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Petition Tag - blind
1. STOP discriminating against the disabled 
There is too much discrimination against people with disabilities in South Africa. The latest incident is against a blind lady, Ms Sanet Gouws who was told that she had to leave the MacDonald's premises in Mayville, Pretoria because she had her registered guide dog with her. Despite showing the animal's harness, papers and special tags, Ms Gouws was requested to either leave or have her milkshake outside. The outside area provided to shading and was not comfortable.
You can read the full article: http://www.beeld.com/Suid-Afrika/Nuus/Vrou-se-oe-is-nie-welkom-20111227
Although it is against the policies of MacDonald's or other restaurants to allow animals inside the restaurant, special circumstances allow guide animals to enter the premises according to SA legislation.
2. Save the Somerset Sight Visiting Service
Somerset Sight is the only local, independent charity to support blind and visually impaired people across your county.
We have been helping thousands of people affected by significant sight loss across Somerset to lead independent lives since 1919. Our Volunteer Befriending Service, which has been running for over 15 years, has been extremely successful in tackling the isolation many visually impaired people face.
For many of the 300 plus people who benefit from this service every year their visit from one of our specially trained volunteers is the only time they have any social contact. As you can imagine it is a lifeline to them and they simply could not cope without it.
Blindcraft, based in Edinburgh, is a valuable and reputable company who provide employment opportunities particularly for those who are disabled or have visual impairment. It currently employs around 70 people, of which 2/3rds have visual problems or disabilities.
In 2008 the company won a contract with John Lewis that helped some way to the company making a total of 2 million pounds that year. The company's profits fell due to the recession in 2009/10, to £1.58 million. However, the council are using this as an easy target for cuts. Cutting jobs for more vulnerable members of society should not be an option - this is an easy way out for the council.
Blindcraft makes quality beds and has been in operation since 1793- it is an absolute travesty that the council can consider cutting this! Especially given the way they have wasted so much money in other areas in Edinburgh. Please see last Friday's news about these proposals here.
We made representations to the full Council meeting, alongside Unite, UNISON and Community and Blindcraft employees. The SNP/Lib dem coalition council have decided to have 30 days to consider 2 proposals- either all jobs to go or a 'training programme' put in place. This would also result in job loss of vulnerable disabled workers.
We are asking for all these jobs to be saved, for the council to be morally obliged to set up a sensible and workable business structure for this organisation, not to pull the plug on funding before this is done.
This campaign is about more than just saving jobs. It's about the moral consequences of not saving them.
Thanks for your support,
Hannah and Janis
4. Stop charging severely visually impaired people with guides twice the fare
I was talking with a friend today, he’s got a severe case of visual and hearing loss, meaning he needs support to travel.
There’s a scheme called Direct Payments, that enables him to pay for someone to be his guide (normally around £7.50 an hour) to gets around – e.g., to keep well, to shop, to meet people, to find work, etc.
That does not cover travel expenses for the guide. In other words, he has to pay all the travel expenses for the guide, out of his own pocket. To get to the eye hospital in London, for example, (I’m sure you appreciate that it’s not easy to take a dog guide around London) he would have to pay his own travel expenses PLUS his guide's travel expenses - £36 each for Winchester to London (after railcard discount – a third off), £3.60 each for the Underground (Oyster), and refreshments – e.g., tea/coffee, water, etc. – about £3 each for the whole trip.
£85.20 is the total. All out of his own pocket. On a very low income too. If he was to be a sighted passenger, it’d have been only £42.60.
A large percentage of that is for the train fares. On this Winchester to London route, unlike elsewhere in the UK, there is no cheaper advance ticket.
If guide dogs for the blind can travel for free, shouldn’t guides in the form of human beings too?
If number of people with severe visual impairment and a guide travelling on the train is 1 out of 1,000 (honestly, I’ve never seen any myself), then is it not reasonable to expect the impact to train company’s revenues to be negligible.
5. End Over Pricing Of Software And Technology For The Blind
Today, there is in existence a large amount of software and technology, for example screen readers for computers, and voice assisted MP3 players, PDAs and mobile phones. These remarkable devices allow the visually impaired to access far more information, and enjoy far greater opportunities both socially and professionally than ever before.
