UN adopts disability convention

Anyone wanna' bet the US does not ratifiy it?

UN adopts disability convention By Geoff Adams-Spink
Age & disability correspondent, BBC News website


The United Nations General Assembly has unanimously adopted a treaty on the rights of disabled people.
The text of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was agreed by a UN committee in August.
Countries that ratify it will have to introduce laws ensuring that disabled people are treated fairly.
The treaty will enter into force once it has been ratified by 20 countries. It is thought that the world's disabled population is 650m.
It will now be up to the 192 member states of the UN to ratify it and to begin putting it into practice.
The treaty will be signed by the European Union as a legal entity - a first in the field of human rights.

Fastest legislation?

The convention is the most rapidly negotiated human rights treaty in the history of international law - as well as the first such treaty in the 21st Century, said UN Deputy Secretary General Mark Malloch Brown.
"Too often, those living with disabilities have been seen as objects of embarrassment, and at best, of condescending pity and charity," Mr Malloch Brown said.
"On paper they have enjoyed the same rights as others. In real life, they have often been relegated to the margins and denied the opportunities that others take for granted."
The convention sets out in detail the rights of disabled people. It covers civil and political rights, accessibility, participation and inclusion, education, health, employment and social protection.
The treaty also recognises that attitudes need to change if disabled people are to achieve equality.
Countries that adopt the treaty will have to get rid of laws, customs and practices that discriminate against disabled people.
An optional protocol to the treaty will give groups and individuals the right to petition the Committee on Rights of Persons with Disabilities once they have exhausted all avenues within their own country.
A committee of independent experts will receive reports from states that have ratified the convention on the progress made in meeting their obligations.
The convention will be opened for signature and ratification in March 2007.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/6173073.stm

Published: 2006/12/13 18:25:30 GMT

[Flint]

hmmmmmm but will it guarantee equal access to getting slaughtered by bloodthirsty warlords while they discuss a plan
to have a meeting to talk about putting it on the agenda of possible topics to be put on the schedule for next year?

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by rkzenrage

Anyone wanna' bet the US does not ratifiy it?

That would depend a lot on what it mandates, I would think. Stuff like Braille labels on aircraft controls?

Interestingly enough, the document does not appear to actually define what a "disability" is...other than to refer to it in a preamble as "an evolving concept". Kind of a blank check in that respect.

By the way, you may want to curb your enthusiasm for rapidly-arrived-at UN treaties if you're interested in keeping your small arms; they've decided you don't need them.

[tw]

Originally Posted by MaggieL

By the way, you may want to curb your enthusiasm for rapidly-arrived-at UN treaties if you're interested in keeping your small arms; they've decided you don't need them.

We Americans have a problem with disabilities. In building a house for the disabled, I could not find facts and numbers that define what was necessary. In America (except on the west coast), we want to define who can be sued and for how much. Do it yourself. What are the numbers for light switches in a building for disabled people? This is how we learn by doing. Do it yourself. How many inches from the floor must a light switch be located? Provide that url. And how many web sites were visited before useful reality (the numbers) could be obtained? Do we want to sue or do we want to solve problems?

Forget the UN. How many of us think like an engineer verses how many think like a business or law school graduate. Do it yourself to learn.

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by tw

What are the numbers for light switches in a building for disabled people? This is how we learn by doing. Do it yourself. How many inches from the floor must a light switch be located? Provide that url. And how many web sites were visited before useful reality (the numbers) could be obtained?

Cripes, tw. You're telling me it's not in here?:

http://www.bookmarki.com/ProductDeta...63&click=62446

My Dad had a copy of this (not the CD-ROM version, of course). And his was pre-ADA. I think my copy at home is the 6th edition.

For over 70 years, Architectural Graphic Standards has been the bedrock design reference for generations of architects, builders and engineers. Now comes the most complete design tool yet--the completely updated and expanded Tenth Edition. You'll find a wealth of information, complete with over 10,000 drawings.

Its 21 chapters include over 10,000 illustrations. 333 new pages were added to replace 232 pages which were considered to be out of date, or of little interest to today's professionals. This new edition also features revisions to 224 pages. More that a million copies of this publication have been sold since the publication of the first edition in 1932. It features a comprehensive source of design data and details, which have helped shape twentieth-century buildings and cities, and influenced the work of several generations of architects, engineers and designers.

