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At work the other day I heard a disturbing story of a customer at Wal-mart who tried to help another customer who was disabled and it went quite wrong.
Background:
At the Wal-mart that I work at there are several customers that are in wheel chairs that come in regularly that we as associates are familiar with. Some we haave gotten to know because they need help and others we have gotten to know because of their friendliness.
There is an amazing man with Cerable Palsy. He is unable to speak and has very limited fine motor function and uses his head rest to control his motorized wheelchair. He is a brave and determined soul who comes shopping alone with a note taped to his wheel chair so where he goes, he can get help shopping for the items he needs. Even if I don’t help him, I usually go and say hello. Since I have worked in group homes for so long, I have no problem offering to wipe his face since he tends to have some drool and is unable to wipe his own face. He is an inspiring man to me because he is not afraid to drive his wheel chair alone to the stores and to shop.
Do Gooder Gone Bad
This gentleman was in the McDonalds eating ice cream. A woman came up and saw a bump on his head. She immediately ASSUMED that he had been assaulted. She asked him if he was OK and where was his wallet. (Keep in mind, he was just sitting there eating ice cream, not giving any indication of needing help.) She then proceeded to go through his backpack looking for his wallet and now she ASSUMED that he had his wallet stolen because she couldn’t find it in his backpack (he does not keep it there). He became very upset with this stranger direspectfully rummaging through his stuff and tried to get away from her. Headrest controls aren’t real easy to use anyways, and being so upset, his movement in the wheel chair wasn’t as controled as it usually is. She persisted and he communicated to her the best he could which included loud noises and large motions with his arms and legs, because of the severity of his Cerable Palsy he is unable to speak. Now this woman ASSUMED he was having a siezure and wanted 911 called! By this time there was several managers and associates gathered around trying to explain to the woman that he comes in all the time and he’s fine and she just needs to leave him alone. She went so far as to threaten lawsuits because Wal-mart didn’t provide medical attention for his “siezure”. I guess finally the lady backed off and he was allowed to get away from the entire situation. It would be almost comical if it weren’t a true story.
I hope this doesn’t affect him going shopping alone. I wasn’t there, but if I was, I would’ve contacted the group home so that they would be aware of what had happened and helped him to deal with it. My guess is that since he has such a brave and determined nature, it won’t slow him down and he will continue with the highest level of independence he is capable of.
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There are some group homes and group home residents that cannot afford cable or satellite TV and will need to purchase the converter box before the end of analog broadcasts and the beginning of 100% digital broadcasting on February 17, 2008. It would be wise not to wait until the last minute and risk not being able to get one. I work in electronics at Walmart and we have run out of converter boxes several times over the past few months.
What are the options for group homes and group home residents before the change over next February?
- Keep your existing analog TV and purchase a TV converter box. (A converter box plugs into your TV and will keep it working after Feb. 17, 2009)
- Connect to cable, satellite or other pay service
- Purchase a television with a digital tuner (just about every TV made after March 1, 2007 will have a digital tuner built in).
- Buy a DVD or Blu-ray player with a built in tuner
One of the most important things to know about converter boxes is that there is a $40 coupon available. Up to two coupons can be requested per household. Requesting a coupon is easy and can be done a number of ways between January 1, 2008 and March 31, 2009. Here are the ways you can request a coupon (while supplies last):
- Apply online
- Call the Coupon Program 24-hour hotline 1-888-DTV-2009 (1-888-388-2009).
- Mail a coupon application to: PO BOX 2000, Portland, OR 97208-2000. Download a Coupon Application here.
- Fax a coupon application to 1-877-DTV-4ME2 (1-877-388-4632)
- Deaf or hard of hearing callers may dial 1-877-530-2634 (English/TTY) or 1-866-495-1161 (Spanish/TTY). TTY Service is available from 9 AM - 9 PM Eastern Time Monday through Friday.
You will have 90 days to use the coupon, so there is plenty of time for group home support staff to request funds to pay for the converter boxes. Taxes will be applied to the purchase price of the converter box BEFORE the $40 discount, so be sure to include that in when budgeting if the group home does not have tax exempt status.
For further information regarding the switch from analog to digital broadcasting and the use of the converter box can be found at these sites:
- www.dtvanswers.com - DTV Answers offers more information about television’s switch to digital, including resources to help choose an antenna, converter box details, videos, and more.
- www.ceretailers.org - Visit the Consumer Electronics Retailers Coalition and download a special “Consumer Guide” on the DTV Transition.
- www.dtv.gov - DTV related consumer resources, outreach tools, publications, news, and more can be found here.
- www.dtvtransition.org - Take an online quiz to find out if you are ready for the DTV Transition or access an extensive list of online DTV resources.
- www.digitaltips.org - A valuable resource provided by the Consumer Electronics Association, has a handy “Quick Start Guide” to install a TV Converter Box and other useful tools.
- www.getreadyfordigitaltv.com - Useful information and television spots brought to you by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association.
- www.ncta.com - The National Cable & Telecommunications Association website.
Now is the time for group home support staff to start planning how group homes and group home residents will be getting their TV signal after the change to digital in February 2009.
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