Tag Archives: Wheel Chair Access

Special Parents Confidential 68 The Pushy Lawyer

The Pushy Lawyer.

Meet Kelley Simoneaux, aka, The Pushy Lawyer.

Some people go into disability advocacy and disability law because they feel compelled to help serve in a community that has many areas that need representation.

Then there’s Kelley Simoneaux, who’s known as The Pushy Lawyer. Kelley suffered a spinal injury in a car accident at age 16. The accident left her a paraplegic and confined to a wheelchair. But she decided to dedicate her life since then to becoming a lawyer, specializing in product safety law, and spinal injury law. She has also been quite an advocate for disability rights and accessibility laws, due to her own experiences in law school and in her career as a lawyer.

From Injury To Advocacy.

Using her nickname, The Pushy Lawyer (inspired by her use of a wheelchair), Kelley has made a difference, and not just in the areas of law that she specializes in. She’s even made a difference in the way courtrooms are run, and designed. As she says at the very beginning of her career, a judge couldn’t understand why she did not rise when he entered the courtroom as all the other people had done. Just by being in court, she’s been able to raise awareness of those with disabilities and special needs virtually every day.

Where’s The Access?

When Kelley was starting out in her legal career, many courtrooms and government buildings didn’t have adequate access. This caused problems for persons in wheelchairs, or on crutches, or even using walkers.  Through her work, and primarily without having to file legal action, the court system in several states began to rethink and redo their designs to allow for greater accessibility. Not just for lawyers, either, but also for plaintiffs and defendants, and even jurors and the public. Being the Pushy Lawyer has helped her inspire improvements, and, as you’ll learn, more still needs to be done.

LinksK

Kelley Simoneaux Email

 Twitter feed For The Pushy Lawyer

Kelley Simomneaux on Instagram

News Report on Kelley’s Uber situation

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Access Now – Worldwide Accessibility Map

Access Now – Worldwide Accessibility Map.

Some times you come across an idea that’s so clever, you wonder why no one thought of it before. Access Now is just such an idea. Maayan Ziv, a young woman who has Muscular Dystrophy, created this app to help people with disabilities pin-point accessibility in public buildings around the world. Such a simple idea that can help a lot of people.

Crowdsourcing Accessibility Information.

Anyone can download Access Now for free and help contribute to the map. Using MapMe technology, you can pin any location around the world as either accessible, partially accessible, patio access only, or not accessible. Also, if a building is not accessible, the App helps you tweet this information to start the process to make a change to the accessibility of that location. Check out the currently pinned locations on the Access Now Map.

If You Can’t Enter…

People sometimes forget that getting into a building or business or even a home can be a real challenge for a person with a disability.  Wheelchairs, crutches, walkers, even people who use canes can have difficulties with accessibility, and sometimes building management or owners, are completely oblivious to the issues. This new App allows anyone a chance to do something about the issue, for free.

34 Countries And Growing

As of this posting, Access Now has pin-pointed over 22,000 locations in 34 Countries – and they’re just getting started. Being able to know ahead of time how easy or hard it will be for someone to gain access to a public building is extremely important. Access Now is the app that can help make the kind of change in accessibility that’s been needed for a long time. If you or someone you know needs this information, we encourage you to check it out and share it with everyone you know on social media.

Access Now Link