Please call the facilities office at the dome and ask what can be done for your friend so she can attend games.
I used to work on ADA issues in the University Libraries (as a committee member, not as a lead person), and I'm no longer current in what's in and what's out, but THE BIG deal is that most places make accommodations as they are requested, because you never know what's needed in advance and you would go broke fast trying to accommodate all situations in advance. Some of the situations (like mobility impairment but not needing a wheelchair) seem like they should be obvious, but the line had to be drawn for buildings that were built before the ADA. In your friend's case, it just may be simpler for her to use a stadium wheelchair just for the games. It's faster, it will get her to places she couldn't get to with just a cane, and, (very, very important) it will save her the energy of self mobility. Many post-polio people can walk just fine but use a wheelchair just to save the energy they need for other tasks. I wish artiritic people would share that mindset, to be honest. (I don't have an axe to grind at all--it just makes sense to me.) For what it's worth, I shattered my foot nearly two years ago and even though I managed just fine on crutches at home, I was terrified to use them on our slippery, waxed and sometimes wet floors over here, so I used a wheelchair at work. My goodness, what we all learned about this pre-ADA building!! Our facilities manager has a long list of things I could not get to but should have been able to in a chair, doors I could not navigate, switches I couldn't reach---it goes on. Think of it this way, when Atta flew the plant into the WTC, the hue and cry went up that we had to improve our building standards. The only way for this to be effective would be to raze every tall building (say over 5 stories) in the country and rebuild them to withstand having a 747 land somewhere in the middle of them. Highly impractical and there is this cost factor that didn't occur to the people with this bright suggestion??? The same is true of ADA compliance. If you and your friend lay out the situation to the Dome people, a solution can be created. If you let her sit home, they won't have someone to create a solution for. Chances are fairly good that they have had the same situation before and the solution is sitting there waiting for the next person to ask about it. You won't know until you ask. By the way, if you'll notice, conferences and things like that ask you to request "accommodations" in advance. People seem to think this is limited to accommodations for the deaf or for the blind, but it isn't. It is important to ask for accommodations, listen to what they are ready to suggest and be prepared to offer some suggestions of your own. I guess that's true in all sorts of situations, isn't it? Emilie Quast SE Como _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
