? Lawn Furniture on wheels? I guess the one good thing with these is you can just hose them down between uses? 9:47 I know that they say that disabled have a short life span but after going down this ramp it is definitely shorter yet. Maybe if the ABLIESTS went down this ramp the world would change for the better? 14:00 I have been to many places that are not wheelchair accessible like Salt Lake City Utah and the Little America Hotel. Their wheelchair-accessible room was not very accessible vs their non-accessible room. In the state of Utah, it's a miracle you don't bust your neck going down the sidewalks in a wheelchair with how bad they are.
UA-cam just recommended this video to me, I did not know you channel before. I'm not even two minutes into this video and have already learned that there ara wheelchairs that can go up stairs! Mind blown 🤯
I'm waiting to get out and about when I'm finally able to be in the power-chair. Your video made me laugh so much my daughter had to keep rushing back into the room! The point is no joke and raised many great comments. Thank you Gem
The one with the poor councilman trying to use the two metal wheel ramps laid over stairs... 😱 Those look like longer versions of the portable ramp strips my husband uses to load the quad in and out of the truck.
I've been lucky to not have encountered any of these fails but my favorite would have to be the ramp that leads to nowhere (I think it was the second one with he green rails). All I gotta do is let go off my chair and fly away LOL
The Hospital we have here does NOT have a wheelchair accessible washroom EXCEPT in the patient's rooms, but if you are at the hospital to get tests done, or to visit someone don't plan on having to use the washroom if you are in a wheelchair because the only bathroom is in the physical therapy room and it is very and I mean very tiny. I phoned and mentioned it to the hospital and there answer was they were not aware of that, but they plan on making more accessible washrooms when they build the new hospital in 2030, so until then tough nuggets.
When I see these pictures I wonder how many of them would make more sense with context. Some of them are just outright poor planning, like the pole in the middle of the ramp. I've seen similar things many times.
I have been watching you for a bit. Today I hit subscribe button, not special reason than I do enjoy your vlogs. I am not paralyzed - I do have an electric chair and push chair. I have neuropathy, spinal stenosis, Fibromyalgia and couple other issues can't say and can't spell. Through watching you videos you have explained some of the issues I have through your issues and I am so grateful for your bravery to share all that you do and how you deal with some of those issues. Thank you! 😃💖 This is an older video I hope you still see my comment. Many blessings and thank you again!
In case you want some positive accessibility news as well: The zoo near us has just installed a wheelchair accessible playground for kids. It's super cool with a tunnel you can go through and some things you can drive onto and use.
I'm not disabled but in all of these it's so easy to see how ridiculous this is! I have cousins who used to compete in BMX racing and I thought those slopes were steep! But some of these ramps I don't think even those racers would want to try them! Absolutely ridiculous! Especially when you consider that a lot of wheelchair users have impaired coordination or low upper body strength!
I don't have accessibility issues, but thanks to you and other advocates I see them now. At my last school, there was one alcove that was not accessible. My new school, you have to go across campus through a specific building to access lower campus (we're in the mountains).
Two of the "accessible" rooms in the Premiere Inn in Hampstead in London UK are amazing. Amazing in that they aren't actually accessible, they are less accessible than their 'standard' rooms! One in particular has a standard bath! (i.e. the only way to access the shower is to get into the bath, but oh dear you can't because there is no access!) the other room is so tiny you can't actually get a wheelchair around the room, plus in both the windows are very very tiny and at the top of the room, so you can only open/shut the curtains if you can stand. I once asked a member of staff about it. She closed the curtains and then said "there you are then' Um! I guess I never wanted any daylight at any time then!
My daughter spent some time in a wheelchair due to an accident. I feel so bad for disabled people. It was a nightmare getting my daughter around the city where we live.
wel I know a building where an organisation (the local part of a poliical party) have their local head quarters. And well there is an elevator that goes up to the second highest floor and then there is a wheelchair elevator for that last fligt of stairs. BUT... to get to the elvevator from the bottom floor you have to take about 10-20 steps in a small stair. :p
This reminds me of an event i went to last week... it was in a building that was completely wheelchair accessible despite being in a small town with like 5k residents. Except the entrance. The entrance was really high, like 1,5m high, and to get to it you had to climb very steep stairs.
The sheep sound you used is also the one Martina from Eat Your Kimchi uses when someone sweares and I just thought I had opened another tap with another video xD
My little sister has muscular dystrophy and this one time we called to ask if a restaurant was wheelchair accessible and they said”yes their is only one flight of stairs.”
