Dear all,

writing in a foreign language has its difficulties. What seems to be  
clear to the one who writes it might not be clear to the one who reads  
it. So, to clarify my statements from September 15:

Neither Dr. Christian Müller-Straten nor I are entitled or able to  
speak for *all* German museum professionals. As I always write in my  
signature: "The views expressed are my own." I can not see how anyone  
can read a reputational damage into this, but I can assure you all  
that it was not intended in writing.

I apologize for having used the term "privileges" when introducing the  
German severely handicapped pass (at least that's the translation the  
web gives me for "Schwerbehindertenausweis", I apologize in advance if  
it's not the right term), I should have used the term "rights",  
because it is the approriate one and it's closer to my thinking anyway.

This pass gives you the possibility to get the free or reduced  
entrance fee to a museum. That's the only thing that might be easier  
in the German system for both - the one with the handicap and the  
front-house staff (of course also the front-house staff in our museum  
- it's not "my" museum, it belongs to the city and the state). The  
pass doesn't grant you to take your dog or your soft drink with you,  
it doesn't even allow special parking, that's a different pass.  
Furthermore, if you have a medical issue like for example diabetes  
it's not likely that you will have a severely handicapped pass,  
because most diabetics are not regarded as "severely handicapped" in  
the definition of the authorities. It's "just" a medical issue, but  
one that might require you to carry something like a soft drink.

And here we are again at the original question. Many have pointed out  
that it's important to address the issue in a way acceptable for both  
parties: to ask the one who needs the drink to carry it closed and out  
of sight of other visitors, only drink it in the gallery if absolutely  
neccessary and otherwise try to reach a coffee corner. It's a question  
of training the staff on how to handle this in the most decent manner.  
I'm sure you can't forsee every circumstance in a policy and it's more  
a matter of sensitizing staff for those issues than giving them strict  
guidelines. And my personal opinion towards this is: better to let 10  
who fake a medical issue pass with their coke in their pocket than to  
doubt one time that someone has a medical issue.

To say it again: this is my own personal opinion.

Enjoy your week!
Angela


Angela Kipp
Collection Manager
TECHNOSEUM, Mannheim, Germany
http://www.technoseum.de

Join the Registrar Trek at http://world.museumsprojekte.de/
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The views expressed are my own. My museum can't be held responsible  
for anything I write.



Quoting adelheid straten <[log in to unmask]>:

> Dear colleagues,
>
> I am not intending to insult anybody (mayby except forgers of disabilities)
>
> I can accept that some of you don't not like my proposal of a  
> disability card while accepting special car plates for disabled and  
> special parking cards for priviledge parking - I think they would  
> make public life easier, also the work at front museum desks.  
> Disabled are using them in public transport and museums very often  
> and freely here. It's in my eyes a useful tool and I am shure that  
> it's being used day by day also in Angela' s museum. By the way, in  
> this particular matter, there are only personal opinions. Actually,  
> we do not have the Rochester problem here, therefore there is no  
> official statements by German museums, of course. We treat disabled  
> as equal citizens as anywhere in the civilized word, there is no  
> need to raise walls against each other. With regard to the disabled,  
> I agree with any measure taken by German museums based on equal  
> rights, even if Angela has just attacked me quite unprofessionally  
> with the contrary.
>
> Up to now, in my eyes no final answers were given to the OP from  
> Rochester. Are the numbers growing everywhere or not? If the numbers  
> are growing in fact everywhere: What is the reason? I am interested  
> in solutions because I am intending to publish this interesting  
> discussion because it throws a light how different legal systems  
> would handle a the problem of the OP. As all personal injuries will  
> be deleted, I ask once more to calm down and get back to a a  
> satisfying answer.
>
> As I dare to have an opinion as a guest in your list,  I am very  
> interested which of my statements caused misunderstandings. I don't  
> need misunderstandings.....
> So, why did I spoke about "privileges" for disabled? Because, f.e. a  
> parking lot at front door reserved for disabled _is_ a privilege.  
> Even someone with a sudden backspine attack should not use it. So  
> why not call  a privilege a privilege? The world is full with  
> privileges.:-)
>
> Christian
>
>
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