"As with everything we do, if you can explain to us why you NEED a policy modified, we do it."
That's a great policy in theory, but I'm not sure you're really following through with it in practice. "A companion (we call them minions) is a friend you want to stay with you, to enjoy the Con together." So what about when a companion isn't just a friend, but is a medical necessity? Must a person be forced to choose between having a nurse with them and having a friend with them? If any of these things can be re-evaluated in a case-by-case basis, then I urge you to re-evaluate this case (in private, of course). You're asking someone dealing with severe illness to either manage her illness on her own in the stressful atmosphere of DragonCon (painful, difficult if not impossible) or to separate her minion from his girlfriend and leave the girlfriend to roam DragonCon alone for her very first con (rude, potentially dangerous). All she wants to do is be allowed to sit with her friends, like everyone else. I urge you to take a look at this specific case again and see if there's anything that can be done. (And of course, I don't expect to hear back about it, just, please, consider it.)
On the topic of the fangirl who claims that 10 minions were allowed in with one disabled attendee, I call not only prejudice but BS. Prejudice in that yes, many (if not most) disabilities, illnesses, and physical limitations are invisible, and the able-bodied young woman who was physically capable of getting up and in line by 6am is probably spectacularly ignorant of invisible disabilities. I'm sure she'd sneer at me, who looks healthy but really isn't. It's not my job or anyone else's job to fit into the prejudiced ableist's stereotype of "disabled".
And BS in that it makes absolutely zero sense. Now I haven't used Disability Services yet, but aren't the "get a chair in line" stickers the same as the "get seated in an aisle seat" stickers? Wouldn't that mean that anyone in the disabled line for the panel with mobility limitations would be seated to the sides of the room, not in the first five rows? Aren't the first rows usually used for those with sight or hearing limitations, and for those with service dogs? So what that able-bodied young woman was really complaining about was that anyone who has a service dog or who needed to see a sign language interpreter or who needed to read lips or who wouldn't be able to hear from the back of the room or who wouldn't be able to see the panel unless they're in the first few rows got seated before she did. Aren't those exact the people that should have the first few rows reserved for them?
So given that she was probably a) mistaken about the number of invisible illnesses/disabilities present in the line and b) confused about what the first few rows in a large room should be used for and c) exaggerating to get your attention, it doesn't seem to me like the sort of story you should base policy changes on. If anything, it'd call for better training for the staff members in charge of seating for large rooms. Instead, you chose to take a clearly exaggerated story at face value and use that to further limit the number of minions the disabled person is allowed to keep with them. At some point, you're just punishing the people who genuinely need your help for the prejudices of the able-bodied attendees who don't need your help.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2012-08-22 11:33 pm (UTC)That's a great policy in theory, but I'm not sure you're really following through with it in practice. "A companion (we call them minions) is a friend you want to stay with you, to enjoy the Con together." So what about when a companion isn't just a friend, but is a medical necessity? Must a person be forced to choose between having a nurse with them and having a friend with them? If any of these things can be re-evaluated in a case-by-case basis, then I urge you to re-evaluate this case (in private, of course). You're asking someone dealing with severe illness to either manage her illness on her own in the stressful atmosphere of DragonCon (painful, difficult if not impossible) or to separate her minion from his girlfriend and leave the girlfriend to roam DragonCon alone for her very first con (rude, potentially dangerous). All she wants to do is be allowed to sit with her friends, like everyone else. I urge you to take a look at this specific case again and see if there's anything that can be done. (And of course, I don't expect to hear back about it, just, please, consider it.)
On the topic of the fangirl who claims that 10 minions were allowed in with one disabled attendee, I call not only prejudice but BS. Prejudice in that yes, many (if not most) disabilities, illnesses, and physical limitations are invisible, and the able-bodied young woman who was physically capable of getting up and in line by 6am is probably spectacularly ignorant of invisible disabilities. I'm sure she'd sneer at me, who looks healthy but really isn't. It's not my job or anyone else's job to fit into the prejudiced ableist's stereotype of "disabled".
And BS in that it makes absolutely zero sense. Now I haven't used Disability Services yet, but aren't the "get a chair in line" stickers the same as the "get seated in an aisle seat" stickers? Wouldn't that mean that anyone in the disabled line for the panel with mobility limitations would be seated to the sides of the room, not in the first five rows? Aren't the first rows usually used for those with sight or hearing limitations, and for those with service dogs? So what that able-bodied young woman was really complaining about was that anyone who has a service dog or who needed to see a sign language interpreter or who needed to read lips or who wouldn't be able to hear from the back of the room or who wouldn't be able to see the panel unless they're in the first few rows got seated before she did. Aren't those exact the people that should have the first few rows reserved for them?
So given that she was probably a) mistaken about the number of invisible illnesses/disabilities present in the line and b) confused about what the first few rows in a large room should be used for and c) exaggerating to get your attention, it doesn't seem to me like the sort of story you should base policy changes on. If anything, it'd call for better training for the staff members in charge of seating for large rooms. Instead, you chose to take a clearly exaggerated story at face value and use that to further limit the number of minions the disabled person is allowed to keep with them. At some point, you're just punishing the people who genuinely need your help for the prejudices of the able-bodied attendees who don't need your help.