I just laughed so loud and made my husband mad cuz he’s working....😳🤬🥶 LMBO!!!!!!! I love your sense of humour! I want to move there and be friends! Lol 👨🦼👨🦼💕
I think the staircase at 6:50 ish is one of those ones where the steps slide in and reveal a platform lift underneath! I've only seen one in real life and I've never got to use it as it's always been broken when I go to the place that has it (Stowe landscape gardens in Buckinghamshire) but it's a fun concept that unfortunately looks very hostile and doesn't always work
The "extreme sport" ramp with flat spots on the stair case about 5 minutes in looks possible for the strong, agile wheelchair user until you look again and realize there's a hand railing sticking out of that side of the wall all the way down that most likely makes the usable space on the ramp too narrow.
10:2 - my guess is they made the ramp, then someone pointed out how dangerous this is and they put the barriers around the ramps to stop people trying to use them
I think the power chair one is actually designed for people carrying bikes or strollers down stairs. But honestly wheelchair accessibilility should be a higher priority...
I was once in France on vacation and we got to a restaurant that had a handicapped restroom downstairs 🤦🏼♀️, like 30 steps down 🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️ (I’m a fulltime wheelchair user)
When the elevators at different skytrain stations,are closed for repairs are major major hassles. Especially when there is only one elevator per station.
I have often had lifts having their routine service during lesson time at uni... Can't they do it on a different day??! I had the reverse experience in Australia though, where at several locations (department store, opera house) there were special toilet stalls for people with ambulatory disabilities. Those were great!! Sometimes I need a bar to help myself up or I need to rush in to use a toilet, but I feel guilty using the disabled toilet because I don't want to hog it incase a wheelchair user needs it.
A separate accessible stall for ambulatory disabilities sounds amazing! Sometimes I absolutely cannot standing in line and wait for a regular stall, but I also hate to be the ambulatory person taking up the wheelchair accessible stall.
I'm not sure but the 'ramp' in the stairs he's going down at about 7:10 might actually be for bikes (and strollers). It at least looks quite similar to what we have in Germany in train stations so that people don't have to carry their bike up or down the stairs because a lot of elevators/ lifts are a slightly to small for bikes. About the parking space right after that: This might just be there to ensure disabled people could park right and left from it and have plenty of space for their wheelchairs or if they have to open the door really wide for other reasons to make it easyier to get out of the car. The tiny 'wall' around it is to ensure noone parks e.g. a motorbike there and the space is kept free all the time.
This makes me so grateful that I've only had to use a scooter at Disneyland. Due to huge fatigue issues, I wasn't able to walk far and especially stand in lines, and Disneyland made it pretty easy (there were one or two times I had to stand too long and struggled, though most of those was me overestimating what I could do), minus the people who apparently decided I wasn't there. That's why my cousin was there, to push people out of the way who just tried to walk into me.
in sweden we have these typical accessibility fails like at the hairsaloon I go to they have a fabulous polished stone ramp but they put a big ass flower in the middle of it I mean what the heck did they think with
I love this! I never realized how steep the ramps at my hight school then college were until I had to use my wheelchair on them, I could make it up but barly and if I didn't have my anti-tips i would have easily cracked my skull open 😅 But going down was a blast! 😂🙆🏻♀️
I went to Disney a few times between 1994 and 2004 between the ages of 8 and 18 and I had to be lifted and laid quite a bit. It seems to be a lot better now...is that ramp a joke!? 😅 “When you come down you’re going to be in a worse predicament than you were at the top” Gem you’ve brightened my day 😂
Which one was your "favourite?" Thumbs up if you would like more like this, and don't forget to comment your most shocking accessibility fail.
Wheelsnoheels - Gem Hubbard the bike one at 11:27 actually had 2 ramps so maybe it was supposed to be for wheelchairs
I'm cracking up. When you said If your not already in the wheelchair you will be🤣🤣🤣
The ramp with the bars around it, tied with the drop curb and big curb and posts. As a new scooter user accessibility is now a new experiance for me. I am starting to vlog accessible walks in my area but intend to film some accessible nightmares as well. Having been quite an independent person before my restricted mobility I have been finding it shockingly hard. Keep up the good work.
Aaron "Wheelz" Fotheringham would give a few of them a go. 🤘
I have run into many but not excessive as these. If in my city they get corrected immediately.
