|
Welcome to the pages of District 07
Oregon & Vancouver
WA Accessible AA & Al-Anon Meeting
Schedule for Deaf & Hard of Hearing
Access Needs:
- Alcoholics who are Deaf or hard of hearing
- Alcoholics who live in rural
areas/isolated, home or hospital bound
- Alcoholics who do not have transportation
or unable to drive themselves due to heath conditions or DUI
- Alcoholics who live in nursing homes/foster
care homes
- Alcoholics who use a wheel chair, walker,
or cane
- Alcoholics who are blind or have low vision
- Alcoholics who have limited English reading
and writing skills
- Alcoholics who are single parents that are
unable to find suitable child care to attend meetings
- 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.
Comments on this web page can be directed to :
Contact:
Access Committee Chair
District 07 of Area 72
| 
