I called a windjammer cruise company today to find out if it was something I could do with a loved one who is a non-ambulatory wheelchair user.

Me: “Are your cruises wheelchair accessible?”
Company: “Yes, up until the boat. Then there are stairs to board.”

So, then it’s not wheelchair accessible….

Thanks. It was a bad experience in general, and especially bad since it was my first time flying without my partner since developing POTS and other issues in 2022 so I was nervous to travel without him.

Exactly. When AA called to follow up I asked how the wheelchair service works since I was repeatedly told they are outside vendors - did the airport or airline hire them? Found out it’s the airline so they should ensure they have sufficient coverage.

@americanair.bsky.social
needs to train their staff better on the Disabilities Bill of Rights under the Air Carrier Access Act because I was not treated with dignity nor respect.

He then said he was “allowing” me down the ramp with my medical supply bag, but if there was no room then I’d have to take a later flight. I’m now crying hysterically on the plane because of how discriminatory and dehumanizing
@americanair.bsky.social
staff treated me.

The second staff member then said I’d have to take a later flight if I couldn’t part with my medical supplies. He was rude and nasty. I told him that is not equitable access to force me onto another flight.

When I got to the gate, the
@americanair.bsky.social
employees said I’d need to check my bags. I told them it was medical equipment and the first employee said I should’ve come earlier then. I explained they didn’t have any wheelchair attendants and that caused the delay.

Idk if it was the mask or wheelchair, but the attendant saw fit to ask me if I was sick, which was completely inappropriate. The wheelchair was also not brought through security promptly and I became so dizzy that I wound up on the floor.

Then a customer who came after me was helped before me, despite me stating the time my flight was departing and that my bag was full of medical supplies that couldn’t be gate checked. I ended up with the slooooowest wheelchair attendant.

Just had a frustrating, humiliating and dehumanizing experience with
@americanair.bsky.social
at
Reagan Airport
as a #disabled person. It started with insufficient staffing for wheelchair assistance.

When did you get chickens?

I finally went to PRISM after our dinner. I’m starting PT there soon too and I’m so excited!

What type of doctor ordered the testing for you?

Even before long COVID, many patients w/chronic fatigue syndrome were prescribed exercise as treatment, despite telling their physicians that it actually made them worse. Now we're starting to learn why exercise can be so debilitating at a molecular & cellular level. www.npr.org/sections/hea...

ALT text exists to allow people who are visually impaired to know what is in images. It’s an image description so when someone has a screen reader it will use that text to describe what the image is. Using ALT text is about accessibility and inclusiveness.

FYI for Newskies, there’s a push here to add ALT to your images (you might notice it’s a lot more common then on Twitter). Many folks won’t repost posts that don’t have ALT on them. You can turn on an ALT reminder in your settings!

Adding 🧪 for all the new scienceskies since there seems to be lots

I got up close with a Portuguese man-o-war and my god these animals are shockingly beautiful.

These are STUNNING!

This looks amazing.

I forgot that David hates geese.

Is this a honk? Am I honking? Am I a goose now?

Thanks!