My mum says city planners should be made to go out in a wheelchair to test how accessible things really are XD
I'm pretty sure I remember seeing a video of a city planner going out in a wheelchair recently to see what it's like! I think that's slowly becoming part of the training
Honestly, I think everyone should spend at least a day in a wheelchair. Maybe as part of high school education...
It’s actually a thing at the university I went to that people studying any courses that involve building design (eg architecture) do a day where they use a wheelchair all day. It’s amazing. However, the building is extremely accessible but not really when there’s 60+ extra wheelchair users
KT when I was 8 in primary school we had a workshop on disabilities where a company came to the school and taught us about wheelchairs and amputees and other things I can’t quite remember 12 years later. I do remember we all had a turn in the wheelchair to learn how to control it and understand how difficult it can be to manoeuvre. I imagine much of the class just saw it as fun, but looking back I remember how frustrating I found it trying to go around the cones and not understanding how to turn properly
@@kt5229 couldn't agree more
I cant tell you how many times i have called ahead to ask if they are wheelchair accessible and the reply is " yes, there is only a couple steps." And they are serious...
Me looking for apartments right now
Re: the staircase with the yellow wheelchair logo on each step.
I think a big issue with accessibility is the lack of representation in the choice of logos. The "person in wheelchair" logo is what everyone uses for a generic "disability" logo. It looks like that staircase was designed for people with visual impairment, or perhaps balance issues. The steps have yellow logos, the treading is raised and appears to have better slip resistant grip. It's also closer to the rail for people with visual impairment to use to help guide them as to when the stairs start and stop.
I've noticed some places that have quiet sensory rooms for people with autism just use the generic wheelchair logo because there's no universal logo for autism.
That is true the Wheelchair logo is so universal that people with other disabilities are sometimes looked weird at if they use disabled parking spots.
Yep - Visually impaired / Moter control issues. Those steps with the yellow disability stickers would have been great for me! Not so much for her :(. Although some of them really were making me go "WTF WHHHHYYYYY" Like with the bars, or what i presume was supposed to be a disability ramp path that got blocked off by a 2 inch concrete wall >.
Universal autism is a puzzle piece
@@Rebeccarochelle22 nah lots of autistic people, such as myself, find it offensive because it implies we're incomplete
Within neurodiverse communities but especially the autistic community use the rainbow infinity sign but it isnt that well known to the general public
@@Rebeccarochelle22 no, that's really offensive and doesn't represent us. The rainbow infinity symbol is much better
When I was using a cane, I was trying to set up accommodations at my university, and I was sent to an accessibility advisor. Their office was in a building under construction so the accessible entrance was blocked, I had to use an entrance with stairs--the open door button at the top didn't work either. It was a huge energy cost with the cane but would've been straight up impossible with a wheelchair--to see an accessibility advisor!! (Needless to say I had to drop out of that school lmao)
This reminds me of my pain clinic where the door opener is broken snd it is the heaviest door Ive ever seen. I usually aggravate my next for days after an appointment.
Damn they went full Jim Crow with that one
Gem, you should become a disability consultant for local government.
Thats a good idea. Id have to brush up on the legalities of things. :)
They wouldn't listen. She actually has relevant experience.
@@ChrisPage68 where is lake been true that some municipalities would push back, you cannot get anywhere unless you’re willing to stand up and say this is not acceptable! Ash Christine Fitzgerald, community advocate, Silicon Valley Independent Living Center, Santa Clara County, California
Your cat's determination to be in the video was the best!
🤣
In my city the municipality built a very nice wheelchair accesible beach walk. And then a lot of people who went by bike there went very fast and people complained, so the municipality put up things to hinder bikes from going too fast.... which also hindered wheelchairs from even entering the beach walk >.< great job!
Why not fine the bikers instead?
@@chantelyork1348 The bike lobby are Untouchable. They think they're above the law.
My province stopped using trains in the 80s, and the government turned all the rail beds into a very well maintained cross-province public trail way. In recent years, people who walk on the trails have complained about bikes going too fast on the trails within the capital city's metro area. Now we've got poles and bolders preventing anything wider than an umbrella stroller from getting through. This prevents most wheel chairs, most larger baby carriages, and all quad bikes (which were not the problem) but DOESN'T effectively block off dirt bikes (which were the problem to begin with.) So now we've got inaccessible trails for "foot and bicycle traffic only" with a posted speed limit.
Those garden chair wheelchairs are often made with bike wheels in countries that don't have proper access to wheelchairs, healthcare etc.
Eloise Eighteen that’s what I was going to say. I’ve seen them before online.
