Disability Office Appointment

[Ianbrownlee]

Hi all,

I have been nominated as disability office and I thank you for that. I see my role as assisting organisers and disabled organisations with a view to helping promote chess to all with my focus in the disabled community. I would like to set up my stall from the offset and ask for everybody's help here. I would like to collate statistics and find out the following.

1. how many disabled people currently play chess and what percentage are children
2. What different types of disability will Chess Scotland be asked to accommodate now and in the future.
3. What resources should Chess Scotland be providing and are we failing to do
4. What past experiences have both disabled and able bodied players had and any comments would be appreciated on making sure it doesn't happen again.
5. Has any disabled players made any past complaints about playing conditions
6. Have any chess clubs or organisations such as regional leagues made any contact with disabled organisations
I would welcome any comments to my email address <!-- e --><a href="mailto:ian.brownlee@systemsit.co.uk">ian.brownlee@systemsit.co.uk</a><!-- e -->

[Patrick McGovern]

Congratulations Ian and good luck :YMAPPLAUSE:

[Ianbrownlee]

thanks Pat, if I can be of assistance with anything, please let me know

[Ianbrownlee]

Thanks for all your feedback so far please keep them coming

The highest number of disability so far is deafness. There has been problems between deaf people trying to communicate verbally in the past and because of the deaf numbers there is a higher possibility of deaf v blind issues than I thought.

The other main concern is wheelchair access. The suggestion is that in CS tournaments if a home venue cannot provide disabled facilities then they sportingly give up home advantage as the away team with the disabled player would possibly have sufficient resources to accommodate the disability.

Another challenge is the involvement of juniors playing disabled players. The problem may arise if the alternative venue may have restrictions such as alcohol etc which may have restricted access.

In summary I think although it is the home teams responsibility to provide a suitable venue, the away team should assist if possible

[Jim Webster]

Would it be worth while doing a survey of member clubs to see who has/has not disabled access and facilities?

I'll start
Dunfermline Chess Club : Disabled Ramp Access, Toilet and a couple of parking spaces.

[Ianbrownlee]

Would it be worth while doing a survey of member clubs to see who has/has not disabled access and facilities?

I'll start
Dunfermline Chess Club : Disabled Ramp Access, Toilet and a couple of parking spaces.

absolutely that is exactly what I would like. We need statistics. I'll give you one as well there are far more deaf players than anyone thinks. I also believe we may need to differentiate between profoundly deaf on one end and slightly deaf on the other. It may also help to classify the level of blindness, mobility etc of our members. We also need to find what percentage of non-CS members are affected. Should we have an editable database online where this information can be viewed. Should we add types of disability to the player database

[robin moore]

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ayrshirechess.co.uk/clubs.html">http://www.ayrshirechess.co.uk/clubs.html</a><!-- m -->

Ian,

Maybe it could be an idea to contact county association secretaries. The link above is for the Ayrshire one. If the secretary contacted each club, disabled access etc could be updated on any club website and county links sent to yourself.

[Ianbrownlee]

yeah Robiin I'll do that. I could also be doing with collating any incidents with previous problems and incidents so that we can avoid them in the future

[Keith Rose]

Would it be worth while doing a survey of member clubs to see who has/has not disabled access and facilities?

Castlehill - meeting room and disabled toilet on the same floor as access door - street level. Parking at hand.

[StevieHilton]

Would it be worth while doing a survey of member clubs to see who has/has not disabled access and facilities?

I'll start
Dunfermline Chess Club : Disabled Ramp Access, Toilet and a couple of parking spaces.

absolutely that is exactly what I would like. We need statistics. I'll give you one as well there are far more deaf players than anyone thinks. I also believe we may need to differentiate between profoundly deaf on one end and slightly deaf on the other. It may also help to classify the level of blindness, mobility etc of our members. We also need to find what percentage of non-CS members are affected. Should we have an editable database online where this information can be viewed. Should we add types of disability to the player database

Ian,
I am not sure about the deaf, but as far as blind/visually impaired are concerned, The player has to be certified by a consultant before he get the certificate which is done by the local Authorities under the Social work act of 1968. I suspect that it will be the same for deaf people as well. I would suggest contacting the RNID in Glasgow about this.
There are varying degrees of Deafness and blindness.
I know for a fact that when the IPCA run their world Championships they have 2 categories 1st for those who are wheelchair bound and the second for those who are disabled but have mobility,
In the IBCA, you can only play in our events once you have the certificate I mentioned earlier.
In the ICCD, I suspect that it will be the same.