Barriers

I encountered a barrier to access when I was trying to find the correct bus to get me to my destination.

I was at the central bus interchange in Dunedin and couldn't confirm the correct bus due to being Deaf and unable to quickly communicate with the bus driver. Another person was about to hop on the bus and he seemed to point elsewhere. I guessed that this was the wrong bus because it seemed the driver was trying to indicate his bus route was going uphill, whereas I wanted to go to the flat land of St Clair Beach.

I encounter an access barrier dressing my young child on a daily basis. I have Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), which means I can not walk or stand for any length of time. I get out of breath really easily, and mornings are the time I am most symptomatic. I am not eligible for any support to dress and get my four-year-old ready for preschool, even though, if I needed assistance dressing or feeding myself, I would be eligible for it under personal care.

I am a student at Wintec in Hamilton. One of the teaching staff was very abusive. He didn't want a mobility-challenged student in his class.

I often encounter access barriers when trying to use disabled toilets. This impacts me every time I go out.

Only a few of the latest mall toilets are actually accessible. In other public buildings and in private buildings the rules for access to accessible toilets are mainly ignored or quietly disregarded to fit the owner's plan or the architect's dream.

I want new access laws to ensure that all toilets - both public and private - not be signed off until a rigorous code compliance certificate is issued.

I encountered an access barrier when I tried to buy take out from a drive-through restaurant. I couldn’t place an order because I am hard of hearing and couldn't use the intercom speaker system.

I raised my three children on my own, while living with very low vision and no family or community help.

We were housebound because I had no transportation due to my sight problem. My children have suffered because I could not take them anywhere on my own. This resulted in my children not learning to swim, or playing in sport teams, or even going to friends' houses.

I often struggle with venue inaccessibility. An envisaged social engagement with my gym community was recently thwarted as the Council-owned, Tauranga Rowing Club turned out to be inaccessible to wheelchair users.

I recently went to a public hot pool with a friend. We paid extra to go on the hydroslide, which is one of my most fun things to do in the whole wide world! Since I lost my sight I really enjoy activities that have a smooth and sliding sensation, like cycling, hydrosliding, ice-skating and snowboarding.

I was trying to go swimming. I have fibromyalgia, which means cold water causes a flare up of my pain. So I had gone all the way across town so I could use the warm hydrotherapy pool at QE2.

I wanted to go ice skating, so I rang a local rink in Wellington.

I am blind and would need my support worker to guide me on the ice. I enquired about free or discounted admittance for disability support workers. They said no, support workers have to pay the entrance fee too.