- [Debbie] How to work with a victim survivor with a physical disability. Welcome to our new four part webinar series called your lived experience. In this series, you will learn what it is like to be a person with a disability from the perspective of that person. In each webinar, we will focus on a specific type of disability. The first webinar will discuss physical disabilities. The second webinar will discuss being deaf and or hard of hearing. The third webinar will discuss visual disabilities and the fourth webinar will discuss developmental disabilities. In each webinar, you will learn about the speaker's best experiences when trying to get help and their most frustrating experiences. You will learn suggestions, tips and best practices for when you interact with persons with disabilities in your office. And finally, we will share with you some common accommodations that are appropriate for a specific type of disability. We hope you enjoy this new webinar series. The Miami Inclusion Alliance is comprised of four organizations that have spent the last five years studying the domestic violence and sexual assault services in Miami Dade County and how persons with disabilities are utilizing these services. Disability independence group is an Advocacy Center for Disability Rights. Dade legal aid is a legal aid that handles domestic violence cases. MUJER is a licensed sexual assault center and CVAC is the Miami Dade County one stop for domestic violence. This project was supported by grant number 2015-FW-AX-k001 awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, US Department of Justice. The opinions findings, conclusions and recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women. The mission of the Miami Inclusion Alliance or MIA, is to learn about the intersection of disability and domestic violence and or sexual assault in order to promote a culture of inclusion within and between all collaborating agencies. This collaboration will implement the necessary changes so that persons with disabilities who are affected by domestic violence and or sexual assault have access to services. Our speaker today will be Lorinda Gonzalez. She is the director of Grants, for Grants Ink.

- Thank you, Debbie. I'm so happy to be here. So to give you a little bit of background on myself, my name is Lorinda Gonzalez. I have a bachelor's degree in English and I'm completing my master's now in communications. I am a certified grant writer and have a bunch of different certificates and I do support nonprofit organizations. I have a business called Grants Ink. It's a successful company. It's been around for, I've been doing this for about 10 years and we work with nonprofit organizations helping them to get funding, grant funding for sustainability to run their programs. Our business model is really interesting. Three of the five of us are persons with disabilities, we're all women and three of the five are Hispanic, including myself. So we have a very diverse business model. We are an online company. So a couple of us live in New York. I live in Miami, South Florida. And we're able to work virtually and use different methods of technology as a way to run the business and also provide services to clients. So it's pretty amazing. I am really excited to be here today to be on video to be able to advocate not only for myself, but other friends and family that I've had, that are persons with disabilities as well, some of which have gone through some really tragic experiences. And it's pretty amazing to have the opportunity to talk to you about what it's like as a person with a mobility disability to empower you to educate and support people that come to you who need help. So I'm really happy to be here.

- [Debbie] How would you describe your disability?

- So the disability that I have is called spinal muscular atrophy. I utilize a motorized wheelchair for mobility to get around on a day to day basis and I've been in a motorized wheelchair since I was nine years old. I also have personal care assistants, which are individuals that help me with my day to day activities. PCAs are very important, a big part of my life. They help me with everything, from getting up out of bed in the morning, to getting dressed, to prepping meals, to helping me with work and many different things. So PCAs are a big piece of my life. Another part of my life that's also very important is also my service dog. His name is Remy. He's been with me now over 11 years and he is a service animal. So while he's a very cute dog and he's great to have around, he helps me interact with my environment. So if I drop something on the floor, he can pick that up for me. He also helps me open push buttons, carry items in his mouth and such and he's also been a really great piece of my independence and he helps me interact with my environment. Another thing that's interesting, as a person with disabilities, I'm very dependent on technology, which is really great because it allows myself in my work environment, in my personal life, to really integrate with everything using technology. So for example, I use Apple products pretty often, from a MacBook, to an Apple Watch and a iPhone. And there's many different apps that are all integrated into one that allows me to do work seamlessly, pretty much seamlessly. I also use these technologies within my job as well with my employees, we all work together in a virtual realm. And by using technology, we're able to accomplish the same goals and the same activities that an able bodied person would be able to do. So things such as voice activation, going paperless, cloud computing, the phone technologies and even the watch technology, which has a really cool app on it that you can even tap to call someone in an emergency if you have an issue, or my phone that has a button on it that I can tap and it unlocks the door to my house. So integrating technology into my day to day use is something that helps me become more and more independent.

