From Ms R. Magri

I have been thinking of writing this letter for quite some time and finally, with a little bit of support from family and friends, I have decided to write it. I am an 18-year-old teenager with special needs and have to use a wheelchair for mobility reasons. Like every other person, life is not always easy. However, I try to live my life like every other person and try to do everything that other people can, obviously within my own limits.

Let me get straight to the point. Although I do my utmost to lead a life like any other person, most of the time this is not possible due to the numerous obstacles I encounter. Unfortunately, our country still lacks decent rights for people with special needs, especially when it comes to accessibility. Like every other teenage girl, I enjoy shopping and going to malls. However, most of the time I end up disappointed because I cannot enter shops that have steps, thus making them inaccessible to me. This also holds for restaurants and other public areas. I feel that this lack of access erodes my right and, like any other person, I deserve to have access without encountering such problems. Unfortunately, reality proves otherwise.

Without going into too much detail, please allow me to mention one of my recent experiences. A few days ago a film I wanted to watch was being shown in a local cinema. We decided to watch the film at Eden Cinema as it is close to where I live. A couple of days before, we called the cinema to ask whether the theatre where the film was being shown is accessible to people with special needs. The person to whom we spoke assured us that it is and that I would have no problems accessing it. The day finally arrived and when we went to buy the tickets we asked to sit in a place that would be easily accessible for me. The person concerned asked us to wait and went to discuss the matter with someone else. After a while, another person came to talk to us and told us that the theatre where the film was being shown is not accessible for people with special needs because it is too narrow and I would have to get up from my wheelchair if I wanted to enter the cinema.

Personally, I don’t think it is very ethical to ask a person in a wheelchair “to get up from the wheelchair if you want to see the film”. In all fairness, this same person offered his assistance to lift me out of the wheelchair but I still think that it is a lack of judgement to expect someone in a wheelchair to accept being paraded into a cinema when the obvious solution is simply making the cinema accessible in the first place. The persons in charge asked someone in my party to enter the cinema herself so that she could see for herself that there is no access.

The only place available in the cinema for my wheelchair was near the door and since there were only three people watching the film we asked whether it was possible for me to stay near the door. They informed us that this was not possible due to safety regulations since someone might fall and the cinema would be liable. How ironic that at the same time they choose to ignore regulations which seek to make areas accessible for people with special needs.

We also talked to the manager on duty, who reiterated what we had already been told and also took our details to inform us should the film I wanted to see be shown in another theatre. I also would like to mention that they did tell us that they have other cinema theatres that are wheelchair accessible and the most convenient excuse for lack of accessibility in the other cinemas is that they were built in the past and remain so.

Therefore I beg to ask – don’t I have the right to watch a film in a cinema because I am in a wheelchair? Do I have to be constrained as to which films I choose to watch? Must I only see those they decide to show in theatres that are accessible? I certainly expect that areas in a cinema and public areas are made accessible to people with special needs. I also expect cooperation and a decent attitude from individuals who deal with such issues. I would also like to point out that this is the second time this has happened to me in this same cinema.

I would like the relevant authorities to take these issues seriously so that the occurrence of such problems will start to diminish. I am not writing only for myself but also for other individuals with special needs, who have to cope with similar difficulties on a daily basis. These incidents can have a negative mental impact on an individual because without wanting to you find yourself asking, “why am I being treated as though I have something less than someone else?” Without wanting to, you feel different despite the fact that you try to lead a normal life. Such thoughts can have a devastating impact on some individuals.

Another issue I would like to mention is the lack of accessibility on pavements and roads. I admit that not everything can be done at once but I think it is high time that certain issues are given their due importance. It is not the first time that I come across a high pavement, or a narrow one at that, which does not allow me free access with my wheelchair. Most of the time I cannot manoeuvre the wheelchair when the pavement is narrow so I end up having to operate the wheelchair in reverse. Also, it is difficult to manoeuvre a wheelchair when the pavement is strewn with garbage bags. As a result I end up having to use my wheelchair on the road with the obvious risk of being hit by a car.

I would like to reiterate that I have written this letter not only to express my own grievances but also the grievances of a number of other individuals with special needs who encounter similar problems. I sincerely hope my pleas do not fall on deaf ears.

Roberta Magri