Good advice, Richard. I used to test new areas out on my late wife. I found
that pushing her wheel chair through an exhibit was as informative to the
pusher as to the pushee.

Harry

" When Eve upon the first of Men
  The apple press'd with specious cant,
  Oh! What a thousand pities then
  That Adam was not Adamant!"

               -  Thomas Hood (1799-1842) "A Reflection"


Harry Needham, M.A., CFE, etc.
President
Harry Needham Consulting Services Inc.
Training & consulting services for heritage institutions - and others!
74 Abbeyhill Drive
Kanata, Ontario K2L 1H1
Canada
email: [log in to unmask]
(Voice) +1.613.831-1068
(Fax) +1.613.831-9412
----- Original Message -----
From: Richard S. White <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, September 08, 2000 11:09 AM
Subject: Re: Discrimination at the Kimball


> When I began working at the museum I'm at now, I inherited a 2000 square
> foot exhibit which had been about 50% completed over a three year period.
I
> had 6 months to finish it.  One of the most enjoyable parts of this was
> inviting a wheel-chair using member of the museum to tour the exhibit with
> me to offer advice.
>
> The woman who assisted me was a wonderful person...pleasant, helpful and
> surprisingly to me, very practical in her approach.  Perhaps I was
> unconciously acting on a stereotype, but my experience in the public
sector
> previously (County government)with ADA advisory councils had not been
good.
> I was expecting the "I don't care if it cost 4 times what your annual
budget
> is, you have to do such and such" (the "reasonable" part of reasonable
> accomodation is often forgotten).  Her approach was "Let's see what we can
> do reasonably to improve things"  Did we end up with a perfect exhibit?
No.
> But it is much better than it might otherwise have been, and I will
include
> her in the planning stages of any future exhibt work.
>
> I think every museum needs to develop a relationship with such a person,
to
> help in exhibit design.  And I second the idea of having docents and
> tourguides tour the museum in a wheelchair.  We also take our docents
> through blindfolded and using a cane as we do many programs with the
> visually impaired.
>
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