[nfb-talk] Fw: [nabs-l] Navy Denies Blind Persons Opportunity To Take Public TourOf USS JFK Ship In Boston Harbor - Allows Other DisabledVisitors To Board

[Aaron Cannon]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: RIPEMD160

I didn't see this message posted here and I thought it might be of interest
to members of this group as well.

Aaron


- --
Skype: cannona
MSN/Windows Messenger: cannona at hotmail.com (don't send email to the hotmail
address.)
- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Mika Pyyhkala" <pyyhkala at gmail.com>
To: <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, March 05, 2007 11:34 AM
Subject: [nabs-l] Navy Denies Blind Persons Opportunity To Take Public
TourOf USS JFK Ship In Boston Harbor - Allows Other DisabledVisitors To
Board


> Hi,
>
> The article below describes in part briefly what happened to me when
> attempting to take a public tour of the USS JFK navy air craft carrier
> in Boston harbor.
>
> I have been in touch with the national office, but would appreciate
> any of you with media contacts who can get further publicity on the
> story.
>
> The national office and myself are investigating the most appropriate
> response to this blatant form of discrimination.
>
> Thanks,
> Mika
>
>
> No Blind Allowed On USS JFK Navy Ship Tour In Boston Harbor
> Group: Navy shortsighted on tours
>
> By
> Jessica Fargen
>
> Boston Herald Health & Medical Reporter
>
> Monday, March 5, 2007 - Updated: 01:34 AM EST
> (picture of Mika Pyyhkala at his desk with computer)
> A national rights group for the blind is vowing action after a
> vision-impaired South Boston man was denied a visit on the historic
> USS John F. Kennedy
>
> yesterday after Navy officers told him it was too perilous for the blind.
> "When it happens, it's a very traumatic experience to be denied the
> right to participate in something," said Mika Pyyhkala, 34, who unlike
> 30,000 other
>
> people, did not get a chance to walk the deck of the USS JFK yesterday.
>    Marc Maurer, an attorney and president of the National Federation
> of the Blind in Baltimore, said the Navy's denial violates the federal
> Americans with
>
> Disabilities Act as well as a state law providing for equal access.
>    "I was outraged by it and I still am. Blind people are not
> prepared to stand for it. He has the support of thousands of blind
> people around the United
>
> States," Maurer said last night, adding that he planned to meet with
> staff today to craft a response.
>    Navy Lt. Paul Brawley said people in wheelchairs and motorized
> scooters were allowed access this weekend, but not the blind.
>    The aircraft carrier's open hatches and narrow doorways aren't
> safe for a blind person and there weren't enough crew members to
> personally escort
> Pyyhkala,
>
> said Brawley.
>    "It's a matter of safety," he said.
>     "This is a ship of war. It is not a federal building. It is not a
> public building."
>    He said children under 6 were denied entry as well. Pyyhkala was
> the only blind person who attempted to board the ship this weekend,
> Brawley said.
>    Brawley said 30,000 people visited the ship yesterday - that's
> 3,500 visitors an hour - and there were only 800 crewmembers to manage
> the crowds. Another
>
> 21,000 people toured it Saturday. The ship will be decommissioned March
> 23.
>    David Ticchi, president of the Cambridge chapter of the National
> Federation of the Blind, said yesterday was Pyyhkala's last chance to
> visit the great
>
> war ship and that's a shame.
>    "The boat's pulling out today, unfortunately," he said.
>    "He takes the time to go there. He's a citizen, a taxpayer and
> he's interested in it and denied an opportunity purely on the basis of
> his vision. It's
>
> discriminatory."
>
>
>
> jfargen at bostonherald.com.
>
> http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=186407
> _______________________________________________
> nabs-l mailing list
> nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nabs-l

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (MingW32) - GPGrelay v0.959
Comment: Key available from all major key servers.

iD8DBQFF7I2iI7J99hVZuJcRA9U+AJ9SpmH2AYNhWvjNGzhu8xOepWFwKACgjs1w
4ERcmKUHVWtmgaiJ+RdGHXc=
=7B+k
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----