Because in wheelchair sitting we need a bit different accommodations: higher bed as the average (58-60 cm) which is a level in the wheelchair that allows of lifting somebody.

The room door is wider, there is no threshold and carpet. The room is so big that the car can turn, the handles, switches are available and if it possible there are sliding doors. The red wire hanging from the wall needed for help request.

In the bathroom are the biggest weirdnesses: there is no shower tray because we couldn’t roll in with wheelchair. We need there a folding seat, and on both sides of the toilet properly equipped clingings. A bigger place is also needed here. Under the sink there must be access to a wheelchair and the mirror has to be lower or adjustable.

Maybe this all sounds like a lot but it’s the only way we can travel. A barrier-free accommodation usually can be created with good intentions without a problem.

It’s good to be on your guard and before booking a room should be consulted the reception if the barrier-free advertised hotel really is!

Thank you for reading this!

And thank you for our members Alexa Dékán and Zoltán Koppány the assistance in the description!

Alexa Dékán: “So I can travel far independently, that’s why I need a bigger place! 😉 Why I want to be self sufficient? Because this is the opposite of vulnerability ;)”

We publish an event organized by Daniel Csángó:

Let’s Celebrate the European Day on Independent Living!

In 2014, the European Network on Independent Living – ENIL, on the 25th anniversary of its existence, announced May 5th as the European Day on Independent Living. On this occasion, we set up a super event. 😀

What is Independent Living?
Independent Living means that persons with disabilities can decide freely on issues that affect their lives, so they are in charge instead of others.
The first and most important thing to achieve an independent lifestyle is that every person can get quality support in everyday life. The service created for this is called Personal Assistance, where an assistant supports a person with disabilities, acting as “extended arms and legs” and, if necessary, also providing support for decisions.

We are working on the introduction of this system with the support of the European Network on Independent Living – ENIL.

European Parliament elections are coming. On this occasion, we will formulate messages for the candidates and members of the European Parliament.
Join us, make your voice be heard, your opinion matters!

Programs:
– short film screening and discussion about Personal Assistance
– Gifie photography and message writing for European Parliament elections
– European Network on Independent Living – ENIL Live streaming
– surprise announcement
– drinks, food, networking

Further details will be sent continuously on Facebook in English too:https://www.facebook.com/events/421531965276947/

Another piece of our WHY? campaign:

Have you ever seen “something” during your city walks, in public institutions  or somewhere else, that stands out on the floor and has a different colour? So this is the blind guide lane, that makes access easier for blind people.

The right blind guide lanes are higher than the pavement therefore can be perceived with the white stick and if you step on it. They are marked with distinctive colour for those who can still see a little bit.

Usually they are made for  two purposes:

1. Indicating direction for those who can’t see in front of them at all, especially the absolutely blind people. The guide lane is followable, provides security when approaching frequently visited objects (e.g. crosswalk, toilets, junctions, tracks at the train station).
2. As warning signals, most commonly at junctions and  at the end of the sidewalk. This is a well perceivable dotted surface, also with feet and this is even a little higher. Near crosswalk and stairs it can save lives.

Blind guide lanes are very useful but only if they have been made with expertise. Unfortunately there are many negative examples. Sometimes the lane has no end, it disappears after a while or there is nothing to follow after the starting direction. It also happens that the lane brings the person in the wrong direction: to the building’s walls, shop-window or drive-way.

There are very few blind guide lanes in Hungary, they can be found only at the busiest locations of cities.

Thank  you to our members Róbert Rauch of sharing experience!

(MIÉRT? = WHY?)   🙂

Disability vehicles are often larger by design, as wheelchairs have to fit in them.

The size of the front passenger door and how wide it can be opened is a crucial aspect: the wider the door opens the easier it is to roll close to the car and get into the front passenger seat. However to do this you need room. This is (only) one of the reasons why disabled parking spots are so wide.

To get into the front passenger seat you need someone to help. The wheelchair needs to be right next to the car and there has to be extra room for the person helping.
Getting into the seat is an art in itself and most of us have developed our own tricks. One thing is for sure though, it requires space, time, lots of patience and calm circumstances. The helper and the disabled person need to coordinate every single movement, and this requires lots of space.

When arriving in a van, a ramp needs to be attached either to the side or the back of the car for the disabled person to get out. This requires space too.

Thank you for reading this!

And thank you for our member Koppány Zoltán the assistance in the description!

