Wow.

And...  This month's Allergic Living contains an ad promoting Amtrak as allergy-friendly, with their website www.AmtrakFoodFacts.com, as well as stressing that since they allow 2 free bags per passenger you can carry food and medicine on board.

Interesting, no?

QuoteU.S.Access Board Meeting Webcast (July 29)

The U.S. Access Board will hold its next meeting on July 29 from 1:30 – 3:00 (ET) and will stream the proceedings live for the first time. The public is invited to attend the meeting through the scheduled webcast or in person at the Board's conference space in downtown Washington, D.C.

The meeting agenda includes reports from Board committees and from the Executive Director, as well as updates on agency rulemaking and other activities. It also incudes briefings from invited speakers. Marilyn Golden, a Senior Policy Analyst at the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, will review major findings from a comprehensive analysis of public transportation accessibility conducted for the National Council on Disability. Maria Town, Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, is also slated to address the Board.

For further information, visit the Board's website.

    Meeting of the U.S. Access Board
    July 29, 1:30 – 3:00 (ET)
    Webcast link: www.access-board.gov/webcast
    Access Board Conference Center
    1331 F Street, NW, Suite 800
    Washington, D.C.
    Note: For the comfort of all participants and to promote a fragrance-free environment, attendees are requested not to use perfume, cologne, or other fragrances.

Interesting request about environmental requests at the end.  I digress.  It unfortunately sounds like it will not have Q&A but the value will be in what's presented and by whom.  Most likely it will focus on architecture and mobility impairment.  Golden is an interesting figure, one who I'd like to hear what her position and mission entails.

DOJ came down on Amtrak pretty hard today. This was just released. The findings were in regard readily accessible or mobility impairment but if you have a beef with Amtrak on ADA just email it in while there are two receptive people on the task.  Let them know it's more than ramps.

QuoteThe Department is committed to working with Amtrak to find a resolution to its non-compliance with the ADA and to resolve the Department's findings.  Please contact David Knight at (202) 616-2110 or david.knight@usdoj.gov or Felicia Sadler at (202) 353-2289 or felicia.sadler@usdoj.gov within 14 days to confirm that you are interested in working cooperatively with the Department to resolve this matter.  In the event we determine that we cannot resolve this matter to correct the deficiencies identified in this letter, the Attorney General

Yes and no.  There's still the contract of carriage that seems to override everything, then there's no case law that really seals the deal.  ADA is great for accommodations but where does landing the plane come in?  I'm all for epinephrine autoinjectors on planes and buffers, but I put greatest priority on diverted flights because that is completely out of our control.  It is also not covered by ADA. 

Having said that an upcoming related webinar some may be interested in.  I may or may not attend.  I really do appreciate when private practice attorneys take the time to make these sorts of presentations but until we have some more robust and streamlined civil law enforcement from departments it's all advocacy and negotiation up front with little recourse unless you have the financial fortitude plus willingness to donate a good chunk of family life to court.

I will say this - he's covering cruise ships.  That's probably the first I've heard a presenter covering that topic. 

QuoteMarch 18, 2015 » What the ADA Is and Isn't: Where the "Accessible Sidewalk" Ends
This webinar will provide a discussion and update on thresholds and boundaries of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Presenter J. Aaron McCullough will give an overview of limits who and what is covered under the ADA, and what thresholds or boundaries exist along with updated case information on issues including:

    Transitory and Minor Impairments
    ADA Specific Exclusions
    Employee Count Thresholds and Title II Entities
    If and how ADA applies to American Indian Tribes & Reservations under Titles I, II and III
    The ADA and Private Clubs
    The ADA and Churches, Clergy & the Ministerial Exception
    ADA borders, Cruise Ships and International Air Carriers


Speaker:
Aaron McCullough
ADAConsult Services

Continuing Education Recognition:

    Great Lakes ADA Center Certificate of Attendance (1.5 Contact Hours)

so thinking this might have bearing on flying too?

QuoteReasonable modification/accommodation requirements are a fundamental tenet of disability nondiscrimination law—for example, they are an existing requirement for recipients of Federal assistance and are contained in the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) ADA rules for public and private entities, the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) ADA rules for passenger vessels, and DOT rules under the Air Carrier Access Act.

