Our policy is
"The
companions of visitors with a disability are admitted free of charge to all our
properties. English Heritage staff at properties will not ask for any
documentary proof of disability, however, any disabled visitor who would like a
standard letter confirming that their companion should be admitted free of
charge can be sent one, on request, by Customer
Services."
NB an adult disabled visitor has to pay full price
unless they are senior
citizens, students or unemployed (who get discounted entry whether or not
they are disabled).
I'm sure there are people who don't need a companion for
assistance who take advantage of this to bring in a friend for free, but
the offence and annoyance caused by asking intrusive questions of genuine people
far out ways the small loss of income.
Trevor Reynolds
Collections Registrar, English
Heritage
tel: +44 (0) 1904 601905. 37 Tanner Row,
York, YO1 6WP
Leah,
I have worked a number of places and we always offered free admission to
anyone who came to assist a person with a disability. In terms of school groups
I have always advocated letting in language interpreters free as well. Sometimes
I win that battle, sometimes I don't.
And to be blunt, I don't recall caring whether a specific person was a
family member or an actual paid professional. The fact is, we aren't talking a
lot of people here and you have to balance the cost of losing a small number of
admission tickets with the negative consequences of offending a group or family
arguing over definitions. I have been through the later with a particularly
obstreperous docent and it just is not worth it in the long run. This type of
thing goes especially true for the disabled community because they tend to be
very well networked and communicate. You don't want to get a reputation as
being inaccessible. My advice is that if they claim it, let them in with
appropriate safeguards for acceptable ratios of paid/free tickets.
I should note that I come at this from the history museum side, mostly. My
sites have typically been in historic structures that weren't always as fully
accessible as a more modern building might be, so we were VERY sensitive to give
back a little to that community when we could to stay in their good
graces.
Just my 2 cents.
Matthew
White
PhD Candidate, History of Science
Adjunct Assistant Professor,
Museum Studies
University of Florida
[log in to unmask]
On Sep 9, 2011, at 9:57 AM, Leah Fox wrote:
Hi
All,
We are currently
examining our admissions policies for visitors with disabilities.
Presently, we do not offer any special discounts to a visitor with a
disability or their assistant, but would like to know if other museums
are addressing this any differently. (We offer free admission hours for all
visitors every Saturday from 10:00-noon.)
- Do you offer free
or or reduced admission if someone with a disability brings a personal
assistant (someone acting as a sighted guide; someone to assist with a
wheelchair)?
- How do you
address the fine line between a personal assistant and a friend/family who
is joining them to enjoy the visit but also helping? (We have had several
occassions where the person accompanying has identified themselves as an
assistant asking for free admission. We told them our current policy and
they were fine with it. While we understand that there are many hidden
disabilities, we questioned to ourselves the visitor's intentions -- it
was the second person self-identifying as an assistant, not the person with
the disability saying "I'm here with my assistant.") Overall, we try to use
our best judgement with this.
Thanks,
Leah
Leah Fox, Director of Public
Programs
Currier Museum of Art
150 Ash Street
Manchester, NH 03104
603.669.6144 x119
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