life in Dublin for those with a disability

snorlax

Is our city very accessible or a very formidible place for someone with any kind of disability?

i thought i'd start this thread as I'd love to hear from people's peronal experiences and any tips you may have that you could share with others as to how to get around Dublin.

Amz

Well speaking from the point of view of someone with a visual impairment it can be a very daunting place to go.

The mere fact that a city council would consider removing audio signals from traffic lights because they were confusing sighted pedestirans is enough to let you know how seriously the city takes acces/mobility etc.

Dublin bus I have found to be sometimes quite hostile to requests made to make timetables etc. more user friendly and standing at a stop where numerous bus routes pass can be a nightmare at times. Particularly if you mistakenly hail a bus that turns out to be the wrong one. Drivers are sometimes not very understanding. Then there are the ones who are incredibly nice and quite happily let you know when your stop is coming up etc.

Getting taxis can be a pain in the butt, you can never read the ID, particularly from the back seat, the metre is impossible to read so you've no idea how much you're getting charged etc. However at the AHEAD conference last year, where members of the taxi drivers union (afair) met with people who have various disabilities, they discussed the possibility of introducing a metre which has an audio feature.

Pubs and clubs are ok, except for trying to find toilets, it can be annoying having to ask people, but on the plus side at least you only really have to do that once.

Price lists in restaurants and cafes can be a problem, they're rarely big enough, so I end having to get things I already know are available, or have to ask a friend to read them out to me, which can be a pain. It's not always wise/convenient to use a low vision aid in these situations. There's also the few moments of panic if, like me you're a student, and you're wondering if you have enough money to pay for what you've just ordered.

Working in town is not too bad, I find transport to and from where I work handy enough to get. I'm quite familiar with the city centre so I've no worries getting around on foot. My one complaint about working in town is that in the four weeks I've been here I've nearly been run over more times than I care to count, by bus drivers, car drivers, cyclists, van drivers and motorcyclists who seem to think nothing of breaking the traffic lights. As someone who tries to always cross with the pedestrian lights this is incredibly frustrating. I know this is not a problem exclusive to someone with a disability, but if my sight was worse than it was, or I wasn't able to jump, or run out of the way I'd quite easily have been hit by these morons. There's also no chance to take down reg numbers in my case.

I think the one tip I'd give people is, if you're going somewhere new in the city i.e. for work, or an appointment try and do a trial run a few days before, perhaps on a quiet day like at the weekend. Where you can find out exactly where you need to go, what buses, trains etc. you may need to get, as it can be quite frustrating trying to find a building when you can't read street names, or building numbers etc.

I think also you have to be confident enough to communicate any problems, or needs you have, you can't be afraid to ask for help if you can't see things, or do things. People arean't always just going to spot that you're having trouble you have to point out to them that you may need to be told when your stop is, or that you might need help accessing things. It can be daunting, but you'll find that mroe often than not people are happy to help.

I find that most museums etc. have special facilities for people with visual impairments, you sometimes have to ring ahead, but they can make the experience more enjoyable and the people are generally very amiable and quick to help.

I like to keep my low vision aids with me if at all possible, to read small print labels etc. and my monocular to see signs, bus numbers etc. my big feaer though is that someday some skanger is going to see me using it and not know what it is and as such it'll make me a target for their attentions. So far though I've been lucky.

FranknFurter

Wanted to wait till I'd been into the city next before I said this......went in today so ..........

The accessible busses seem fine (even for my huge chair), the only problem being I have to get a taxi to the nearest one, I live in Clondalkin (liffey valley end) and even though we have a bigger disabled population than Clondalkin village or Ballyfermot, they have accesible busses and we wont until next year at the earliest.

(Although I was told same last year, please please people, ring Dublin Bus and register a complaint, the bus that travels the main neilstown road (The number 78 Bus) HAS to be made accessible.
This is a simple matter for them, there are many accessible busses on routes that are almost never used.
All they need to do is community liason and/or survey, instead they just do it randomly as they replace an old bus, and they also seem to favour the "wealthier" areas of the city for their shiny new busses.
I can name 7 local wheelchair users who have had to turn down much needed employment because of this situation, including myself.
Local groups, TD's and media have been involved in this too, but it seems to have died down now.
Phone - 01 8734222 and register a complaint about this situation. PLEASE, its only one phonecall and will make a huge difference to many lives, and will even get some people off disability allowance and independant!).

The city center itself was'nt too bad, has definitely improved in the last 10 years although I still see new buisnesses with needless steps on pretty much every street.
Road crossings have definitely improved, there are audible signals in most places as well as more defined markings.
My big gripe has always been, in Temple Bar, the pathways are narrow, this is fine, BUT a huge amount of buisness seem to think its fine to partially block them with chained sandwich boards / bins / boxes / advertisments, I worked in Temple Bar for 5 years about 9 years ago, and nothing has changed about this (despite numerous complaints to "Temple Bar Properties"), its sad that somthing so simple can cause such hassle, there arent many ramps off those paths, so often it means going backward on a bumpy high pathway 30 feet to get to a ramp to get onto a cobblestone road because somone thinks its fine to put a wheelie-bin on the public path outside their shop.

b