In addition, section 504 has long been interpreted by the courts to require recipients of Federal financial assistance—virtually all public transportation entities subject to this final rule—to provide reasonable accommodations by making changes to policies, practices, and procedures if needed by an individual with a disability to enable him or her to participate in the recipient's program or activity, unless providing such accommodations are an undue financial and administrative burden or constitute a fundamental alteration of the program or activity. Among the Department's legal authorities to issue this rulemaking are section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (29 U.S.C. 794), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 42 U.S.C. 12101–12213.

All well and good, and who among us aren't familiar with the hallmarks of ADA?  Invoking and prevailing when advocating is where we are met with adversity.  Most people want solutions not lengthy processes that bog down federal departments, or filing suits.

QuoteIn addition to the ''modification of policies'' language from the DOJ ADA rules, there are other features of those rules that are not presently incorporated in the DOT ADA rules (e.g., pertaining to auxiliary aids and services).

Although this isn't ACAA if you read the issues in transportation you'll see a repetition of concern on delay, diversion, burden, other passengers affected, it all boils down to the idea that dealing with disability in public transportation is burdensome. 

Tweeted.

Wow. Wow. I think this deserves its own thread.

Announced today.

Federal Transit Authority's ADA Final Rule on Reasonable Modification

Parts 27 and 37--Transportation for Individuals with Disabilities; Reasonable Modification of Policies and Practices

Quickie explanation.  Federal regs receive updates via the Federal Register from the Government Printing Office.  My FTA auto-deliver from the fed says that there are ADA amendment proposals for DOT.

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-11-12/pdf/2014-26665.pdf

They are inviting public commentary.  Note this is the DOT ADA.

Quote
The Federal Transit Administration is proposing guidance in the form of seven additional circular chapters to help transportation providers meet the requirements of the U.S. Department of Transportation's Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) regulations. These proposed chapters include Chapter 3 (Transportation Facilities), Chapter 6 (Fixed Route Service), Chapter 7 (Demand Responsive Service), Chapter 9 (ADA Paratransit Eligibility), Chapter 10 (Passenger Vessels), Chapter 11 (Other Modes), and Chapter 12 (Oversight, Complaints, and Monitoring).

Along with the previously proposed chapters, these chapters are proposed to be part of a series of 12 chapters that will compose a complete ADA circular. FTA published a notice in the Federal Register on November 12, 2014, seeking public comment on these proposed circular chapters.  We encourage you to review the proposed chapters and provide your comments. The chapters, along with the Federal Register notice with instructions on submitting comments, may be found here: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-11-12/pdf/2014-26665.pdf

Quote from: CMdeux on November 02, 2014, 10:51:46 PM
And for diabetes, similar to anaphylaxis.

that's what I was thinking.  Diabetes can be a situation where person may not be able to help him/her self.  the whole situation is silly...as  brought up previously, why does it only apply to a child when an adult in anaphylaxis may not be any more capable of helping him/herself? 
Time for Amtrack to do some ADA compliance! 

Quote from: Macabre on November 03, 2014, 03:22:54 PM
Are you agreeing with Amtrak?  It seems like you are implying that if adults can't themselves be counted on to self-administer then teens should not be expected to.

By Amtrak's logic, adults with food allergies should not be allowed to ride either.

No, actually the opposite. I mean that expecting a teen to be capable of more than can (and is) expected of an adult is unreasonable.  It's also unreasonable that it's only teens with this one health condition that it is expected of.

Well, and that is my logic about it-- if they allow ADULTS to ride without much fuss about a whole variety of health conditions, some of them things that even those adults may not entirely recognize that they have (myocardial infarct, anyone?  Maybe we should request that overweight middle aged people be able to prove that they can do their own chest compressions in a pinch?    ) then I don't very well see why they have set up such bizarre and arbitrary conditions around this ONE thing in this one age group.

Are you agreeing with Amtrak?  It seems like you are implying that if adults can't themselves be counted on to self-administer then teens should not be expected to.

By Amtrak's logic, adults with food allergies should not be allowed to ride either.