Shame on You Frank Manning

Dear Editor:

I was outraged, appalled, and saddened, after reading your 19 July Letter to the Editor about accessibility ramps that will be installed on Beacon Hill sidewalks.

Outraged by your sense of self absorption and entitlement. That you would write: “whatever advantage there is to the handicapped is completely outweighed by the disadvantage to Beacon Hill residents, history, and parking”.

Appalled by your ignorance. The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law in 1990. It is appalling that in 2014 you still refer to these individuals as handicapped, not individuals with disabilities.

Saddened that you, and so many other Beacon Hill residents, have no intention or desire to embark on sensitivity training/education so that you will recognize that this group of individuals must have the same access to everything that you have.

Please read: http://www.businessinsider .com/what-its-like-to-be-in-a-wheelchair-2013-and www.tcd.ie/tsmj (Blind for a Day by Robert Bruce Brand). Consider going to wheelchair.mynextstep.org/ and taking their challenge.

We are all only a step, a fall, an accident away from becoming disabled. If you become disabled, my hope is that you will not be surrounded by insensitive people like you.

Deborah McGrath

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