September 27, 2010 at 10:55 am by Suzanne Robitaille
I recently stopped into American Girl Place in Chicago. My American Girl dolls are a popular, experiential concept where you choose a doll and then customize her through the purchase of clothes and other accessories that reflect hobbies like cheerleading and taking tea. Absent from the shelves, however, is much in the way of a disabled doll theme.
American Girl, which was acquired by Mattel in 1998, says it wants you to “create a doll as unique as you are,” but doesn’t offer many accessories that fully represent the 54 million Americans with disabilities and two million children with special needs. You can purchase a wheelchair accessory ($34), but it looks like one that belongs in a hospital waiting room for injured people — not like the ones used by real kids with disabilities. You can also purchase crutches for temporary injuries, and funky-colored eyeglasses.
If a wheelchair is supposed to represent all of disability at American Girl Place, why does the company offer so much variety in other areas? The sheer volume of My American Girl dolls and accessories at their retail stores would make any girl swoon: 40 different combinations of eye color, hair color and style, and skin tone. Two floors filled with racks of dresses, shoes, books and accessory sets for hobbies like eating fondue, taking a bubble bath, going camping, playing basketball, riding a dog sled, and celebrating the Sabbath.
For children with disabilities, the pickings are much slimmer. Kids with disabilities come from all walks of life. They use wheelchairs, yes, but they also wear hearing aids, eyeglasses and arm braces. Sometimes their pet dog ($20) is their service dog. Sometimes they have diabetes and need insulin shots a few times a day. Sometimes they go through life with a catheter. At American Girl, a doll version of themselves simply does not exist.
While I was in the store, I approached a mother pushing her daughter in a wheelchair. Dana Morel, 23, was born with toxoplasmosis, a disease that made her blind and unable to move and speak. She is a former American Girl customer, but never had the option to buy a doll with items like a power wheelchair, head stick, adaptive switches, or the audio version of an American Girl book. “I would buy these things for her, and she would have wanted them,” says her mother, Janet Morel, who lives in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Changing this scenario would not be difficult for American Girl, which reaped $463 million in 2009 sales. The company does not accept product ideas from parents and kids, but they should, as this would help diversify and grow their product lines. They could then add a bigger selection of accessories to their shelves like hearing aids, eyeglasses, silk scarves for kids with cancer, walking canes, braille and audio books, and insulin devices.
America thrives off the diversity of its peoples, but the disabled demographic is being ignored by too many consumer-goods makers. For American Girl, expanding the breadth of their accessories and content to better reflect their customers with disabilities would go a long way. Sales would climb, and young and tween-age girls with disabilities will get a dose of reinforcement that they’re perfect just the way they are.
Oprah Winfrey, who is starting her own network called OWN and is looking for contestants to host a new reality TV show, is at the center of a voters’ dilemma. Rumors are adrift that Winfrey’s show producers may be rigging viewers’ votes against lead contestant Zach Anner, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. Anner auditioned for a spot with a video showing his comedic value and finesse as a traveler with a disability, calling himself a “wheelchair-bound lady magnet.”
The rumors surfaced Tuesday when another contestant, a woman by the name of Dr. Phyllis, mysteriously gained more than 300,000 votes, surpassing the previously first placed Anner in 20 minutes. Both contestants now have more than four million votes apiece.
All votes aside, Oprah needs Zach Anner and so does the world. She should find a way to bring him on board regardless of the results. Anner is cute, funny and gives a fresh take on life. Anner has the potential to crack open the injustices and inconsistencies for the disability community on a stage built by the word’s most famous talk show host.
Viewers will be blown away by how difficult it is to travel with a physical disability within the U.S., let alone places like Europe and Africa. Wheelchairs that get knocked around in cargo. Travelers whose chairs cannot fit through the doors of hotel rooms, or give enough room for a chair to turn around fully. Showers with too high of a “lip” so that a chair can’t roll in. Transfers (from chair to bed) that break in mid-air.
The list goes on. Tourist attractions with no accessible bathrooms. Places steeped in history, such as Paris and the French capital, that have architecture making it difficult to maneuver (and local attitudes don’t help.) “The biggest problem that exists worldwide is the lack of accessible ground transportation,” says Candy Harrington, author of Barrier Free Travel and 101 Accessible Vacations. Wheelchair users who cannot find an accessible cab often must resort to a van or livery service, at a much higher cost.
