Texas girl with cerebral palsy fights for rights

[Kadie]

Texas girl with cerebral palsy fights for rights

By KRISTIE RIEKEN, Associated Press


Last Updated: August 16, 2004, 05:20:00 AM PDT


COPPELL, Texas (AP) - Rasha Kawar, who suffers from cerebral palsy and depends on an electric wheelchair to get around, is determined to live like any other 9-year-old girl - and travel like one.
Rasha has begun a crusade to make airplane restrooms bigger after having a hard time negotiating one in her wheelchair while flying home last summer from a visit with her grandparents in Israel.

She started an online petition asking Congress to pass a law that would require all new airplanes to have at least one wheelchair-accessible restroom. The petition is up to almost 5,000 signatures, and lawmakers and organizations that help the disabled are taking notice.

"It is one thing to be stuck on a plane with no accessible bathroom," said Stephen Bennett, president and CEO of United Cerebral Palsy. "It's quite another when a 9-year-old takes it to the level she has."

Last summer, Rasha and her mother burst into tears when they couldn't get Rasha's clothes back on after she used a small airplane restroom. Her mother, Laila Kawar, said Rasha looked at her and said: "This is so unfair. What are we going to do about it?"

snip...
The White House responded to Rasha with a letter signed by President Bush, but it did not address her problem, her mother said. That's when Rasha and her mother decided to start the online petition, which has signatures from people around the world.

more...
http://www.modbee.com/24hour/nation/story/1570640p-9171111c.html

[LibLabUK]

1. Good on her!

I hope she succeeds.

She should write to Richard Branson and see what support he could offer.

[mom cat]

2. As one who recently became disabled, I am learning how many

barriers are still left. I think that this young, fiesty girl deserves our support. Sign the petition and pass it on.:dem:

[DemBones DemBones]

3. Modifications made for the handicapped benefit so many,

and in this case the non-handicapped would benefit, too. The bathrooms on planes are awfully small even if you're not in a wheelchair. Then there are the seats, which are not only too narrow but too close to the ones in front and behind. I'm 5'4" and don't have enough legroom, for heaven's sake! It's hard for me to believe that airlines couldn't make flying a bit more comfortable for us peons without sacrificing much profit.

As it is, we no longer travel, we are shipped. :grr: