I've been reading this thread with interest, and I must admit a sense of
growing frustration. Is it dump on the Kimball day? I have also read the
messages on the ADA list which seem to have started this discussion.
There seems to be quite a bit left out of these messages. What was the
staffing of the museum like on the day of the visit? What was the level of
traffic at the time this lady made her visit?
Indigo Nights said, "The woman never anticipated running into this kind of
an illegal/artificial barrier in her visit. She expected, as any other
visitor would, to be accommodated." In reading the original posting, Ms.
Saroff (sorry if this is a mis-spelling) said that she and her family were
escorted through the exhibit by the weekend supervisor. I am not sure
exactly what this means, but it does seem to imply that the museum took
some action on her behalf. The staff did not prevent her from seeing the
exhibit. It seems to me that the problem here might be that she was not
"accommodated" in the way she would like to have been--being able to take
her child through the exhibit in a stroller without any bother from the
museum staff.
I probably will get flamed for this, either as ignorant of the fine points
of ADA or insensitive to people with disabilities. I certainly believe
that persons with any disability should be admitted to all museums, and
those institutions have a responsibility to make "reasonable" efforts to
make the experience of disabled visitors as intereting, as enjoyable, and
as informative as possible. The problem is that we will never have a
universally accepted definition of reasonable.
Mike Cahall
In a recent postingAt 12:34 PM 9/5/00 -0700, you wrote:
>I had permission to post the note from the author as
>written. I didn't take that to mean I had license to
>edit it, and frankly, there is discussion about the
>museum in specificity on the other list, and there may
>be letters that follow directly to them.
>
>However, in response to your questions about why
>didn't the woman think to call ahead, the simple
>answer is, under the law, she doesn't have to.
>
>Remember the law is 10 years old. Museums and other
>places of business have had 10 years to come into
>compliance with it or face potential litigation.
>
>Requests for accommodation do not have to be in
>writing; they do not have to be called in in advance;
>they do not require doctor's notes for public
>accommodation.
>
>The woman never anticipated running into this kind of
>an illegal/artificial barrier in her visit. She
>expected, as any other visitor would, to be
>accommodated.
>
>Unless one's organization has a policy requiring all
>visitors to call in advance, to expect her to have
>called on this one is at best ignorance of the law.
>
>Now tell me this, please. If your claim is ignorance
>of the law, would that work with the policeman who
>stops you and wants to give you a ticket for speeding
>in a place where you didn't know what the speed limit
>was?
>
>It doesn't work on this, either.
>
>For more information, you may want to visit:
>
>http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/ada.html
>
>I would suggest museums not get themselves sued by
>reviewing their policies regarding accommodating the
>disabled. If you need a checklist of things to
>consider, I suggest you look at the one prepared by a
>listmate of mine on ADA-Law and which I put up to help
>him since he's blind:
>
>http://victorian.fortunecity.com/stanmer/414/law/survey.html
>
>
>
>
>
>--- Jay Heuman <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> Hello Indigo Nights et al.,
>>
>> To be quite honest, this issue could be
>> raised without the specifics.
>> As a result, your inclusion of the name of the
>> institution serves to
>> embarrass the Kimball or -- at minimum -- put the
>> Kimball on the spot.
>>
>> On this topic: why do visitors to museums
>> assume museums are prepared
>> to deal with every situation without prior notice?
>> Why are visitors
>> with special circumstances not logically approaching
>> their impending
>> visit to a museum or other tourist site? Why did
>> this visitor not think
>> to call ahead, to ensure her needs could and would
>> be met?
>> Do not mistake this message as
>> unsympathetic. I feel my reaction is
>> logical. For example, I have been yelled at and
>> belittled by people who
>> visit expecting Joslyn Art Museum to have many more
>> wheelchairs than is
>> reasonable. We have two wheelchairs . . .
>> considering regular daily
>> attendance can be anywhere from 50, with several
>> hundred or even several
>> thousand here for special events, two wheelchairs
>> seems like plenty.
>> In terms of strollers, Joslyn Art Museum
>> does not have any at present.
>> So, would this lady be in a position to sue Joslyn
>> had she not brought
>> her own stroller?
>> It takes two to tango . . . museums and
>> visitors. Everyone must accept
>> the responsibility . . . the Kimball and this
>> visitor.
>>
>> Yours truly,
>>
>> Jay Heuman, Visitor & Volunteer Services Coordinator
>> Joslyn Art Museum http://www.joslyn.org
>> 2200 Dodge Street, Omaha, NE, 68102
>> Phone: 402-342-3300, ext. 298
>> Fax: 402-342-2376
>>
>>
>=========================================================
>> Important Subscriber Information:
>>
>> The Museum-L FAQ file is located at
>> http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may
>> obtain detailed information about the listserv
>> commands by sending a one line e-mail message to
>> [log in to unmask] . The body of the
>> message should read "help" (without the quotes).
>>
>> If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one
>> line e-mail message to [log in to unmask]
>> . The body of the message should read "Signoff
>> Museum-L" (without the quotes).
>
>
>=====
>Indigo Nights
>[log in to unmask]
>
>
>__________________________________________________
>Do You Yahoo!?
>Yahoo! Mail - Free email you can access from anywhere!
>http://mail.yahoo.com/
>
>=========================================================
>Important Subscriber Information:
>
>The Museum-L FAQ file is located at
http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed
information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail
message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should
read "help" (without the quotes).
>
>If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to
[log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff
Museum-L" (without the quotes).
>
>
Michael Cahall, Ph.D.
Department of History
Duquesne University
[log in to unmask]
=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:
The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).
If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).
|