- [Debbie] Can you tell us about your best experience when you were trying to get help?

- So I wanna share with you some of the best experiences that I've had in my life trying to get help. One example is in physical space. There's a hotel in Washington DC that I went to a few times when I had traveled there for work to take some classes. And what I really liked about the hotel is I went online and I had booked an ADA accessible room, a wheelchair accessible room. And pretty soon after the hotel contacted me and asked me, they said, "Hey, we noticed you booked an ADA accessible room. "What exactly do you need? "What accommodations do you need "in order for you to feel comfortable?" And I was able to express to them that what I was looking for was a room that had enough space for the wheelchair, for the service dog, for my nurse for me to get around and also roll in shower, because for me, those are the things that were the most important. And what I really liked about this situation was that instead of them assuming what it was that I needed, they actually contacted me and opened the door to let me know that I can communicate with them and let them know what I needed in order for the space to be accessible. So that was a really great experience. Also a salon that I used to go to, the door was really heavy and I wasn't able to open it easily. So what I did was I would text the girl, let her know I was there when I was in the parking lot and she would come out, open the door for me and I will be able to get into the salon easy. So that was another really great experience in that, once she got to know me and once we communicated, I let her know that that would work out really well for me and she could come out open the door and it just became a routine from there forward. Another really good experience is using the metro rail system. There is an app, which is really great, the app will allow you to check to see when elevators are operating or not, check to see what the you know, when the train is running or not. And that's also really useful. Because as an, you know, as a wheelchair user, I have to use the elevator to get to the platform. And if the elevators are broken, then I'm not able to take the train. So it's really nice to have that app to depend on to check to see you know what's available and what's not also networking and just communicating with security guards is really great. I found that because I tend to use the same routes on a regular basis. The security guards get to know me, so now when I go there, I'll say hi to them and let's say the turntable is not working or if I'm not able to reach the button, they'll automatically just come by, "Hey, how are you?" And they'll push the button for me and then I'm able to go upstairs. So just opening that space for a person with a disability, allowing them to communicate with you and inform you what works for them it's really been worked out for me. Also, another thing is with the trolley, the trolley is a really good option here in Miami Dade County because it runs on similar routes to the metro rail and to the bus, which is great, because sometimes I've seen elevators down, I can't get to the metro rail or the bus is taking too long. I have the trolley as a third option. So those are some examples of really good as far as transportation goes, really good experiences. And a final one that I wanna share with you is that my doctor's office, my pulmonologist, which is a doctor I go to the most regularly, she has a, like, the countertop to sign in is pretty high up and I'm not able to reach it. So the first time that I went there, I went by and I was in front of it and they asked me, "Hey, do you want me to bring the signing sheet down to you? "Or do you want me to sign in for you?" And what they did was they opened up a space for me to communicate to them what I was the most comfortable with. So I explained to them, you know what, if you could just signing for me, that would be great. She said, "Okay, perfect." She signed in for me and now every time that I go to the office, they automatically, I pass by, I wave at them. They say, "Hey Lorinda, how are you doing? "Doing well, great. "Do you want me to sign in for your? "Yes." And then I move on. And because we've been able to open up that space to communicate and go in all those examples, the people were just open and comfortable with communicating with me and letting me know that I could let them know what it was that I needed. And then they respected that and did that it just made everything work out really better. So those are just some examples of positive experiences with transportation, with my doctor's office and the hotel that I mentioned earlier that really have been just positive, good experiences related to accommodations with disabilities.

- [Debbie] Can you tell us about your most frustrating experience when you were trying to get help?