Watch Zach Anner's OWN audition video.
In seeking her new reality show contestant, Oprah opened her auditions to the public. In my opinion she should have hand-picked her own contestant if she didn’t want to see how the sausage is made. The thing is, I believe she’s all about the sausage, but that her show’s producers (and public relations team) might not be. Keep in mind that they’ll be the ones following Anner around the globe in his wheelchair if he wins. (Note to OWN crew: Put Anner up in Microtel.)
Situations like open contests are difficult for people with disabilities to compete in. The very nature of a contest weeds out weak performers, especially If there’s a preconceived notion that someone is physically or mentally unable to carry the torch. It happens in showbiz, in sports and in the job market.
Anner won four million votes. He deserves an opportunity to make us laugh, cry and see the world in a different light while peeling back the intimate layers of traveling with a disability. (Vote for him here.) It won’t be pretty, but he’ll give viewers one of the most rewarding experiences on TV. And that’s something Oprah can truly OWN.
Read more of Suzanne Robitaille’s articles on abledbody.com
Taking a cruise may sound luxurious, but for people with disabilities it can be a logistical nightmare. From making sure a wheelchair can fit through the doors, to finding your way around a ship using tactile braille, it’s almost easier to just stay home.
Things may be getting a little easier for this group. The U.S. Dept. of Transportation has just announced the first federal rule to specifically provide Americans with Disabilities Act protections to people with disabilities who travel on boats and ships. Now, people with disabilities who ride public boats, such as ferries, and private vessels, including cruise ships, will be entitled to better access and accommodations.
Why the new rule? DOT says it wants to make sure that boat and ship operators don’t deny access to passengers based on their disability. They also want to make sure that those passengers, once aboard, are treated fairly, according to DOT’s website. Passengers with disabilities cannot be charged extra for accessibility-related services, such as sign-language interpreters and pool lifts, and will not be required to furnish their own attendants.
The new law also requires boat and ship operators to inform passengers of vessel accessibility and services, and to have a knowledgeable person available to help passengers with disabilities resolve their concerns.
The DOT rules are a boost for the overall industry. For some cruise lines, however, it won’t drastically change the way they operate. That’s because 10 years ago, several top cruise lines including Carnival, Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line and Holland America were slapped with class-action lawsuits by Access Now, a disability organization, who wanted cruise ships’ staterooms and bathrooms to be made handicapped accessible. The ships agreed to make changes, and they now offer staterooms with wider entries, roll-in showers and more room for the wheelchair user to turn around in his or her chair.
Royal Caribbean takes accessibility quite seriously, and has gone above and beyond ADA requirements. For instance, many of their staterooms and balconies are accessible and have automatic doors. Blackjack casino tables are modified for wheelchair users, and the ship provides state of the art hydraulic pool and whirlpool lifts. Like other ships, Royal Caribbean today offers sign language interpreting services for the deaf and cruise directories and menus in braille for the blind.
Even so-called invisible disabilities, such as diabetes, must be considered. Special Needs At Sea, a company based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., provides many cruise lines with oxygen canisters and in-room storage for dialysis equipment. This is important because passengers who need to refrigerate their medicines would otherwise resort to using the mini-bar, which isn’t ideal.
One aspect this rule won’t cover is establishing standards for building new vessels or altering existing vessels. Access Board, an independent agency will consider the rules to be adopted for new ships. This rule also doesn’t apply to private vessels that transport passengers while providing another key service, like charter fishing boats or dinner cruises. However, a Department of Justice rule will cover that group of operators.
The DOT’s new rule takes effect in 120 days. There is a 90-day comment period concerning whether passengers with disabilities should be allowed to bring emotional support animals on board, among other considerations. You can visit www.regulations.gov to add your comments.
Read more of Suzanne Robitaille’s articles at abledbody.com
Microsoft unveiled its new add-on for the Xbox 360, known as Kinect, which uses motion detection instead of hand controls to play –- similar to Nintendo’s Wii. Microsoft, which launched Kinect at E3 in L.A., believes the program will make the Xbox more accessible to disabled gamers.
