Re: The Spin on Wheelchairs – Mary Burrell Editor: In her well written, but limited article “Spin on Wheelchairs” Mary Burrell speaks to issues of accessibility from the viewpoint of a non-disabled person.
It is true, accessibility is the major tenet of the Americans With Disabilities Act, but by restricting herself to the mobility disabled, she has repeated the error of most journalists. Burrell is able to see wheelchair-bound persons. In fact as she tells us she can sit in a wheelchair and experience the problems for herself.
To some extent this is true, with the important difference she can then stand up and walk to her car, and arriving home she is able to see her children. She is able to hear and understand the words they say, to experience the excitement in their voices and to understand the concepts they are expressing.
Miss Burrell, most of the persons who are covered under the Americans With Disabilities Act are invisible to you and me and for the same reason they are invisible to us. They are, unfortunately, invisible to 99 percent of all Americans.