We are about to launch a new campaign entitled ‘WHY?’ on Facebook and on our website.
People are helpful and they are curious. They are happy to support us, as long as they know how they can help and understand why certain things need to be in a particular way.
In our new campaign we will explain some basic facts concerning the lives of people living with disabilities, because these fact are very often not obvious to the general public.
Topics will include: Why are disabled parking spaces wider than normal ones? Why and what are guide bars for blind and why do we need them? Why is a hotel room barrier free?
If you would like to help us with ideas to include in the campaign we would love to hear from you. Comment  in Facebook or e-mail us at pfpecs@gmail.com

Yesterday we held a workshop about a very new, innovative social enterprise model and a complex support system specifically to persons with disabilities. This way of thinking – the FairShares model –  is still new in Hungary.

You can participate as employee or an initiator/mastermind but even customer also and you have an equal share in decisions and income. You can find partners or ideas in the interactive FairShares website all over the world.

Are you interested in?
https://fairsharesplatform.eu/

Our goal to set up the system of Personal Assistance in Hungary has come to a very
important stage. On February 14th we organised a panel discussion for activists and
professionals to come together and contribute to form our strategy.

The Independent Living of persons with disabilities is what we invision in the long term
future. Independent Living means that we can decide on the issues that affect our lives
as disabled people and that we have access to all the supportive services that enable us
to do so. Independent living extends to every aspect of life, but these areas are built on
each other. In our experience, self-determination cannot be achieved in all areas of life
(such as work or leisure), if community-based living and Personal Assistance services
are not properly organized.

In our last “Let’s talk about Personal Assistance” event we invited disabled persons,
allies and potential personal assistants to talk about their experiences. Since then, we
carried out lobby work and informed several different policy makers and advocacy
groups about our goals.

This time, we wanted to bring together representatives from different areas
and organized a panel discussion. Our opinion is, that not all professionals
need to have knowledge about disability issues to work together, because
everyone can add their own expertise to achieve the common goal. We
invited disabled activists, experts from NGO’s and the academic field.

Our main questions were: What are our cooperation possibilities? How can
the participants contribute to the process? The outcome of the discussion is
that we could strengthen the relationship between the activists of the past
and the present. All participants agreed to take part in further cooperation
and activities because we all strongly believe in the feasibility of this project.

Next step of our strategy is to support the empowerment process of disabled
persons and to organize our community. We want to create social media
campaigns with powerful and positive messages regarding the lives of
disabled persons who already live independently in their communities. We
also want to conduct a basic research to examine international theories and
practices and to analyse the models that can be adapted to the Hungarian
context.

Due to our international networking process, this event was sponsored by the US Professional Fellow program.

Thanks to all participants:

• Erzsébet Földesi (president, MBE, Budapest Association of Persons with Physical Disabilities)

• Mircea Cernov (Mozaik Hub)
• János Czafrangó (Independent CSR consultant)● Anikó Sándor (researcher, lecturer, ELTE University)
• István Sziklai (researcher, FSZK, Equal Opportunities of Persons with Disabilities

Non-profit Ltd.)

• Roger Schmidtchen (Verein zur sozialen und beruflichen Integration, LIGA

Selbstvertretung von Menschen mit Behinderungen in Thüringen e.V.)

• Csilla Cserti-Szauer (researcher, lecturer, ELTE University)
• Zóra Molnár (activist, Professional Fellow alumni, Önállóan lakni, közösségben

élni, Living independently in the Community)

• Daniel Csángó (participatory instructor, ELTE)

Daniel Csángó, Anikó Sándor

We took part in a round table discussion yesterday in Budapest at the invitalion of Csángó Dani, Molnár Zóra and the “Professional Fellows” Program ofthe US Department of State. The Theme was the support of the independent living of Hungarian disabled people, develop a Hungarian strategy. The main focus is on the housing options and personal assistence.

People First is absolute game!

We don’t stop! End of last year established the Pécs Local Equal Opportunity Programme 2018-2023. The disability-related chapter is written by active local NGO-s.

We are working to make our suggestions come true!

The first goal is to create the Pécs Disability Council to help the city’s work. We agreed on this yesterday and we have listened to the People First’s report about the “Behindertenbeirat” in Erfurt (Germany) as an example to be followed.

We are very pleased to involve more high school students in the People First activities and the disabled world. This time, we signed a cooperation agreement with the Kodály Zoltán High School Pécs, so they will work with us as community service. We can’t wait to start work with them.  We hope they will enjoy it with us!