Ablegamers.com writer Steve Spohn has some nice things to say about Kinect. The biggest accessibility enhancement for disabled gamers, he says, is the addition of voice commands. For people with physical disabilities this means being able to play and pause games with the use of a voice instead of a remote control.
But the more exciting applications of Kinect are the uses that go beyond gaming. For example, being able to control the television with a voice or wrist is a dream come true for people with physical disabilities, who often must buy expensive environmental control units to make their home theaters work. By talking or waving, a camera will pick up your movements and let you control the system.
Using Kinect, you can use one hand to navigate through the menu to select and use Netflix, Zune, Facebook, and many more applications. The video chat feature lets you call up a friend, and listen to music, surf the web or watch a movie in the same window together.
Video chat is a great accessibility feature for people who are deaf and hard of hearing, too. The new iPhone 4 that launched last week also includes a video chat program called FaceTime, which will let deaf people communicate with each other in sign language, lip-reading and facial expressions. Sure, Skype video already exists, but having this technology on a mobile platform is a powerful tool for communication for this group.
One of Kinect’s new proprietary games is called Kinectimals – a next-generation version of taking care of virtual pets. Microsoft demonstrated this game with a seven-year old girl and her virtual pet tiger named Skittles. The little girl was able to scratch, pet, hug, and even play with the tiger using only her hands and her voice. Kinectimals apparently won the crowd over at E3, and it might help a child with a cognitive or physical disability grow their social skills.
In addition to Kinectimals, Kinect games include football, racing, water adventure sports, fitness, and dance competition. But for disabled gamers, Spohn is split on whether Kinect has enough overall appeal. “In order to know whether to be excited about this device, you’re going to have to take an inventory of your disability,” Spohn writes.
Kinect will be available November 4 and is rumored to cost around $150, according to PC World. The iPhone 4 can be pre-ordered starting today and will ship June 24.
Other video game makers, including Nintendo and Sony, are expected to make announcements at E3 as the week continues.
Amtrak’s website was down, and I needed to book my ticket from Stamford to Boston for the sixth annual Games for Health conference. G4H focuses on many uses for videogames and videogame technologies in health and healthcare. I’m speaking at Game Accessibility day on May 25 about games for people with physical and mental disabilities. So I decided to use TRS — telecommunications relay services for the deaf — to call Amtrak instead.
What should have been a three-minute online booking experience turned into a one-hour, agonizingly slow relay call, reminding me again why I chose to get a cochlear implant to help me hear on a regular telephone, which I can use most of the time. Sometimes I like relay because I can ensure that I’m getting the right information, and I get the automatic 15% Amtrak disability discount. It’s all about the perks, right?
I wanted to share with you excerpts of this relay call to show you how frustrating it can be for deaf people to make calls to hearing parties. In 2010, we still do not have speech-to-text technology that can translate a random person’s voice into text. That leaves the deaf community having to use TRS to make important phone calls. It would be great if Amtrak had a direct customer service line for the deaf, or a live chat window for its deaf population. However, since their website was down, I couldn’t even search for these features.
This is how the call starts: You type a phone number and a human relay operator places the call. I used Purple Communication’s excellent and professional i711 service, which lets you make Internet Protocol relay calls using chat programs like AIM. Note the time stamp of 2:32 p.m. ET.
Now it is about 10 minutes later, and I am still waiting for the relay operator to navigate through the automated channels to get me a live Amtrak customer service rep. I finally get “Cindy,” and I type some information about my travel plans, which is relayed verbally to Cindy by the relay operator. I am able to book my ticket eventually, but subtle miscommunication sets in as Cindy tries to understand my questions about ticket pick-up. This is par for the course in these types of calls. I also have to give out my credit card number, which I don’t really prefer to do over the phone, but I’m at the mercy of the situation.
45 minutes into the call — and with very little to show for it. Note how the relay operator warns me that the Amtrak rep “sounds hurried” — this is to help convey their tone and breathing, which speaks volumes over the telephone. Cindy is obviously getting annoyed by me. This is also par for the course for deaf people using relay. I’m actually lucky she didn’t hang up.
Notice the time stamp. It is now 3:25, almost a full hour on the relay call to book a one-way railroad ride. If I had done it online, it would have taken 30 seconds. This call, like other relay calls to customer service lines, was a royal pain in the butt.