- So now I'd like to share with you some frustrating experiences that I've had trying to get help. So to start, physical space is a big thing for me, right? As a wheelchair user, I need to have entryway to be able to get into a building. So there's been situations where I get to a place and there's no accessible parking, which can be very frustrating. Also doors that are very heavy, I'm not able to open them by myself, sometimes I can pull a door open a little bit, but if it's a very heavy door, I can't. And many people with disabilities aren't able to pull a door at all. So if we go to a building that has a very heavy door, not being able to open it to get in can be very frustrating, because then you're stuck outside until somebody happens to pass by to open it for you, so that can be very frustrating. Also, buildings with steps that have no accessible entry is a huge issue because I just can't get in so I would have to lose the appointment altogether. Also in offices, doctor's offices or other kind of offices, countertops that are too high that I can't check in like everybody else. And if you think about the process of when you go to a new office, you have to go to the front office, you have to check in and sign in your name in order to be registered. And if the table is super high, it's up to you know, up to my forehead that can be very uncomfortable and is also not you know, it's not very accessible. So another thing that's a frustrating experience, is using the trolley. As amazing as it is that they have multiple routes that I'm able to use as an option. Unfortunately, I have had situations where the trolley will see me and they'll just pass me by because they don't want to drop the ramp and stop the bus in order to let me in. So that's a very frustrating and uncomfortable situation for me because I should be able to get on like everybody else. But sometimes there is a situation that happens which really is not my favorite thing. Another thing is the Metro Rail, again, I use the train very often, which is amazing but there are circumstances where the elevators are broken and I'm not able to use the stop and one step to the other is a really long distance and I can't you know, just go up the stairs to get to the platform, if the elevator's broken and I can't use the train, then I miss my train, which could then result in me missing my appointment. So those are very frustrating experiences. Another thing that I really wanna discuss with you that's been frustrating in my life and also in the lives of friends that I've had, related to doctors offices are genealogical examinations. So genealogical examinations already uncomfortable for a woman, but for a woman with a disability, there's a real, it's really difficult because there's so much that goes into it, from first going to the doctor's appointment, you have to get out of the wheelchair, for example onto the table, that tends to be very narrow and small, getting undressed and redressed. All of that can be very difficult for a person with a disability because we're not able to like for myself, undress and dress by myself, so I have to bring a PCA with me. And all of that can create a lot of anxiety and a lot of stress. And believe it or not, most doctor's offices are not prepared for women with disabilities, they don't have the space set up in the room that's big enough for the wheelchair and the nurse and the examining table. They also the doctors themselves, tend to not be very sex positive and not be very open to communicating with a person with disability. There's this really negative connotation, this idea that a woman with a disability is not sexual. And so therefore the conversation between the doctor and the patient is not the same thing as you would find between an able bodied woman and a doctor. So that creates a lot of fear and a lot of anxiety for women with disabilities. And I've known women, one specifically, who because of the barriers that she had with going to the gynecologist, by the time she was able to go, she had found out that she had advanced cancer and was not treatable and she passed away in her 30s. And this was simply because she didn't have equal access to the office. So things like this is really important to discuss, and to bring out into the open because there is a very high level of fear and anxiety for women with disabilities when they're going to genealogical examinations. So that's something I just wanted to share with you. So you have an idea of what people are going through. Also, the last thought that I wanted to explain as far as a negative and frustrating experience is related to inappropriate or personal questions about one's disability. If you meet a person with a disability, it's inappropriate to ask them, why are you in a wheelchair? Were you in an accident? Can you feel your legs? You know, things like this. I've had all kinds of crazy questions and it's really an inappropriate thing. Instead, what you should do is get to know the person as a person just like you would anybody else. And over time as you are chatting, as you're getting to know one another, the person with a disability will open up about themselves and then tell you what they're comfortable with telling you. So I think it's just really important overall, to create a space for a person with a disability to be comfortable, treat them as you would any other human being and let them communicate with you what their needs are. So in summary, some of those frustrating experiences that I've gone through, is number one physical space, when it's not accessible. You have an entryway, the parking, the door's too heavy, also transportation. Unfortunately, there are situations where the bus drivers or the trolley drivers don't stop. So I'm not able to get on the bus or the elevators are broken, that's a challenge. Doctors offices, again, is a really big one. It's really important to understand that especially genealogical offices, gynecologists offices, they're not prepared for women with disabilities and a lot of times not treating them equally. And overall the examination process because of what we have to go through, to get out of the chair, to get undressed, it's really difficult. So that can be very scary and very uncomfortable. And then finally, inappropriate or personal questions is also a very frustrating experience. So those are just some ideas to keep in the mind of things that happen.

- [Debbie] What suggestions would you give to people that are working with persons with disabilities like you?