Of all the architecture books published, Architectural Graphic Standards is by far the most popular. More than a million copies of this landmark publication have been sold over several generations to architects, engineers and designers of the built environment.

Since the publication of the sixth edition in 1971, Architectural Graphic Standards has been generally organized according to the principles of MasterFormat. MasterFormat organizes construction data into classifications based on building trade or specialty. In this new tenth edition, an effort has been made to conform even more carefully to the MasterFormat system. As a result, most pages have new, improved page titles and section names. Chapters 2 through 16 conform to MasterFormat, while Chapters 1, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21 contain sections that are compatible with or complementary to MasterFormat.

As both existing buildings and new construction must now comply with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), an important new chapter, Accessibility, has been added, which is based on the design standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

It includes new security design, seven new building systems, increased and updated coverage of ADA and Green Building Guidelines, Masterspec Definition Integration, updated definitions and terms, new energy-efficient lighting standards and insightful contributions from industry professionals.

[tw]

Originally Posted by MaggieL

Cripes, tw. You're telling me it's not in here?

I was not going to spend $250 (another book was rumored to provide the data for only $80) for information because the person who was being paid and who could not seem to find the numbers did not do so. BTW, I also could not find any of these books in libraries.

I was simply looking for most basic and common information such as how high must wall switches be located from floor. Where in relationship to doors. Access to electrical panels. Location of toilet and peripherals. The simplest of numbers and no one could provide it. But again, I found reams of information on who could be sued, why, for how much, etc.

Where did I find this information? West Coast cities provided much of it. It took hours - most of a day - to find those numbers because I had to wade through so much law and other (what should be) irrelevant crap. It says much when 'how to get the work done' becomes irrelevant to 'who can we blame'. Wonder why ADA stuff can get expensive?

Washers and dryers. The paid professional even had us put those up on a raised platform. What did the disabled residents immediately do? Remove a platform that only made washer and dryer more difficult to use. But again, some english major could not bother even read the book. And so I had to learn how difficult ADA can be.

Yes some items cost plenty. A sidewalk to meet ADA requirements costs many $thousands. But there is no good reason for putting electric switches so high. In fact, a friend owns a house originally designed by an EE. Every switch is at knuckles height. Turn on lights without even raising a hand; simply swing an arm at the switch. Easier for the 'enabled' as well as for the disabled. But in construction, fear of change and learning is rampant.

Washer and dryers are routinely made with controls foolishly located in the back only because that was always how it was. Today, LC, et al routinely make white appliances easy for both 'enabled' and disabled - and they cost less.

Having addressed disability questions, most solutions need not cost more money. One complained that they had to widen an exterior door. But then that door was also in violation of human safety standards - for both 'enabled' and disabled. Many expenses for the disabled really are because we keep doing the same thing wrong rather than asking some simple questions and adapting better standards.

In one town, when it was obvious that ADA requirements for curbs were coming, they still built street curbs wrong. And then complained when they had to remove those new and defective curbs to meet ADA requirements one year later. Too often the expense of making something ADA compliant is traceable to that girl who could not even read the material provided and provide us with the right numbers. Then she complained about how ADA was making things so complex. In trying to do her job, I then learned why so much ADA stuff is so expensive. It's not. Just that some people do not do their jobs - ie learn. So many just fear change because this is how we did it 20 and 30 years ago. Ask them why - they don't know.

I could not even find any numbers for ADA in any of so many county and university libraries. But I certainly knew how to sue.

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by tw

I was not going to spend $250 (another book was rumored to provide the data for only $80) for information because the person who was being paid and who could not seem to find the numbers did not do so. BTW, I also could not find any of these books in libraries.

Sounds like the real problem was you hired an incompetant.

Architectural Graphic Standards is...well..a standard work. Shit, even I have a copy, although it's elderly...but then so am I, and I'm not practicing as an architect.

You and your minions can't find things that seem to be easy for others to find. Then you complain about how Americans suck and nobody cares.

[wolf]

Originally Posted by MaggieL

Cripes, tw. You're telling me it's not in here?:

http://www.bookmarki.com/ProductDeta...63&click=62446

My Dad had a copy of this (not the CD-ROM version, of course). And his was pre-ADA. I think my copy at home is the 6th edition.