Horrendous. I work for Motivation, a charity that provides wheelchairs for people in developing countries, and we’ve been fighting against those things. In fact we helped Free Wheelchair Mission design their second and third generation wheelchairs to stop those things appearing.
The “Oh my wheely-word” got me 😂😂😂
I think the bars across the ramp at 9:45 are there to prevent people using it for health and safety. They were probably unable to remove it so they put bars across it.
That was my thought too.
@@reachandler3655 Me three. I think they realized their ramp was _way_ too steep, and put those bars there until another ramp (a safe one) could be built and/or that ramp remodeled.
Shout out to Richard! I would bloody love to see you guys collab - both your channels are amazing! 💜💛💜💛👩🏼🦽👨🏻🦽
To be fair, the ramp with the bars across it at 10.13 could have been the council building a ramp, realising the ramp was terrible, then blocking off the ramp.
I think there is a case for making an effort to provide "accessible" toilets in places that are not wheelchair accessible. Remember what they say "no all disabilities are visible", so all those people might manage the stairs and still need the extra space/facilities disabled toilets have. I've heard people with stomas find they need the space to do what they need to do, but I don't expect them to have problems with stairs. Even myself, if I do take on the challenge of going somewhere on foot and navigate some stairs, I still might struggle with a non raised toilets, different muscle groups! I don't know how you should label it, but upstairs in a listed building isn't ever going to me wheelchair accessible but a disabled person might still need the bathroom.
Have several stories of Wheelchair accessibility fail. Two of them stand out and both take place at a mall (two different ones).
Scene 1: The wheelchair-only washroom was a tiny cubicle which was barely able to house my wheelchair. It was a small platform and right behind it is a steep and curved ramp. Had to be VERY careful not to lean backwards while doing my business.
Scene 2: There are five elevators/lifts and four of them can only go to a select number of floors (I found this really weird). The fifth one goes to all floors. I needed the washroom but the only washrooms were located on the second floor. The lift that went to all floors had conked out and none of the other lifts went to the second floor.
Dhruv George that's ridiculous! I also find it ridiculous that there was only a suitable bathroom on one floor?! Shouldn't there be more than one especially in a multi-storey building?!
@@callabeth258 Ideally, yes
Unfortunately, it was one of the malls closer to my residence. However, since then, I've refused to go there. Other malls which were further away, I didn't mind a longer trip, at least they were more competent
The worse thing I’ve seen in Sweden is when it goes: you need help as a disabled person? Please ask reception on the second floor.” And that sign was next to loads of sets of stairs.
Many years ago I participated in a "Disability Awareness Day" at St. Rita's Hospital in Lima, Ohio.
Able bodied individuals were assigned a disability, say one person was assigned to be a T4 paraplegic like myself."Bill" would then foolow me, the actual paraplegic and try to duplicate my task while the able bodied chaperone stod by to help Bill if needed.
Other participants were given issues such as blindness or crutches, you get the idea.
At the end the media was invited in to cover the panel discussion that followed.
Various community leaders and a few hospital executives participated.
In short, lets just say that many were humbled that day.
Should be the norm in all workplaces for all new staff, if not how are working conditions ever going to offer equality and business clients ever going to receive it?
I have never needed a wheelchair but i am with you on this. Steep ramps are dangerous even without wheels
I think the ‘wheelchair steps’ (6:35) are actually designed for other disabilities, they are beside a handrail and have extra wide marks at the edge for use with a white cane or walking stick. The wheelchair symbol is the universal symbol for disability
Accessibility should account for all disabilities. That's the point and why it's an issue.
I would not send a Blind person anywhere near any of them.
Chantel York I agree, where I live there is often a lift located opposite the stairs which would account for people with other disabilities
I went to a sort of park/garden last year that had a whole page about how accessible it was. And this was true! If you only wanted to see about 10% of the park. Most of the paths were far too steep for a wheelchair. I tried anyway, and I started to slide downhill, which was honestly terrifying. We decided to take a break at the tea house, only to find that there was no ramp at all. Anywhere. Honestly it kind of ruined my day and I just wanted to go home. It was supposed to be a day trip and my friend and I planned around accessibility (as we have to do) so we get there and paid an entrance fee for a park I couldn't get to most of.
this brings up a great topic i would love for you to give your opinion on: the disability symbol.
i'm not talking about the active vs passive logo, i cant think of a reason anyone would be against that change. i mean does it ever bother wheelchair users that the symbol for all of us is a person in a wheelchair when most disabled people dont know what its like to be in a wheelchair? like when something is related to disabilities that symbol gets slapped on it when that might make it misleading because its not wheelchair specific?
