Disability Rights Group Tackling the Big Picture

When a group of citizen activists got together to push for increased accessibility in Farmington, it found success and moved on to tackle other projects.

But now, the Citizens Coalition for Equal Access is looking beyond handicapped-accessible bathrooms to the bigger picture.

The group, a grass-roots offshoot of the town’s Human Relations Commission, is teaming up with UConn Health Center to sponsor and host a community conversation that is meant to engage participants on the subjects of inclusion and awareness of disability issues.

The gathering, jointly sponsored by CC=A and the A.J. Pappanikou Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research and Service at the UConn Health Center, will take place at the Health Center’s Farmington campus on May 16 from 5 to 9 p.m. To RSVP, please contact Nancy Parent at 860-675-2390.

More than just hearing residents' concerns, CC=A's goal is to end the evening by drawing up an action plan to make Farmington a leader in inclusiveness and accessibility.

“The goal is to bring together 100 people from all spheres of influence to talk about disabilities and ways they can really incorporate change to make our community as accessible as possible,” said Nancy Parent, director of Farmington’s Community Services department.

Members of town government, the religious community, emergency responders, artists, businesspeople and others have been invited to attend the evening, which will include a free dinner at the UConn Health Center food court. Dean Emeritus and former Vice President of the UConn Health Center Dr. Peter Deckers will keynote the evening, and CC=A members will also do a presentation before participants break down into small groups, facilitated by discussion leaders, to brainstorm ways to break down barriers and improve inclusiveness.

Gary Gross, one of the leaders of CC=A, said this first community conversation is a unique opportunity for disabled people to tell their story and for members of the community to learn about them.

“People are usually afraid to talk about disability … This is an opportunity to talk about disability, to see how people feel about disability and help people not feel so uncomfortable about it,” Gross said.

While Gross hopes the event will begin to dispel stereotypes and fears about disability simply by bringing able and disabled people together, CC=A members will also act out role-playing scenarios to hep educate.

CC=A members, many of whom live at New Horizons Village in Unionville and use wheelchairs, have made similar presentations to the Farmington Town Council, the Town Plan and Zoning Commission and a small group of police officers.

The group draws from members’ experiences around Farmington for the performances’ material: a curious child pulled away from a man in a wheelchair by a mother shrieking, "Get away from him — you might catch something,’ and a disabled woman seized by mall security because she was shopping without a companion.

Keith Mullinar, the head of CC=A, has hundreds of these stories. Some are of attitudes, others of accessibility. One scenario played out recently at Panera Bread, where the doors are not automatic.

“I pointed out to him that the doors weren’t accessible, and he said ‘But I’m here to help you.’ Well, that’s not the point,” Mullinar explained. “I told him ‘I hope you stand at the door for every customer that comes in.’ If you’re in a wheelchair you shouldn’t need to be special.”

And that's where the lines often blur, Mullinar said. But awareness is always the first step.

Attending the event and becoming engaged in the discussion offers benefits for able-bodied people and to society, Town Council member and Human Relations Commission liaison Mike Demicco said.

“Take away all the physical barriers, put up all the ramps [and] power doors, take away all the cracks in the sidewalks and you’re still going to have a situation where people have stereotypes and an attitude about people that’s just not fair and not legitimate," Demicco said. "And it’s because they haven’t taken the time to explore the way life is for others or haven’t been exposed. This is not an end point; it’s just a beginning.”