Bishop’s Stortford Independent Parkinality columnist Julie Walker on what venues can to do make them more accessible for people with Parkinson’s disease
Parkinality columnist Julie Walker, of Bishop’s Stortford, writes not about parking, but about living with Parkinson’s disease in her 50s
Happy new year to those reading the Indie after wrestling their printed copy off of the dog. Also sending best wishes to those who are ‘down with the kidz’ and are reading it online after becoming a digital subscriber.
In my formative years, I, like most children, was warned of speaking to strangers. Unfortunately, we are not, at the time of writing, born with a telephone directory (ask an over-50) filled with a concise list of friends, acquaintances and people to avoid. The fact is that everybody begins life as a stranger.
Living with unpredictable movement and dexterity problems means that the Wise-ish Man and I often rely on the help of friends, acquaintances and strangers to make inaccessible places accessible.
Allow me to explain. Many objects can inadvertently make somewhere inaccessible. The single plant pot which might be aesthetically pleasing, but is actually in the (insert preferred expletive) way. The A frame sign outside the café is useful to find out the location of the best-value cooked breakfast, but is an aggravating obstruction. Or the small lip on the pavement at the entrance to the establishment which, with or without walking sticks, is a trip hazard and makes driving a mobility scooter or pushing a wheelchair more like a fairground ride.
Parkinson’s disease (PD) encourages us to speak to strangers. It might be as simple as holding a door open or, when PD makes our voices quiet, simply asking people to move out of the way. Or it might be assisting the Wise-ish Man by carrying his walker up steps.
The Half Moon pub in North Street is an example of people making an inaccessible place accessible. On first sight, with its many steps and uneven flooring, it would appear to be a no-go zone to people with wonky walking. However, friends, acquaintances and strangers make the place accessible. The staff and patrons, on spotting us at the door with walker and walking sticks, immediately spring to our help, carrying our drinks and helping us to negotiate the maze of the old building.
When people with PD are being helped, even something as simple as a doorway can cause us to pause. We might appear to be wasting time standing in the doorway. In reality, we are what is known as frozen and it takes a few minutes to engage brain and muscles to move forward. A brief reminder; PD is not a physical condition. There is nothing physically wrong with our legs or arms. It is a neurological condition and it is the messages being sent from the brain to move getting lost.
People can also make accessible places inaccessible. Leaving the beer delivery in the corridor leading to the accessible toilets might be the ‘only’ place it can be left. It quickly becomes an obstruction and makes the accessible facilities inaccessible to those with walkers.
Also, imagine doing the fly dance on the floor of the accessible toilets because some plonker has tied up the string to the alarm so that it is now out of reach and you are unable to summon assistance after falling.
And please don’t nip into the disabled toilet as someone with Crohn’s (like me) might have a more urgent need for the facilities.
End of rant.
Many of you will read online national news and national sport, but what about what’s happening on your doorstep? The Indie is a wonderful local resource. For me personally, if it hadn’t been for the Indie I wouldn’t have performed my poetry at the open mic night at the library and I wouldn’t have booked tickets to see Harry Hill at South Mill Arts.
From events at the local library and films showing at South Mill Arts to bands playing at local pubs, the Indie has all the details and we must support local events and venues. The Indie also keeps you up to date with what is going on in the town, the progress of the many varied sports clubs and helps you to exercise your brain with the multitude of quizzes and crosswords.
So why not go online and become a digital subscriber? Subscribe to the paper online and you will magically receive the paper online, perfect for those with mobility problems. You can sign up at www.bishopsstortfordindependent.co.uk/subscribe.