- So I'd like to give you some suggestions to working with persons with disabilities. So working with a person who uses, who utilizes a wheelchair like myself. One thing is you don't wanna touch their wheelchair or move them if they're in a manual wheelchair without their permission. Secondly, you don't want to lean on the chair. Sometimes people forget that the wheelchair is, this is my mobility device, this is what I use to get around. It's not a piece of furniture, so leaning on the chair inappropriately is not, is not good, so don't do that. Also, being eye level with me, being eye level with a person with disability is really important, because I tend, using me as an example, I tend to sit lower than most, so if you're taller than me, and I'm looking up to communicate with you, that's really uncomfortable. So what something you could do, is you could crouch down to the person in a wheelchair, you could pull up a chair next to them and just meet them at eye level in order to talk to them face to face, just like you would a person without a disability. Also, the PCA is another really important thing, a person may have a personal care assistant that is a family member, it could be a hired nurse or a CNA that's in uniform, it could be a person outside of uniform as a friend, whoever the person is, that's there to assist them, it's really important to understand that they are there to assist the person with the disability with their needs. They're not there to guide or to dictate the situation. So for example, I prefer it when people will talk to me and they don't talk to my PCA, doesn't mean you're rude to the PCA, doesn't mean you completely ignore them, but understand that they're there as an assistant to help the person with disability. They're not the ones calling the shots, so to speak. And also another thing that's really important to understand is, even if a person has a disability and does require a PCA helping them, that does not mean that you can't speak to them alone. And something that I would share is a little bit of a red flag, is if you have a person in a wheelchair come to your office with a PCA, and you ask to speak to that disabled person, the person with a disability on their own and the PCA is getting upset or annoyed by it, or "Oh, no, I need to be there." That's a sign that there's something going on. Because if there's a healthy working relationship and they understand that there is a separation between the person with a disability and the PCA and they should not have a problem with it. So that doesn't necessarily mean that there is something going on. But it's definitely a flag, a red flag, that there's something going on. And whenever you have an opportunity to speak to that person with a disability alone, please do so. Because there are unfortunately, many circumstances where the caretakers are the abusers. So if you are in a place where you have an opportunity to speak to that person by themselves, do so, because you may really be able to help them in that moment. Also, service animals, service animals are there to provide a service, they're an assistive device, just like a wheelchair, so therefore the rules are the same. As cute as they may be, don't touch them, don't pet them, don't talk to them. Don't throw them food, don't do any of those things, just respect the fact that the service animal is there as an assistive device, the service animal is completely focused on the person with a disability. And if you interact with the dog or whatever service animal may be, you're gonna mess up that connection that you have between the two, the communication between the two, and they're not able to do their job. So as cute as they may be, ignore the service animal and let the person with disability handle the dog and don't interact with them. Don't pet them, don't do any of those things. Also, transportation, as we discussed before, is a challenge for people with disabilities. There are situations where elevators are broken, like I mentioned, transportation is not very effective and as great as it is specially here in Miami, there's many options. There's many times where people may be late to their appointments, for some reason outside of their control. If an elevator is broken, and I can't get to the platform, that's out of my control. So just be understanding of those situations. So if a person with a disability is dependent on transportation. Another example is STS, what's called para transportation. They're not the best either, they're great because they are a door to door service, but they're notorious for running late for dropping people off really, really early, also for having many people on the same route. So a lot of times people just aren't able to make their appointments. So that's just something to keep in mind. So just as a summary, some suggestions I have for you is don't just, when you're working with a person in a wheelchair, don't move or touch their chair without their permission. Remember that the PCAs are there to assist them, but that the person with disability should be the one to communicating their thoughts and ideas independently of the PCA. If you find that the PCA is upset with you trying to speak to that person only without them involved, know that that's a flag, that there may be something going on. Also, service animals, again, are an assistive device, something to be respected. Don't interact with the dog, just let them do their job and move forward. Then again with transportation, it is a difficulty that many people with disabilities face. Just be understanding of respectful of the fact that if the person is late, it may very well be out of their control and be an issue with transportation and just be understanding of that.

