Ron Ryder, The Guardian
A Charlottetown man, partially paralysed by a 2001 stroke, is waiting for the results of an appeal hearing to see if the Disability Support Program will buy him the scooter he wants or the wheelchair government wants to assign him.
Graham Burke, 57, has lost much of the use of his right side since his stroke. While he can walk short distances, he needs help travelling further. Last year, on an occupational therapist’s recommendation, Burke approached the DSP for assistance in buying an electric scooter.
He said the four-wheeled vehicle would be adapted for one-handed operation, would give him a stable platform under his feet and would allow him more independence than he now enjoys. He said a scooter would allow him to travel from his home on North River Road to nearby shopping centres for groceries.
I’m not trying to finance a car or anything like that. ‘I want to be able to cover a few blocks. This scooter would do for me what my legs can’t any more.’ Graham Burke
‘What they recommended was a motorized wheelchair, but that’s something that’s better for getting around indoors. The way you sit in a wheelchair isn’t as good for me either. I have to watch my legs and feet but in a wheelchair they’re right out front. In the scooter they’re sheltered.’
Burke, accompanied by Stephen Pate of the advocacy group Disability Alert, spent more than two hours at a review hearing conducted by three members of the Department of Social Services and Seniors.
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I priced out the scooter and there’s really no price difference compared to the electric wheelchair,’ he said. ‘They turned down the scooter and approved the wheelchair, even though I had the recommendation from the occupational therapist.’
Burke said he’s waiting for an answer to his appeal, but isn’t sure when he will know.
Pate, a critic of the Disability Support Program, said someone like Burke shouldn’t have to go through what Pate called a kangaroo court. ‘The people hearing the appeal are the same co-workers of the persons who denied him the scooter in the first place. That’s not an independent hearing,’ he said.
‘That’s part of the reason we set up bodies like the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission, so people could have a fair hearing when they aren’t happy with a government decision.’
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