I am writing to support proposals made by the Public Rights of Way Advisory Committee regarding increasing safety for individuals with disabilities.  My particular area of interest is blindness and visual impairment.  I have been teaching orientation and mobility skills to people varying levels of sight loss for over twenty years.  It had been my experience that most people with visual impairment want to be independent and that a big part of that independence means being able to get around in their communities on their own.  Appropriately marked changes in elevation, such as steps and curbs, textures to indicate ramped areas and, in addition,  audible signals are a few of the innovations that make independence possible.  Of course, people who have visual disabilities are not the only ones who would benefit from the proposed changes; those with other disabilities would also gain increased access within their communities.  Further, many of the proposed changes would  help our increasingly growing population of elders to travel more safely.

 

My belief is that as a society, we will benefit by using all our human resources.  People with visual impairment or any other disability are valuable members of our communities, and should be treated as such.  The first step is to allow them safe access.  May I ask your support of the PROWAC proposal?

 

Thank you so much.
 

Sincerely,

Mary Elizabeth Clark, M.Ed., COMS, CLVT