A Disability Fee?

This morning, I needed to have my wheelchair-accessible van sent to the auto shop for repairs. I normally am finished with work around 1pm, so I asked the mechanic to have the repairs done by then and he said it should be completed by the afternoon. 

About two hours before I was ready to leave, the mechanic told me that the repairs wouldn't be complete until 2pm. 

But that isn't the biggest conflict of this story. Since my van was out of commission, I was forced to find another way home. After brainstorming possible scenarios, I decided to take a cab home. 

I pulled up the number for Yellow Cab to arrange to have a wheelchair-accessible taxi pick me up. Once I got through to the operator, it was only a few minutes before I had a ride arranged. 

A few moments later, the taxi driver calls to tell me he's here to pick me up. It didn't take long before I was strapped in and ready to hit the road. 

I made it home a few minutes later and as I was getting ready to pay the fare, the driver drops this bomb on me:

"That'll be $57," he said. 

If I could, I would have fallen out of my chair then and there. I proceeded to ask why a 15 minute trip cost almost $60. 

The driver tells me that the mileage only cost around $30, but I was charged a $25 pick up fee because I was in a wheelchair. 

You read that right, there's an extra fee just because I am a person with a disability. The driver didn't get into the specifics about why that fee was in place, but he did tell my mom and I that he'd give me a "break" next time. He shouldn't be so generous. 

It's things like this that make using a wheelchair so difficult. People wonder why they don't see so many people with disabilities out and about and this is s big reason why. Many of those with disabilities are on fixed incomes, so getting around become nearly impossible when every time you want to go out, it'll cost nearly $100 just for a ride. 

This needs to change. Accessibility is an important part of being able to live as a person with a disability, so what happens when you can't even afford the access?

I understand the need to make a buck, but charging people with disabilities an extra fee just because they use a wheelchair is just plain wrong.

My First Car

My first car, I shall call her Dalia.It's a right of passage that every teenager dreams of, getting their first car. It signals the beginning of their new found independence and and symbolyzes a new transition to adulthood. Whether it's a beat up 1986 Volvo or a 2012 Range Rover, you can't keep the pride from beaming across their smiling faces.

Just like every other bright-eyed teenager, I to dreamed of the day I would receive my very own car. Unfortunately, the first set of wheels I ever received were attached to a Quickie electric wheelchair, so that dream was put on hold.

Ever since I became sick at 14, I wondered if I would ever get the chance to have my own car. I often thought about the first time I would get behind the wheel, but for now, a joystick would have to do. 

It was a little late, but at 28 years of age, I finally was able to purchase my very first car, a cherry red 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan. Along with its firey color, a grey pinstripe runs down the middle of the body and hood scoops sits on the hood. It's definitely a muscle car trapped in a mini-van's body, and it has my name written all over it.

I was so proud of myself when I got the van because owning a car as a person with a disability is no easy task. Since I am in an electric wheelchair, it's not like I could just buy some clunker to get me from A to Z. I needed something that was accessible, and the wheelchair lifts alone cost $13,000-$15,000. So the cheapest used car I would get would be around $22,000. I guess they forgot to let me know that you need to be rich if you're going to be disabled.

If able bodied people are allowed to purchase affordable modes of transportation, the same should be afforded to people with disabilities. I am one of the fortunate people with disabilities to have a job and salary that allows me to have my own car, but many people in my situation can not afford spending $20,000 - $50,000 on a car.  If there was one thing I could change, it would be to make handicapped vans more affordable.

My first car is someting I'll always cherish and remember. It is a symbol of my success and independence, and I hope that one day this experience can be more of a reality for people with disabilities.