for example, someone pointed out those stairs with the lip on them but no ramp could be for another type of disabled person, but because the universal symbol for accessibility is ♿ its makes us think somehow those stairs were intended to be wheelchair accessible?
idk i know as a mentally disabled person, i ALWAYS feel guilty about that symbol representing me cause i feel like it implies that ive struggled with certain things that i have not. but i also wouldnt want it changed just to include people with invisible disabilities. so im just really curious if it ever annoys wheelchair users that we use a person in a wheelchair to also reflect people who dont rely on wheelchairs? do u wish we would stop using that symbol and make up our own? i cant find many people discussing it.
I think the only defendable one was the stairs with the edge strips and the railing. Not wheel chair accessible of course but for people with low vision or who use a cane.
I once had a meltdown at disney and lost my mom so this cast member wrote yes or no questions on a notepad and brought me to a quiet place while they called my mom.
Just as a bit of a heads up re the garden chairs. These chairs are often hand built by people living in countries that experience poverty and are not provided with government assistance. Poverty should not affect someone’s ability to be mobile and not everyone has the means to access proper mobility aids.
A garden chair is not a clinically sound idea.
@@ChrisPage68 when you live with abject poverty and have to make medical devices with whatever you can find, what is "sound" isn't necessarily the prime motivator.
PageMonster maybe but probably a bit better than literally have no mobility other than dragging yourself around don’t you think?
6:50 are they not the stairs that convert into an lift/elevator? I saw a video somewhere and they all flattened out and then raised up to the higher floor once a button was pressed.
When I saw the picture 6:54 the first time I thought it looked like the left side of the steps flatten out to become a ramp, but if they become flat so you can get your chair onto them and then it's a lift then that's pretty cool
I just ordered my first mobility device yesterday. I know a lot of people have zero choice but because my disability of lupus is episodic and comes and goes, I've felt a lot of shame involved with getting a mobility device, I think that comes from my mom telling me I was faking my illness for attention.
But I got a walker that converts into a little wheelchair to be used when my fatigue and pluerisy gets really bad.
I can walk a good 3/4 of the time and I'm very excited and nervous for when it arrives next week.
Thanks for this video Gem, it drives me mad when people park half on the road and half on the path , so many selfish people in this world 😤
Self absorbed people =[
For the one at 4:32 I would genuinely consider attaching wheels to the back bar and doing it laying down like a slide 😂
Gem, we are going out for Easter lunch, we have picked a pub which is very accessible for wheelchairs and it’s a great pub my father-in-law really enjoys this pub so it’s a win all around
My school has so many steep ramps into their buildings. I always have to ask some random stranger to help me up so I can get to class. Some have handrails so I have to use that as leverage and pull myself up a couple meters until I get to solid ground. Sigh....
We need a part 2 after that!
There was a ramp just like the first one at one place I stayed for a bit. I lived at the bottom. Every day I would have to roll myself up the drive the long way, but coming home I would zoom down like a mad person. 😂
Sounds cool
That is exactly what I would do. At the mall near us there is a ramp down from the parking garage and when I'm with someone I ask them to hold the door open so I can zoom down into the mall.
What a farce! Just got back from teacher interviews. We still have snow and ice on the ground so I couldn't use the sidewalks with my power chair. Facing traffic down a narrow street with cars parked on both sides cos teacher interviews so busy. So scary and dangerous. Finally find the lowered ramp to get back on the sidewalk to approach the school and someone had parked there. Another detour and I'm finally at the school doors where the automatic door button is a mile away from the door which has a very severe door step so have to approach straight on and within the 3 seconds the door stays open. ugh. It was an exhausting night!
I'm fairly sure the ramps at 11:14 (misguided as they were) were originally intended for wheelchairs as there are two, one either side of the handrail. It makes me think there's likely an elevator nearby and they installed the handrail but hadn't gotten around to removing the groved rail yet.
A subway (the food) I’ve been to before there is a step to go to the disabled loo (the only loo, but it is a small place)
At the 6.45 ‘wheelchair stairs’ I wondered if it’s one of those magic flights that converts into a lift? I’ve seen video of steps in a London restaurant that does that.
Alternatively it is a please keep this area clear for people who have a disability but are still able to climb stairs. It is so they can go up the stairs at their pace without worrying about holding people up or being bumped.
