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Amanda: Hi everyone, I’m Amanda Jurysta, producer of Four Wheels and A Mic. In this episode, Dominick talks about wanting to get a ramp to make his apartment entrance accessible and how much that tested his patience. Thank you for listening. 4 Wheels and a Mic is a project of DisArt.
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Dominick: Hey, everybody. Welcome back to the Four Wheels And A Mic Podcast. With your host Dom aka Four Wheels And A Mic.
So last time we uh spoke you know, I was telling you all about how I had to go through all the trials and tribulations and feeling like I’m always an afterthought to these uh decisions.
that are made in my life when it comes to my apartment and other things, because I have roommates that are older and don’t use wheelchairs, but they have cognitive disabilities and physical disabilities as well, and their family kind of make the decision.
But I couldn’t even get in my own apartment. And, you know, patience is a virtue and all, but this shit is ridiculous.
So I finally made it to a point where my patience paid off. But it was four months later with a lot of paperwork and back and forth and a lot of stress, just to get a ramp for and get out of my apartment.
That was a really trying time for me in a way, because it hindered the way I was living. I wouldn’t of left the house if it wasn’t for my friends and my brother.
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Patience is a virtue that uh I don’t have much of anymore. It is exhausting, would I do it again. Uh, the same? No, I would definitely would of made some decisions, such as just going out right in used, um, a disability ADA group right away. Shout out to my caseworker that really, you know, got on the housing complex that I live in because I was close enough to sueing or getting media involved, which I think is appropriate to use in certain situations.
I was trying to stand my ground. No pun intended, on the simple fact that they wanted me to pay for a ramp because they seen another person with disability do before. But they marketed this place as an accessible apartment but they weren’t gonna decrease my rent by any cost, like $200.
They wanted me to rent a $200 ramp. So I waited to see if they would pay for it or the state would, you know, the county would pay for it. So I waited that long. Would I wait that long again? No, I’d probably paid the $200 and then find a way to get reimbursed or find like a friend that would do it for cheaper because that four months of not really being active in the summertime really mentally was draining. Physically it was draining. And once again, it’s just one of those things. You gotta be, let me see how I can say this. This is why it’s an emotional subject for me. It’s one of the subjects and I think we’ve all been here with any type of adoption or aid that we need. I shouldn’t be able to just have to justify and fill out a bunch of paperwork that I’m, you know, in this situation just asking for a ramp. And that was more paperwork and more time spent just doing that. Then trying to get to the solution to the problem is just give me a ramp.
You know, sometimes I’m too stubborn on my own principles at the time, you know, But looking back at hindsight, I should of just kind of got the money together or, you know, do a little quick little small fundraiser with family friends to buy the ramp but I was thinking about long term. I just didn’t feel like that not every disabled person is going to come with their own personal ramp umm to get into a house. You know, what I’m saying, I was also thinking I shouldn’t pay for it on my own, but in my own pocket. So that was my big issue because the only way I was going to pay out of my own pocket was if they were going to knock down my rent. So, you know what I’m saying, which is a reasonable argument.
But would I tell people to stay the course, of course, our forefathers, foremothers. You know, people fought for disability right the course. But sometimes it’s okay to ask for help. And I think this is one of the times where I really tried to ask for help. I tried to do the whole thing. I tried to be patient and it just took longer than it needed to be. I thought it was going to be a week, to two week thing, maybe, you know, maybe three, and then it would be in four months. So really think about that sometimes, too. I would say that this is the time for myself that my patience was tested, so much so that it shouldn’t have been right. You know, what I’m saying we shouldn’t always feel like we are just waiting,
For those who’ve been here before, done that, you know? How long have you waited to live your life? Because we shouldn’t be waiting to live. Our way of life should be lived now, regardless of disability or not. And that’s the takeaway from this for me. I think for myself, and I know this comes from most people with disabilities.We are looked at as burden, so we learn to sacrifice a lot for others and for ourselves. So we learn how to be patient. And but that shouldn’t be the case now when it’s your life to live, Right?
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My conclusion is I got the ramp. Life with the ramp now. It’s been good. I go out, you know, say go back into my routine, start doing my, uh, my grocery shop and my comic book shopping. And, you know, it’s a big help. Plus it minimizes the fear of if something happens in the house, I can get out easily. Life is just better. You know, I get to be a part of the world again in a way that I like. I need to be seen again as a as a person with a disability, living an active life, which benefits us all because people get to see that we do have active lives and we’re not just cashing a check, sitting at home doing nothing or somebody’s fuckin inspirational porn for them to feel better, to hit a treadmill or to do better in life.
You know, we are, we are just people doing regular people shit and that’s what happens with my ramp. You know, It’s the way I gain access to the outside world that isn’t fully built for people with physical disabilities or invisible disabilities or any type of disability in between.
So with that being said, you know, please tell me your stories of where you had the wait or some of the struggles you’ve been having to go through as a disabled person. This platform is for all of us to build this community because this is Four Wheels And A Mic’s corner ,you know what I’m saying.. I want to make this a whole thing platform for the blocks, you know what I’m saying? So hit me up. Let’s have a conversation. And as always, peace.
Amanda: Thanks for listening to 4 Wheels and a Mic. This week’s music is “We Need a Superhero” by Geoff Harvey.
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