However, much of this software and technology is produced and marketed by a very small number of specialist companies, who hold a monopoly on these products. This means that they are sold at an extremely high price, meaning that blind people are forced to pay a much greater amount than a sighted person in order to access the same technology. For example, a voice_sense_s, roughly the equivalent of a net book or laptop, is priced at £1300 excluding VAT. Screen reading software for computers is similarly expensive, costing up to £700 per copy. A computer is an essential tool for most visually impaired people, giving them access both to employment prospects, education and entertainment. Yet they are compelled to pay almost twice the price of the computer for the screen reading software they need to be able to use it. This also applies to such universal items as mobile phones and MP3 players. Talks, a software product that makes some nokia mobile phones accessible to blind people, costs £150, on top of the cost of the phone, and the cheapest MP3 player that is really accessible to the blind is around the same price.
Many blind people are, through no fault of their own, either unemployed or on very low incomes, and this technology is for the most part completely unaffordable to them without the aid of charity. Some of us are lucky, and have charities near at hand willing to put up the money, but far more of us are not, and are therefore denied access to essential information and communication technology, which the majority of sighted people, certainly in the developed world take for granted.
Much of this software and technology is essential to visually impaired people if they are to have equal opportunities to sighted people in both the work place and in everyday life. Much has been said about the right of blind people to be able to read the same books as sighted people, at the same time and at the same price. I feel that they also have the right to access the same technology as sighted people, at the same time and as near the same price as possible. And giving that right to as many visually impaired people as possible is the purpose of this petition.
6. Change Canadian Disability Laws !!! Treat the disabled fairly!
You think with the amount of money they take from us taxpayers, and the amount of money that is thrown away each year to try and make the city look nicer, that it could go toward giving people who have no choice, a better style of living.
Being on disability, you are not able to have ANY assets. Savings accounts, RRSP's and other valuable property are considered assets. SO if you are on disability and are planning a trip and saving up money plan on having your disability revoked because that is not possible. Planning on contributing to an RRSP to have a stable life after 65? Not happening, you can deal with the 400$ a month the government is going to give you. Win the lottery ? Well you mine as well give the ticket away because you are no eligible to claim your prize. Better hope you win enough money to last you a lifetime, otherwise if you claim your prize, again your disability will be revoked.
There is no winning with disability. Even if you rent out your basement for $400 a month, guess what, disability deducts 400$ a month from your cheque! If your spouse loses their job and is forced to go on E.I, guess what? All their E.I earnings are deducted off your cheque!
The sad thing about it is, these people aren't just sponging off the system, THEY CANNOT WORK!!! They are basically being PUNISHED for being disabled! It is also sad that not many people know the harsh reality of it all, people are not aware.
My mother is blind and has been on disability or years, I have seen the reality of it all.
7. Road Safety and more lighting in the Friary community
We the undersigned would like there to be traffic control signs in place at the entrance to Frairy Park Estate, as there are big lorries that use the entrance to reverse into, this has become increasingly worrying for many residents as they have young children playing in this blind spot area.
We would also like to have more lighting erected on the Frairy Park Estate.
8. Speedbumps on Valleyview Way Needed
As a current resident on Valleyview Way, it has been witnessed time and time again, cars going way beyond the speed limit on our residential street.
There is also a blind spot while going over a small hill where it is very difficult to see (cars speed over this blind spot).
My younger brother was just hit by a car on August 11, 2006 and was injured with a broken leg.
As a community, we would like to do everything in our power to prevent this from happening again by the use of speed bumps, especially at the blind spot of our street.
9. Stop Child Abuse in India and elsewhere
In india for several years there are companies which make fire crackers and lots of other things which are made by the help of the children. The children who make the fire crackers go blind... they get gun powder all over their face or the get skin cancer due to the gun powder and they die.
Either the fire cracker making companies should be closed or the use of fire crackers should get banned. Child abuse gets neglected by the government and this is not only in India but all over the world.
If you open google and type child abuse a column on the side opens in which ther is another form of child abuse in America. Weapons are sold to beat up the children. We should petition against that too. Also we should petition against child molesting. It's time to get children some justice!
10. Eyes For The Blind Ears For The Deaf
This petition will help put together rights for the blind and deaf community in Canada. By signing this petition we will be one step closer to helping the deaf and blind in our country by giving them access to servics in public places such as interpreters, TTY, and voice command elevators, etc. All of these can be made possible with your signature.
Many of us have gone through life blind and accepting our society's tradition of using animals for clothing, entertainment and research studies. Then we eventually learn that animals are treated so terribly in our country and the countries around us. A big contributer to the poor treatment of animals is within zoos and circuses. Please sign this petition if you are sick and tired of seeing these defensless animals die and live miserably outside of their natural habitat.