A friend of mine's dad was the editor of the edition that came out in the late 1970s/early 1980s. The particular stamp that he put on that project was to include the Mickey Mouse phone solely because he wanted the words "Mickey Mouse" to appear in the index. While it's apparently a great honor to be chosen to edit the thing, he had certain opinions about the project.

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by wolf

A friend of mine's dad was the editor of the edition that came out in the late 1970s/early 1980s. The particular stamp that he put on that project was to include the Mickey Mouse phone solely because he wanted the words "Mickey Mouse" to appear in the index. While it's apparently a great honor to be chosen to edit the thing, he had certain opinions about the project.

Interesting...finally pulled my copy down from the bookshelf. Not sure when or how I got it; it may have been used because it's the fifth edition, published in 1956. It doesn't even *have* an index. The drawings (and it's all hand-drawn and lettered) are gorgeous.

I beleive it appeared in the Whole Earth Catalog, which was a dead-tree edition of the World Wide Web published in the 1970s. That's where I first learned about Aikido and Swiss Army Knives. The closest modern equivalant of the WEC is probably Kevin Kelly's Cool Tools. Apparently Kevin editied at least one of the WECs.

[yesman065]

I swear tw - you must be the life of the party.

[tw]

Originally Posted by yesman065

I swear tw - you must be the life of the party.

Yeah - liars are so much more fun. Ripping off old ladies means we drink the good stuff tonight. After all, that is only what matters. We feel good, then everything must be right.

What really sucks about the house issue, and everything else, when it comes to disabilities, is that everything is so much more expensive.
A counter that has FEWER materials is TWICE as expensive as a "normal" one.
I know for a fact, because I was a builder, it is easier to put in a doorway without a floor thrshold... yet, they charge more to do a home with them. You don't want to price a disabled home... it is a nightmare how much they rape people for, people who have no choice, for items in the home that are no different than "regular" homes, take no special equipment, with few exceptions... just because they can...
How conveeeeeenient.
When I stayed at a hotel recently, they put me in a disabled room, even after I asked not to be, charged me $60 more per night. The room was smaller than a standard room, was smaller than the standard rooms and had NO VIEW in a hotel that is know for it.
Welcome to my world. BTW, I did not pay the extra and just looked at the cashier when she started to say something... as she started to say something else my wife just said "try it". Never heard another peep. They know it is criminal.
Read a thread recently on a disabled board and this is standard practice, most four or five star hotels have their disabled rooms facing their dumpsters (many do what the Sheraton in Orlando does, have them smaller and charge more for them).

[Tonchi]

Interesting that you should mention this, that is precisely what they did to me when I went to San Diego for the operation last summer. The "disabled" room had almost no furniture and a cavernous bathroom with no decorations, looked like the shower room at a prison. They had the bath tub filled with so many gadgets for lowering somebody into it that I couldn't even stand in the thing to shower on my own two feet. The only good thing about it was they place these rooms near the lobby so you can get back and forth easier. For the privilege of this room which I did not request because I was perfectly ambulatory at the time, they wanted $250 per night, with very steep fares to get you to the hospital in their shuttle instead of free like the place we stayed the year before. Fortunately, they have to give discount rates to patients of Thornton at UCSD or I could not have afforded this uncomfortable room.

As far as any UN resolutions, obviously they have forgotten that UN troops are raping women all over Africa after they proclaimed the Year of the Woman. Seems to me they also reported record slaughters of children in places like Dafur and children being sold into slavery in Sudan during the UN Year of the Child. We are all going to be better off if the UN would just quit with these preposterous proclamations which they will never come close to affecting.

[DanaC]

They might affect some of this stuff if they weren't trying to dance to several political tunes at the same time. Our countries are a part of that community, and on our behest they weaken it constantly. We are the ones who are making the UN ineffective. rkzenrage raised the issue about America possibly vetoing this bill. It would not be the first time that great ideas in the UN were subverted or destroyed by a couple of major nations.

Even so, it still ameliorates some of what goes on in the world. There have been successes, they just tend to a smaller scale.

[MaggieL]

Originally Posted by DanaC

rkzenrage raised the issue about America possibly vetoing this bill.

It's not a bill, it's a treaty. The issue raised was that the US might not become a signatory. I'm not in favor of the US ratifying it in its present form, it's way too vague.

It was approved by the General Assembly...as I recall, the US only has a veto in the Security Council.