My school has one of those lifts but the stupid thing is you require one of the it technicians who are up the stairs when they are in their office. For the students it is easier to go along a route with 5 sets of double wide fire doors, 1 single wide fire door, 2 platform lifts with heavy doors and a cab lift.
I love the sounds you give your cat 🤣 you crack me up
From 2017 to 2022 I was a Councillor on South Lanarkshire Council. When I was elected, the Council had to spend £40,000 on door openers, as the building was almost entirely inaccessible. The lifts to the committee rooms and the debating chamber were too small for any of my various chairs, so I had to go out of the building and use the fire escape to get up there. I have visited subsequently and the mezzanine lift was out of service and had been for six months!
The Scottish Parliament was built much more recently, but it is almost as bad. It’s always a case of ablebods at the front, cripples round the back!
I took a wheelchair’s eye perspective to my council and to the Scottish Parliament, but it only brought minor changes.
I think the thing that was most insane to me was a crosswalk with the curbs in the middle and the ramp with a bar snack in the middle like how could you possibly build these things and think they could work. You’re definitely right that things can be built to code and following all the steps but not really beususable.
“OH MY WILLY WORD!” Definitely stealing this one!
Well, the one at 9:44 I have an answer for: It is a ramp for trolleys and carts! And then the lokal youth have used it for skateboarding, bmx bikes and such, lokals got tired of it and railed it of! Happens alot here in Sweden, those ramps were everywhere on buildings from the 50´s to the 70´s...
These ramps make me think of my family’s Amtrak (USA Train system) trip to California from Texas. They made us push my grandmother up a ramp that was way too steep and then when we got to LA the train parked our car in a spot where there was a cement wall right in front of the door. That was an interesting trip.
A university buding where I went to was more or less accessible, but there was one spot that I was always shaking my head at - the bulding had two lifts, one was ok, you could get to every floor, but the other had 3 steps in front of it on the ground floor! The architect was clearly having a bad day:D
loving your videos, you take this all with a much better attitude than I manage :)
i didn t realise till i had mobility problems just because a place is wheelchair friendly doesnt mean it has to have a disabled toilet, so your welcome to go as long as you dont need the loo, this is in uk
Gem you're legitimately f ING hysterical I was sobbing through most of this!! Bahahahaahahaha who the f allowed these extreme sports to be created?!:P
In my hometown there was a footbridge called the miracle bridge because it was accessible just in one side and then there was stair, the person would need to walk lol
My sister, who was 10, was at Target in her wheelchair and the “handicapped” bathroom stall door opened inwards so you couldn’t shut the door, not even a child sized wheelchair could fit in it. My mom complained every time we went there for over a year. We talked to multiple managers and nothing happened
I read that the first one was a joke at a camp. The "ramp" was how they got the canoes up and down.
When I was visiting a school last year, we were looking for the doors to go inside, and we asked a student who was coming out where the front doors were (there were several doors and we couldn't tell which were the right ones). He proceeds to hold open the front door, and there are stairs right inside it, and to get to anything else inside the building you have to go up the stairs. I roll over to where I can see in through the door, and promptly look him in the eye and say, "I can't go up stairs in a wheelchair" - major eye roll and facepalm moment for me - so thankfully he directed us to the next door over, which was the elevator. Hope that high schooler learned from it: don't expect someone in a wheelchair to be able to go up stairs - in general, they can't.
I think some of the parallel ones were probably meant for prams and bicycles when they were built. My hometown railway station has such a contraption, it has been there for ages and has always been used by parents and cyclists. There is a lift to allow for wheelchair access nowadays. One doesn't need the lift to access the station per se, but it does provide a shortcut to the centre.
great ramp going down
Wheels2walking is one of my favorite you tubers !
A friend of mine booked a hotel once that had advertised as having disability access. Little did they know, the only time you could enter or exit the building was when the front desk was manned and someone was able to put down the ramp that covered the front steps. So they couldn't leave until 9am and had to return by 5pm otherwise her friend that was with her was stuck on the curb.
8:15 You would have to have a very skinny wheelchair to use that curb cut and if it holds water one that can float?
8:54 That is so Getto? Lawn Furniture on wheels? I guess the one good thing with these is you can just hose them down between uses?
9:47 I know that they say that disabled have a short life span but after going down this ramp it is definitely shorter yet. Maybe if the ABLIESTS went down this ramp the world would change for the better?
14:00 I have been to many places that are not wheelchair accessible like Salt Lake City Utah and the Little America Hotel. Their wheelchair-accessible room was not very accessible vs their non-accessible room. In the state of Utah, it's a miracle you don't bust your neck going down the sidewalks in a wheelchair with how bad they are.
