Access

Oregon & Vancouver WA Accessible AA & Al-Anon Meeting

Schedule for Deaf & Hard of Hearing

Access Needs:

1. Alcoholics who are Deaf or hard of hearing
2. Alcoholics who live in rural areas/isolated, home or hospital bound
3. Alcoholics who do not have transportation or unable to drive themselves due to heath conditions or DUI
4. Alcoholics who live in nursing homes/foster care homes
5. Alcoholics who use a wheel chair, walker, or cane
6. Alcoholics who are blind or have low vision
7. Alcoholics who have limited English reading and writing skills
8. Alcoholics who are single parents that are unable to find suitable child care to attend meetings
9. Alcoholics who are developmentally disabled

Is your meeting Truly Accessible … you might want to read this:

Is your AA meeting accessible to AA members who have mobility loss or use wheelchairs?  Many of the facilities we rent for meetings are accessible to people who use wheelchairs.  Once the group confirms that the parking, facility, and restroom are wheelchair accessible, you could post it in the meeting schedule.

(WA-PFR) Wheelchair Accessible Parking/Facility/Restroom

Example:  If only the parking and facility entry door is accessible then use (WA-PF)

Sometimes the easiest way for the group to find out if the meeting is accessible is to do a walk/wheel through.  Use a yardstick or a wheelchair to measure the parking lot and enter the building to measure the restrooms.  The wheelchair access door may differ in location from the entry door currently posted in the schedule.  Make changes to schedule if necessary.

Please update the groups meeting codes to clearly show the extent of accessibility.  Here are the scenarios that AA members who use wheelchairs have had:

• They go to the meeting that is marked with something like H-handicapped.  When they arrive they find that the parking lot is all gravel and does not have a wheel chair accessible parking space.  Moving a wheelchair through gravel is very difficult.
• They may need to use the restroom and find that it is not accessible.
• The meeting is held in a room that is only accessible by stairway.  So even though the facility, restroom, and parking are all accessible the meeting room itself is not.
• The parking, facility, and restroom are all accessible, but the meeting is held at a time of day where only the closest door to the meeting room is opened.  The AA member who uses a wheelchair can’t get to the meeting because the entry door that is being used by the group is not accessible.
• They see the meeting code H-handicapped in the schedule but when they arrive they find that meeting used that code because they have an interpreter for deaf AA members.  The meeting was not accessible for people in who use wheelchairs.

So in regards to number 3 and 4, the group would need to either remove the listing as accessible or make changes that would actually make them accessible.

• Request a room that is wheelchair accessible.
• Be sure to clearly post which entry door is being used and use one that is accessible for a person in a wheelchair.

General Language and Communications Tips

Note that the positive phrases put the person first.

+ Positive Phrases  – Negative Phrases

+ Person who uses a wheelchair  – handicapped

• If you offer assistance, wait until the offer is accepted. Then listen to or ask for instructions.
• Treat adults as adults. Address people by their first names only when extending the same familiarity to all others. (Never patronize people who use wheelchairs by patting them on the head or shoulder.)
• Leaning on or hanging on to a person’s wheelchair is similar to leaning on hanging on to a person and is generally considered annoying. The chair is part of the personal body space of the person who uses it.
• Some AA members use powered wheelchairs not electric chairs.  Electric chairs are what some of our states use to execute people.

We have found that some AA groups use the H-handicapped for everything.  It is very important to clearly post how the meeting is accessible and use the appropriate meeting codes.  There is no one meeting code for all access needs.

Please join us to get involved with this Committee on the Second Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m. in the basement of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, W. 13th & Franklin, Vancouver, Washington. (Map)

Contact the Access Committee Chair