HEllo Ardith,   
      
   On Wed 2011-Oct-26 23:56, Ardith Hinton (1:153/716) wrote to Richard Webb:   
      
   AH>           Good for them!  Over the years I have noticed that some   
   AH> denominations seem more receptive to folks with disabilities than   
   AH> others.  When I was growing up, there were two families with   
   AH> offspring in wheelchairs who attended the same church my family did.   
   AH> For as long as I remember there has been a ramp into the church...   
   AH> and when renovations were made to the church hall & office area,   
   AH> i.e. some time before Nora was born, an elevator was added.  At the   
   AH> other end of the continuum, there was a woman in this echo years ago   
   AH> who said the members of her church had shunned her family because   
   AH> one of the kids had a learning disability & they interpreted it to   
   AH> mean the family weren't good Christians... (sigh).    
      
   Have noted that too over the years.  The church where I grew up was late   
   getting with the program, but they finally   
   installed a ramp and an elevator to get one into the   
   addition which lead to the fellowship hall and the   
   auditorium.  IT meant that people who were wheelchair bound   
   and wished to attend services entered the sanctuary from the front, but they   
   could get in.  Also one of those   
   improvements was a small elevator.   
      
   LIke you I patronize places that are wheelchair friendly,   
   especially for Kathy.  Just having a ramp isn't enough imho. THe question is   
   whether the ramp and other facilities are   
   easy to use for her.  Example, a Chinese restaurant we   
   really liked when we first got up here from NEw ORleans was   
   a real pain, the ramp was steep, adn the parking lot on a   
   pretty good slope, and the door narrow, which meant I had to pull her up the   
   ramp and back her over the threshold as her   
   small front wheels wouldn't clear it.  THen when leaving you had to really   
   hold onto her or she'd take quite a thrill   
   ride.   
      
   When they built a newer larger facility I still found that   
   though access to the building was easier for Kathy in a   
   chair the carpeting they use inside is very deep pile, hard   
   to push her, and the way they've done the buffet line is   
   difficult to maneuver Kathy in the chair.  We still like the place, but I'll   
   only conscent to patronizing the place when   
   Kathy feels strong enough to navigate the buffet line with   
   her walker.  I'll take my palte to the table, come back and   
   get hers, but she still must navigate the line with a walker or it's too big a   
   pain and I'll vote to spend more money   
   elsewhere.   
      
      
      
   RW>  Even if you can't do things in the "normal" way the   
   RW>  important thing is that you get them done, and can   
   RW>  live a full life.   
      
   AH>           Absolutely... you do what works!  In our bathroom we have   
   AH> a key chain with a stuffed animal suspended from a toggle switch.    
   AH> Before that... when Nora was too short to reach the light switch...   
   AH> we attached a bit of dowelling to it as a less expensive alternative   
   AH> to the commercial product we'd seen in the home of a friend whose   
   AH> husband was quadriplegic.  Although Nora's needs have changed we're   
   AH> still using the basic concept of modifying the switch so she can   
   AH> turn the light on & off by herself.  If other people think we're   
   AH> weird, chances are they already realized that before visiting our   
   AH> home or before we invited them.  :-))    
      
   IF they have a problem with that then they don't need to   
   visit you anyway .   
      
      
   RW>  Even if that's as simple as using our dry measuring   
   RW>  cups to measure liquids   
      
   AH>           I hadn't thought of using dry measuring cups that way, but   
   AH> I think it might work well for Nora too.  She often finds it   
   AH> difficult to read the numbers on the graduated cups associated with   
   AH> liquids.  Thanks for the suggestion.  :-)    
      
   Glad I could be of help, I'd never thought about that.   
   Another thing that might help you or her is to get a set of   
   metal measuring spoons, then you can bend the handles to act more like   
   ladles.  The metal ones are hard to find these   
   days though.   
      
   Regards,   
              Richard   
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    * Origin:  (1:116/901)