UA-cam just recommended this video to me, I did not know you channel before. I'm not even two minutes into this video and have already learned that there ara wheelchairs that can go up stairs! Mind blown 🤯
I'm waiting to get out and about when I'm finally able to be in the power-chair. Your video made me laugh so much my daughter had to keep rushing back into the room! The point is no joke and raised many great comments. Thank you Gem
The one with the poor councilman trying to use the two metal wheel ramps laid over stairs... 😱 Those look like longer versions of the portable ramp strips my husband uses to load the quad in and out of the truck.
OMG that white wheelchair reminds me of those chairs that my grandmother had!
It could be a hospital in an LEDC in a particularly impoverished area.
I've been lucky to not have encountered any of these fails but my favorite would have to be the ramp that leads to nowhere (I think it was the second one with he green rails). All I gotta do is let go off my chair and fly away LOL
The Hospital we have here does NOT have a wheelchair accessible washroom EXCEPT in the patient's rooms, but if you are at the hospital to get tests done, or to visit someone don't plan on having to use the washroom if you are in a wheelchair because the only bathroom is in the physical therapy room and it is very and I mean very tiny. I phoned and mentioned it to the hospital and there answer was they were not aware of that, but they plan on making more accessible washrooms when they build the new hospital in 2030, so until then tough nuggets.
“Even when you’re following all of the ‘steps’.........(no pun intended eh😉)💗⭐️😊
When I see these pictures I wonder how many of them would make more sense with context. Some of them are just outright poor planning, like the pole in the middle of the ramp. I've seen similar things many times.
I have been watching you for a bit. Today I hit subscribe button, not special reason than I do enjoy your vlogs. I am not paralyzed - I do have an electric chair and push chair. I have neuropathy, spinal stenosis, Fibromyalgia and couple other issues can't say and can't spell. Through watching you videos you have explained some of the issues I have through your issues and I am so grateful for your bravery to share all that you do and how you deal with some of those issues. Thank you! 😃💖 This is an older video I hope you still see my comment. Many blessings and thank you again!
Hey that's steep going down is difficult let alone going up 💝
Disney was one of the best places I've been to too! They were so efficient and accommodating!
In case you want some positive accessibility news as well: The zoo near us has just installed a wheelchair accessible playground for kids. It's super cool with a tunnel you can go through and some things you can drive onto and use.
I'm not disabled but in all of these it's so easy to see how ridiculous this is! I have cousins who used to compete in BMX racing and I thought those slopes were steep! But some of these ramps I don't think even those racers would want to try them! Absolutely ridiculous! Especially when you consider that a lot of wheelchair users have impaired coordination or low upper body strength!
I don't have accessibility issues, but thanks to you and other advocates I see them now. At my last school, there was one alcove that was not accessible. My new school, you have to go across campus through a specific building to access lower campus (we're in the mountains).
Yes I was there today in the shops and there was like a pub right in the way I couldn’t get through it with my wheelchair so couldn’t get through
getting down is one thing but getting up?
I know its crazy!
Two of the "accessible" rooms in the Premiere Inn in Hampstead in London UK are amazing. Amazing in that they aren't actually accessible, they are less accessible than their 'standard' rooms! One in particular has a standard bath! (i.e. the only way to access the shower is to get into the bath, but oh dear you can't because there is no access!) the other room is so tiny you can't actually get a wheelchair around the room, plus in both the windows are very very tiny and at the top of the room, so you can only open/shut the curtains if you can stand. I once asked a member of staff about it. She closed the curtains and then said "there you are then' Um! I guess I never wanted any daylight at any time then!
Some of these are just plain ridiculous but it’s nice to see that you are having a good laugh at them. 😂😀
My daughter spent some time in a wheelchair due to an accident. I feel so bad for disabled people. It was a nightmare getting my daughter around the city where we live.
wel I know a building where an organisation (the local part of a poliical party) have their local head quarters. And well there is an elevator that goes up to the second highest floor and then there is a wheelchair elevator for that last fligt of stairs. BUT... to get to the elvevator from the bottom floor you have to take about 10-20 steps in a small stair. :p
your cat is just majestic!
Brilliant handicap access. Cheers!
This reminds me of an event i went to last week... it was in a building that was completely wheelchair accessible despite being in a small town with like 5k residents. Except the entrance. The entrance was really high, like 1,5m high, and to get to it you had to climb very steep stairs.
