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Floral Expo looking for ways to improve disability access

(CAN, Taipei, 07.11.10) Organizers of the Taipei International Floral Exposition said Sunday they will try to make facilities more disability-friendly after complaints about the lack of designated handicapped parking spaces and Braille maps.

Liu Tian-fu, president of an association to promote entrepreneurship for people with special needs, said the lack of designated parking spaces close to the expo means that people with disabilities have to walk a long way before reaching the parks.

"They should reserve some spaces right at the entrance of the parks for people who, although not fully ambulatory, can still drive themselves. Not everyone is driven around or accompanied by a helper or a family member," he said.

Expo executive producer Ting See-you said his committee will carefully review the options and possibly create some spaces as a "drop-off" zone so people with special needs can be let out at the park entrances while accompanying members go park at one of the expo lots.

According to the expo rules, visitors with special needs and one accompanying member are entitled to free admission. The expo also offers wheelchairs and tours conducted in sign-language. Seeing guide dogs and rescue dogs are the only animals allowed inside the site.

Disability-friendly buses are also available at each of the expo parking lots to transport people to the four expo sites free of charge.

But the expo does not provide Braille maps, and nor are there tactile signs to help visually-impaired people navigate the 91.8-hectare site. Few of the outdoor locations are equipped with any kind of audio system or raised-text signs to allow sight-impaired individuals to enjoy the event.

Director of the organizing committee Chen Hsiung-wen acknowledged the lack of tactile or visual aids at the expo but said, "There is very little we can do. We are not Jesus Christ who can make the blind see."

"The best we can do is to provide special assistance when people with visual-impairment visit the expo," he said.

Ting said an oversized 3D model of the expo layout is available at the headquarters. People can listen to a brief introduction about various parts of expo by a press of a button.

Although the headquarters is located in a restricted zone closed to the public, exceptions can be made for those who might benefit from the audio map, he said. (By Jenny W. Hsu) enditem/MH

Source: http://focustaiwan.tw/

Yu Tian issues apology to Jason Hu for disability slur

(28.09.10, Taipei) Legislator Yu Tian of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party made an apology to Taichung Mayor Jason Hu after being criticized for saying Hu should quit politics and take care of his wife who “has now only one arm left and cannot think clearly.”

When addressing a campaign rally for a DPP candidate seeking a seat in the Taichung City Council on Sunday evening, Yu said Hu should go home instead of seeking reelection considering that the mayor has been “walking on a limp” after suffering a stroke.

Hu should stay home to take better care of his own health and that of his wife, Shao Hsiao-ling, Yu said.

The remarks of Yu, a former singer, invited attacks from all sides

A professor teaching political science at the National Chung Hsing University in Taichung said Yu's comments were extremely inappropriate.

Hu suffered a minor stroke eight years ago while his wife had her left arm amputated after being severely injured in a serious traffic accident in November 2006.

A DPP legislator elected from Taichung area said it was not appropriate behavior in a democratic society to put aside human characteristics for the sake of winning elections.

Former Premier Su Tseng-chang, who is running for Taipei mayor in November, said Yu should make a sincere apology to Hu and his wife as soon as possible.

Wu Nai-ren, DPP secretary general, quoted DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen as saying that Yu had no malicious intent, but he owed the Hus an apology because his remarks were not appropriate.

Responding to the criticism, Yu called a press conference around noon yesterday to tell journalists that he called Hu in the morning to express his sincere apology.

Yu said his wife had already reproached him for his remarks targeted at two people who had been friends for several decades.

He said that Hu accepted his apology. Hu also told him that friendship is permanent while politics is simply a fleeting event, Yu said.

When asked by reporters, Hu said Yu remained a good person and good friend, although good people sometimes say inappropriate things.

On the question of how his wife reacted to Yu's remarks, Hu said he did not want her to learn about the incident, stressing that he would try his best to hide the remarks from his wife.

But he also emphasized that he is fit to serve as mayor for the Greater Taichung City that will emerge from the integration of Taichung City and Taichung County. He said no health problems have ever affected his duties in office.

Hu, a former foreign minister, is the candidate representing the ruling Kuomintang. He is faced with a challenge from DPP candidate Su Chia-chyuan, a former interior minister.

Source: http://www.chinapost.com.tw

Disability need not be impediment to fairness

By Sun Yi-hsin

For almost a decade, the Parents' Association for Persons with Intellectual Disability has advocated measures to give intellectually challenged criminal suspects the services of a lawyer during police questioning and prosecutorial investigations. A press conference held by the Legal Aid Foundation last Monday marked the formal beginning of such a measure.

The services offered by the foundation will now move beyond helping only during court proceedings to providing aid during investigations by police and prosecutors. This means that the foundation will have to handle more administrative contacts and find more compassionate lawyers willing to stand by around the clock.

Given that the foundation does not provide travel subsidies and that its lawyers are paid a mere NT$600 per hour and NT$1,000 during night hours, it is to Taiwan's credit that the foundation has found lawyers willing to do all they can to protect the human rights of those with intellectual disabilities.

The conditions for providing legal assistance in cases involving the intellectually disabled and compulsory defense cases differ. In compulsory defense cases, the lightest punishment for the crime must be a minimum of three years in prison and the defendant must lack financial resources. Intellectually disabled suspects will get assistance regardless of the kind of crime and financial standing.

Paragraph 31 of the Code of Criminal Procedure stipulates that a lawyer must be present during the prosecutorial investigation if "the accused is unable to make a complete statement due to unsound mind."

In March this year, however, the procedure was not followed when Chen Jung-chi was mistakenly arrested in Chiayi. The Ministry of Justice's response to the foundation's appeal shows that the prosecutor handling the case felt that "the main suspect could express himself clearly and denied involvement" and the condition that he must be "unable to make a complete statement" was therefore not met. Maybe the semantic difference between being "unable to make a complete statement" and being "completely unable to make a statement" was confusing in Chen's case.

Social workers and special education teachers generally believe that being "unable to make a complete statement" can be applied to almost all those with a certified intellectual disability.

If authorities make only a superficial judgement that an intellectually disabled criminal suspect is able to express himself or herself clearly and find his or her answers to be reasonable, then they can conclude that the person is not legally intellectually disabled and that there is therefore no need for a lawyer to be present during the investigation. This situation bodes ill for the human rights of intellectually disabled persons.

The fact is that over the years, police arresting intellectually disabled criminal suspects have had to search the suspect's wallet to find contact information for family members so that they can accompany the suspect.

After Paragraph 31 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was passed last year, prosecutors also set up stricter standards foruse when investigating intellectually disabled suspects. Parents of intellectually disabled around Taiwan are grateful for this. But we also hope that this important human rights progress will give prosecutors and police an even stronger feeling of mission, because when the intellectually disabled are given protection, there is even less risk that others will be bullied.

Sun Yi-hsin is deputy secretary-general of the Parents' Association for Persons with Intellectual Disability.

Source: www.taipeitimes.com