by Ryan Lythall
We are living in challenging times. If you’re a person who is physically and/or mentally challenged, life can quickly become overwhelming these days.
For the most part, mainstream media has largely avoided discussing how COVID-19 has affected people with disabilities. I will do my best to share our story.
At my end, things have been relatively normal. I live in my own apartment with 24/7 care and I use a ventilator.
My number one concern right now is making sure that all of my staff stay healthy and that I provide a safe, healthy, and clean environment.
As of this writing, all of my personal support workers (PSWs) are healthy and have been showing up for their shifts. As well, all of my PSWs have also been keeping extra clean. I have access to N95 masks as well as other protective wear if the need arises.
As far as my medical supplies and household supplies go, most of the places that I deal with are still doing deliveries.
Recently, I’ve ventured out to grab a few essential items, but beside that I’ve been able to have everything delivered. For these reasons, I consider myself to be one of the lucky ones.
Over the last few weeks, I’ve had lots of time to connect with friends online, many of whom are physically and/or mentally disabled. Many of them have addressed a wide range of concerns. Below is a list of just a handful of issues and concerns that people with disabilities are facing right now.
The most important issue is ensuring that their caregivers are practicing good hand-washing technique, including using hand sanitizer.
When the pandemic first hit, many people began buying toilet paper, hand sanitizers, and other cleaning products. For most people with disabilities, we rely on others for hands-on assistance.
It’s vital that our caregiver(s) be proactive in washing their hands and keeping our places clean, for their health and ours. This involves constantly using hand sanitizer. It plays an important role in our battle to stay healthy.
I’m asking all of you to please be mindful of that the next time you go shopping. Also, if you have any extra hand sanitizer, please consider giving a bottle to someone in need. If you’re unsure of who to donate to, please reach out to me on twitter and I’ll be happy to give you that information.
It’s also difficult not being able to have visitors, including family and loved ones. A lot of people are lonely right now. This is particularly true for those in long-term-care hospitals and homes, group homes, seniors’ care homes, and retirement centres.
All of these places have stopped allowing visitors, except in exceptional cases. For those people, it can be extremely lonely and depressing, particularly if they don’t have access to technology in order to communicate.
My heart goes out to them and their loved ones who are currently experiencing this.
Right now people with disabilities are more affected by public transportation, including Para Transpo. Not much has been said about how the city is tackling the issue of keeping the vehicles clean.
It was recently reported that a few OC Transpo drivers tested positive for COVID-19, which is scary considering the number of riders who come in contact with drivers, even with new safety measures in place.
Para Transpo drivers have much more contact with passengers: for example, helping passengers off and on their vehicles, and securing a wheelchair or a walker with straps.
For persons using a wheelchair, the driver has to bend down in front of them and behind them to hook the straps to the chair.
If the passenger requires an extra lap belt or shoulder belt, clearly the driver needs to get close enough to do that.
For people who use walkers on Para Transpo, the passenger is usually sitting elsewhere when the driver’s securing their walker. Less risky, but still a high risk.
As well, most if not all Para Transpo users fall under the category of being extra-vulnerable to COVID-19. So, as you can see, proper cleaning of Para Transpo vehicles is very important.
As for me, I’m refusing to take Para Transpo until the situation improves and I’m given proof that vehicles are being properly cleaned.
There are other important issues as well: for example, not being able to effectively practice physical and social distancing due to the size of our wheelchairs and other mobility devices, which almost completely fill a sidewalk.
A good solution for that would be to shut down certain roads to traffic and allow pedestrians to use them. That way, we can all do physical and social distancing while getting groceries or getting much needed fresh air.
One other issue that I want to quickly mention is wheelchair accessible washrooms. With everything shut down, it’s much harder to find them now: damn near impossible, actually.
And finally, I want to thank everyone who is still working, especially those in healthcare, including mental health. Many of them are risking their lives in order to save ours. You are much needed and appreciated. Thank you also to everyone who continues to check in with me and ask if I need anything.
In closing, I ask everyone out there to please be kind, caring, and understanding. Please reach out to friends, loved ones, and even strangers, even if just to say, “Hey, how are you?”
We’re all in this together and we will all get out of this together. Let’s make it out better than we did going in.
Find Ryan on Twitter: @rolling_enigma