More to be done

Charlottetown woman says few places in Charlottetown are “truly accessible”

Jen Coughlin wants to see P.E.I. venues and events become more accessible for people with disabilities.

Coughlin has been in a wheelchair since she slipped and fell a month before her 10th birthday, breaking her neck and leaving her with quadriplegia.

Coughlin, 31, she has many issues navigating Charlottetown with a wheelchair. But concerts and events are the worst. “If they are put on at a place that has seating, we usually have to sit way at the back and sometimes there isn’t even enough room to sit with the person we went with,” Coughlin, who was the 2000 Easter Seals Ambassador, told The Guardian in a recent interview.

Outdoor festivals are also a cause for headaches.

“I’ve gone to things before like the Festival of Lights and I was basically left to fend for myself, hoping that I’d be able to see the stage and enjoy the show.”

Coughlin said recent measures to make venues like playgrounds more accessible are great for children.

However, she said little is being done for people her age.

“For someone like me with no kids… an accessible playground doesn’t affect my life in any way,” said Coughlin, who is calling on the province and City of Charlottetown to do more.

The province announced a revamp to their disability support program in July. Now the program is called ‘AccessAbility Supports’ and offers more inclusion for those with physical, intellectual, neurological, sensory and mental disabilities.

Mark Spidel, director of social programs for the province, said he hopes expanding some of the strengths of the former disability support program will help people like Coughlin.

“Our focus is really about more social inclusion and supporting employment for people with disabilities. We want to have people connect more to their communities and access their communities in ways they didn’t previously.”

The program has increased financial aid for home and vehicle modifications to $10,000 every 10 years for home and $6,000 every eight years for a vehicle. Previously it was a one-time amount of $2,000 to modify homes or vehicles.

Coughlin said she doesn’t see those changes as addressing her particular issues.

“Honestly, there are very few places that are truly accessible,” she said, and was quick to name a couple of buildings in Charlottetown easy to navigate in a wheelchair. “The Murphy’s Centre downtown, since they renovated and added the elevator it’s really great.”

The Guild and the Student Union Centre at UPEI are pretty easy to get around too, she said.

However, Coughlin took issue with some places which claim to be accessible but are very difficult to manoeuvre.

“My biggest pet peeve with the city is their ‘preservation of everything historic’ because that does not go well with people that have mobility issues like myself. Historic generally means inaccessible when it comes to P.E.I. And putting a ramp on a building doesn’t automatically make it accessible.”

“I’ve gone to things before like the Festival of Lights and I was basically left to fend for myself, hoping that I’d be able to see the stage and enjoy the show.” Jen Coughlin