A Little Bit of Self-Advocacy Goes a Long Way

by Jared Wayland

My house is across the street from a convenience store, which is fantastic! Whenever I need something in a pinch, I have the luxury of taking my Stretto power wheelchair across the road to stock up on whatever we need. I can’t tell you how many times this has come in handy when we are halfway through a recipe and realize we are out of something...it’s really a nice little bonus to where we live.

However, there is a slight problem with said convenience store - they don’t have an automatic door! Every time I would go over to get something, I would have to either knock on the door or wait for another customer so that they could hold the door for me. The irony of this situation is that this store is in a building that houses a few different medical services - which constantly have people using mobility devices, with other disabilities or ailments – and each of these have their own entrance with automatic doors. I can’t believe that it’s almost 2022, and we’re still dealing with issues like this.

I am a firm believer in the phrase “the squeaky wheel gets the grease,” and when necessary, I do my absolute best to advocate not only for my own needs, but those of the disabled community as a whole. For the past 3 years, every time I went to that store or plaza, I have been telling everyone who would listen about the trouble with the doors at the store and how ridiculous it was! I spoke with store workers, management, and even owners – all of whom said while they agreed with me, there was nothing they could do, as it was up to the owners of the plaza to make the change.

This went on for the better part of 3 years, and eventually my request and concerns made their way to the appropriate people at “corporate.” A few months ago, one of the owners let me know that the plaza had approved their request for an automatic door! They didn’t know when it was coming, but it was. Success!

As I went over a few weeks ago to grab some lunch, I was pleasantly surprised that they had installed (say it with me....) AN AUTOMATIC DOOR OPENER! I couldn’t believe it. Not only that, but it is also a touchless door opener, which these days is a huge win in my books as they are far more hygienic. Check out the attached video to see how cool this is!

You are your best advocate. Change doesn’t happen overnight, and it doesn’t happen on its own, but by constantly bringing awareness to whatever issue may be at hand, YOU can be a part of making a change for the betterment of everyone!

Click here to view video.