Dear Ellen Degeneres, From A Wheelchair-Using Viewer
Dear The Ellen Show,
One of my favorite parts of The Ellen Show is when Ellen busts a move and dances with the audience at the start of each episode.
I notice how Ellen always makes a point to dance a few seconds with wheelchair users who are located in the front and it’s always cool to see that.
My holiday wish is for The Ellen Show to create wheelchair-accessible seats integrated with the entire audience rather than separate and at the very front.
A wheelchair user myself, I have limited seating options when I go out to the movies, theatre or other live events. While technically ‘accessible,’ I feel removed and excluded. The physical distance and separation reinforces the social distance many people with disabilities face everyday.
Wouldn’t it be great if a wheelchair-user can enjoy The Ellen Show with the entire audience, since so much of the joy and excitement comes from the audience’s interactions with Ellen?
Sincerely,
Alice Wong, One Mean Dancing Machine
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Reblogged this on Liz Who Motivates.
In the meantime, have any wheelchair users competed on television’s Jeopardy? Just wonderin’…
I think it’s wonderful Ellen’s wheelchair audience is in the front. If I was disabled, I wouldn’t want to be with the audience, because when they stand up and cheer, I’d feel left out then. I guess we can’t please all of the people all of the time. xx
Hi Yvonne,
Yes, to each their own! My take is how isolated that person is in the front.
Thanks for your comment.
Alice
Ellen is providing an avenue for wheelchair bound people to enjoy her show
She makes them feel special by putting them at the front
Imagine if they were stuck in the middle and had to go to the bathroom
I am in a wheelchair, am only 66 with an amputation and applaud Ellen for taking the trouble to accommodate wheelchairs.
Thank you for your comments, Tony and those are just my opinions. I appreciate yours.
I think all Alice is trying to say is that feeling of separation does make you feel isolated even if you’re down the front. An easy solution to that is to put a row of chairs at the front WITH her and then she would feel like a part of the crowd. My 19yo daughter has Cerebral Palsy and also a couple of eye conditions and IF we were to be there watching Ellen one day (highly unlikely as we’re in Australia) we would like to be down the front so she could see but she wouldn’t like to sit there alone. Cheers…hope you all have a happy Christmas!!
Thanks for your comments, Michelle and Happy Holidays to you and your family!