- [Debbie] Common accommodations,

- So I'd like to share with you some common accommodations when working with a person with a disability. First and foremost, it's important to understand that every victim or survivor is different and the accommodations that he or she may need will vary from person to person, even if you have two individuals in a wheelchair, at the same time, each person may require something different. So, first and foremost, what you should do is create an open space so the person can communicate with you what their needs are, example is, for example, I may be able to open a door on my own, another person may not be able to. So whatever it is that they need, accommodations that they need, clear that up with space so that they can communicate with you what their needs are. Some of the common accommodations that should be provided however, are accessible parking spaces with a clear path of travel into the facility. Easy access into a facility and doors that can be easily opened doorways that are at least 36 inches wide so they can be entered using a wheelchair easily. Also, pathways in a facility should be at least 36 inches wide and free from obstacles such as tables or boxes on the floor so that the person can get around. And finally an accessible bathroom that has grab bars and adequate turning room. And also please keep in mind that many times persons with disabilities such as myself, if I'm using the restroom, it's not just me, it's me, my wheelchair, my PCA that's helping me and maybe also my service dog. So there needs to be a really good amount of space in order to navigate the restroom safely and easily. So those are some ideas of some general accommodations that you can provide to persons with disabilities when they're in your office

- [Debbie] Tips on the best way to work with a person with a physical disability.

- So I wanna share with you some tips on ways to work with a person with a physical disability that may be a sexual assault victim. So first off, is understand their fear, there needs to be a high level of empathy here. As mentioned in earlier videos, people with disabilities unfortunately are not treated equally in the space of sexuality and intimacy and relationships. So an individual with a disability, a person in a wheelchair, for example, may already have extremely high level of fear related to going to the gynecologist having a physical exam because these doctors' offices are not prepared for the person from a physical space aspect, also the way they're communicating with the person etc. So you really have to come from a place of understanding that this individual may have a lot of fear and anxiety related to past experiences or maybe little to no experience in a gynecological office and that type of setting. So they're coming into the situation already with a higher level of fear than the average person. So have some level of empathy and just understand where they're coming from. Secondly, what would be really great is if you take an extra step to explain to the person each step of the process. Be with them as much as you can and help them understand and be comfortable with every single minute step in the entire process of the examination of what's gonna happen to them so that they understand what's going on. And also, please do not assume the reluctance to be examed is a denial that the incident happens. Remember, people with disabilities, women in wheelchairs, have notoriously had really bad experiences when it comes to women's health. Doctors are not communicating things efficiently. Doctors' offices are not accessible. They have a really hard time getting exams, so there's a lot of pent up fear and anxiety and bad experiences already. And then if the person has now been a victim of domestic violence has now been a victim of some really bad situation, understand if they're denying, they're not wanting to have an examination. It's not because an incident that had happened is because they're afraid of what the process is gonna be like. So you're in a really great opportunity to work with them and help them through the process by just having a high level of empathy and really just working with them through the process of explaining everything step by step so that they can be more comfortable with the situation,

- [Debbie] The facts, physical disabilities.

- So I'd like to share with you some facts related to persons with physical disabilities. The number of adults with any physical functioning difficulty is 40.7 million, this is 16.3% of the population according to US Census. There are some unique tactics used by abusers against persons with disabilities, with physical disability specifically, those include unwanted sexual contact, threats and intimidation, neglect, like failure to assist with bathing or going to the bathroom, withholding medications, physically harming service animals, isolating victims by removing ability to leave the house or withholding or destroying assistive devices such as wheelchairs, crutches and canes.

- [Debbie] Resources, Disability Independence Group, www.justdigit.org, 305669282, Legal Aid Society, www.dadelegalaid.org, 355795755x2229, CVAC, www.miami-dade.gov, 3052855900, MUJER, www.mujerfla.org, main office 3052471388, sexual assault helpline 3057632459.

- So I'd just like to say thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to speak with you today. We've gone over some really important topics and I hope that the information I shared from myself personal experiences and experiences of other friends that I've had in wheelchairs with disabilities. I hope that this information will help you to empower you to be open to work with people with disabilities and to be able to serve them better and to understand their unique experiences and what they've gone through so you can support them through their experience. Thanks again.

- [Debbie] Thank you for watching this webinar today. We hope you enjoy the other webinars in this series, your lived experience.