Companies should train their reps on how to more efficiently handle these types of calls — without getting frustrated at the deaf caller on the other end. If we could hear, we wouldn’t be using relay — try to remember that. SK
For more articles see Suzanne Robitaille’s website on disabilities, abledbody.com
Today the National Association for the Deaf held a national virtual NAD legislative day in support of the Twenty-first Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2009 (H.R. 3101). This new law, if passed, would require all captioned TV programs on the Internet — like Hulu and ABC Network programs — to be shown with captions.
Additionally, all closed captioned (CC) buttons must be on TV remote controls to make it easier for the deaf and hard of hearing to find the captioning feature. And any device that shows TV must be able to display captions. This means that DVRs, mobile TVs, and yes, even iPhones. The bill’s definition also includes video descriptions for the blind and visually impaired, too.
H.R. 3101 is supported by AT&T, Verizon, the Federal Communications Commission National Broadband Plan, and others. The NAD and other advocacy groups are working to get this bill passed by the House of Representatives, and to introduce a Senate version.
I just spoke to Rep. Jim Himes’ (CT-4) office. The congressman’s press director, Liz Kerr, says my call is the first Himes has received regarding the bill. “He’s examining the legislation and is interested in hearing from the constituents it would impact,” Kerr says.
Greenwich residents — this means you! Call or e-mail Rep. Himes at (866) 453-0028. If you don’t live in Greenwich, find your representative here.
A group of Fortune 500s, along with local disability organizations, met today in Windsor, Conn., for a leadership boot camp to examine ways to employ more people with disabilities. The backdrop: Walgreens distribution center in Windsor, which is designed to employ 30% people with disabilities.
Companies attending the boot camp included Walgreens, Ernst & Young, Proctor & Gamble, Clarks Corporation, ESPN, Aetna and Traveler’s Insurance. They shared best practices around training and employing people with disabilities in order to get ready for the next-generation workforce, and also toured the Walgreens campus.
Walgreens is a leader in hiring people across the spectrum of disabilities. Its distribution centers – where goods are packaged and then shipped out to retail stores – employ many people with disabilities. Windsor is one of the discount chain’s highest producing distribution centers in the U.S. (The top ranking goes to its Anderson, S.C., center, where 40 percent of workers have a disability such as cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, autism and traumatic brain injury.
Randy Lewis, senior vice president of distribution and logistics for Walgreens, has a son with autism, and he says having a child with a disability has changed his perspective on the employment landscape for people with disabilities. “If my son is like 95 percent of the other kids out there with autism, he’ll never be offered a job,” he says.
Walgreens goal is to hire 1,000 people with disabilities at its centers by 2010 (there are nearly 700 in Anderson) and 2,000 by 2018.
The companies were also joined by several organizations including the Connecticut Bureau of Rehabilitation Services and the U.S. Business Leadership Network.
At the popular Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, Conn., two new programs are helping kids and teens with learning and developmental disorders learn social skills to help them navigate school and beyond.
In Social Species from the Sea to Me, teens encounter a variety of marine animals with varying social behaviors at the aquarium, hear about typical job requirements for high school graduates and learn about the importance of social skills to job market success. They also meet aquarium managers and retail, catering, education, security and maintenance staff while practicing the skills necessary to gain a job in their fields of interest. The program also covers transition planning from high school to a job, interviewing, hygiene, self-promoting skills and completing applications.
Led by Waterford-based Synergy Center Corporation, the programs are designed to give kids “a fun, naturally relaxing, non-school environment, where [they're] exposed to a variety of social settings,” says Synergy Center president Brian Armstrong. The first session of Social Species from the Sea to Me begins on March 17 and costs $480.
Additionally, the Synergy Socials Program is open to children ages 5 to 9 with disabilities such as autism, attention deficit disorder, Rett syndrome, intellectual disabilities or those who may simply have difficulty getting along with other children. Each class begins with yoga or another hands-on sensory experience, such as a touch-and-learn session with some of the aquarium’s invertebrates, which helps the students focus and release anxiety. says Dr. Stephen M. Coan, president and CEO of Sea Research Foundation, a non-profit organization that runs Mystic Aquarium’s educational programs. “These activities are all designed to help build social skills, such as proper greetings, turn taking, following directions and appropriate play interactions,” he adds.
Mystic Aquarium members receive a 10% discount on these programs.