The sheep sound you used is also the one Martina from Eat Your Kimchi uses when someone sweares and I just thought I had opened another tap with another video xD
My little sister has muscular dystrophy and this one time we called to ask if a restaurant was wheelchair accessible and they said”yes their is only one flight of stairs.”
I just laughed so loud and made my husband mad cuz he’s working....😳🤬🥶 LMBO!!!!!!!
I love your sense of humour! I want to move there and be friends! Lol
👨🦼👨🦼💕
the first one is not a ramp, it's a special roller coaster just for wheelchair users. ;)
I think the staircase at 6:50 ish is one of those ones where the steps slide in and reveal a platform lift underneath! I've only seen one in real life and I've never got to use it as it's always been broken when I go to the place that has it (Stowe landscape gardens in Buckinghamshire) but it's a fun concept that unfortunately looks very hostile and doesn't always work
The "extreme sport" ramp with flat spots on the stair case about 5 minutes in looks possible for the strong, agile wheelchair user until you look again and realize there's a hand railing sticking out of that side of the wall all the way down that most likely makes the usable space on the ramp too narrow.
10:2 - my guess is they made the ramp, then someone pointed out how dangerous this is and they put the barriers around the ramps to stop people trying to use them
I think the power chair one is actually designed for people carrying bikes or strollers down stairs. But honestly wheelchair accessibilility should be a higher priority...
I was once in France on vacation and we got to a restaurant that had a handicapped restroom downstairs 🤦🏼♀️, like 30 steps down 🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️🤦🏼♀️ (I’m a fulltime wheelchair user)
I kept having visions of Kevin in Home Alone sledding down the front stairs. At least that was more sane than most of these.
Does the UK or Australia have an ADA like law on the books for the nations??
When the elevators at different skytrain stations,are closed for repairs are major major hassles.
Especially when there is only one elevator per station.
I have often had lifts having their routine service during lesson time at uni... Can't they do it on a different day??! I had the reverse experience in Australia though, where at several locations (department store, opera house) there were special toilet stalls for people with ambulatory disabilities. Those were great!! Sometimes I need a bar to help myself up or I need to rush in to use a toilet, but I feel guilty using the disabled toilet because I don't want to hog it incase a wheelchair user needs it.
A separate accessible stall for ambulatory disabilities sounds amazing! Sometimes I absolutely cannot standing in line and wait for a regular stall, but I also hate to be the ambulatory person taking up the wheelchair accessible stall.
Don't feel shame... accessible toilets are for anyone who, for one reason or another, is unable to use the communal bathrooms.
I'm not sure but the 'ramp' in the stairs he's going down at about 7:10 might actually be for bikes (and strollers). It at least looks quite similar to what we have in Germany in train stations so that people don't have to carry their bike up or down the stairs because a lot of elevators/ lifts are a slightly to small for bikes.
About the parking space right after that: This might just be there to ensure disabled people could park right and left from it and have plenty of space for their wheelchairs or if they have to open the door really wide for other reasons to make it easyier to get out of the car. The tiny 'wall' around it is to ensure noone parks e.g. a motorbike there and the space is kept free all the time.
This makes me so grateful that I've only had to use a scooter at Disneyland. Due to huge fatigue issues, I wasn't able to walk far and especially stand in lines, and Disneyland made it pretty easy (there were one or two times I had to stand too long and struggled, though most of those was me overestimating what I could do), minus the people who apparently decided I wasn't there. That's why my cousin was there, to push people out of the way who just tried to walk into me.
I am an American wheelchair user and I was appaulled by all of these.
Thanks for the shoutout
in sweden we have these typical accessibility fails like at the hairsaloon I go to they have a fabulous polished stone ramp but they put a big ass flower in the middle of it I mean what the heck did they think with
I love this! I never realized how steep the ramps at my hight school then college were until I had to use my wheelchair on them, I could make it up but barly and if I didn't have my anti-tips i would have easily cracked my skull open 😅
But going down was a blast! 😂🙆🏻♀️
Love the Lion King/ Queen moving as he or she pleases
My friend wanted me to try that first ramp. I said that if he did it and survive, then maybe I’d try it. “Maybe”.
I went to Disney a few times between 1994 and 2004 between the ages of 8 and 18 and I had to be lifted and laid quite a bit. It seems to be a lot better now...is that ramp a joke!? 😅 “When you come down you’re going to be in a worse predicament than you were at the top” Gem you’ve brightened my day 😂