I Support Foundation tries to make cafes and restaurant visits a hurdle-free experience for families of persons with disabilities. We speak to co-founder Juhi Ramani on how they are going about it.
This initiative is to create awareness and provide hassle free service to persons with disabilities. We, the I Support Foundation (NGO), started this initiative for achieving universal accessibility that will enable persons with disabilities to gain access for equal opportunity and live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life in an inclusive society. The campaign is to focus on enhancing the accessibility for disabled persons at Eateries and then move to make other public places friendly and accessible.
We wanted cafes and restaurants in Bangalore and Lucknow, UP to be a hurdle-free experience for families to dine together. The intent of this is to make parents comfortable taking their kids out, and not to be worried about the kid’s hyperactivity or tantrums; to ensure easy accessibility and to sensitize the society about being friendly to and accepting of the differently abled*. An important factor are public places such as cafes and restaurants.
“I remember all the hard days spent in that small town with people having no knowledge about autism and about what Shivam was going through.”
What does a differently abled restaurant mean?
- The restaurants and cafes will have a sticker that will read 'Differently abled friendly'.
- The staff and team of these 'Differently abled friendly' restaurants are sensitized. They learn to assist parents of Differently abled friendly kids and adults - like assisting them with ground floor sitting area as kids with special needs sometimes have phobia of heights, and cooperating during kid’s meltdown and behavioural issues. The objective is to educate them about the visible and invisible signs and how they can make the visits better and more comfortable for them and their families. We train the staff and explain to them what disability is and also about its types (intellectual, physical, autism, down’s syndrome etc.) and teach them how to approach a customer when the latter arrives at a restaurant.
- We've also provided Activity kits (includng colors, sticky glue, drawing sheets) to the restaurants and cafes to ensure the kids can be engaged and be calm till their order is served. Waiting makes people who are Differently abled very restless, they start getting agitated and irritated.
Pointers about Differently abled restaurants
- The staff is explained in layman’s terms what autism is and other behavior issues to assist parents in case of a child's tantrums and meltdown and when parents ask for it. But no special emphasis is given to just autistic cases. All conditions are treated in the best manner possible.
- The restaurant staff is trained to help when the person with special needs asks for help - help them by opening the door, assisting them in moving and specially been told not to stare at them.
- These places are all wheel chair friendly. But not all restaurants have wheel chairs to offer. One can of course take one’s own wheelchair to the restaurants.
- A survey is usually conducted with parents of the children to understand what their needs are for the restaurants to implement them as best as possible.
- Major challenge in this project was approaching the restaurants and then making them understand the need for being friendly. The responses were mixed. We also faced rejection.
Social Eateries which are now differently-abled friendly.
Bangalore:
Electronic City - Morriz Restaurant, Baskin-Robbins, Elachi Restaurant, Donut House.
Koramangala and Bannergata – Bak Bak Bar, Bakasur.
ITPL – Chung Wah, Petto, Bakasur, Chatpata India, Treat.
Lucknow:
Gomti Nagar - Café Frangipani, Planters Tea Bar and Café, Homeys Café, Wrappers, The Lunchbox Restaurant, Café Frangipani, Café Bewajah, The Cherry Tree Café, The Red Truck, The Lucknow Dairies Cafes.
Gokhale Marg - Café Seize the Day.
Vipul Khand - Café Mocha.
Vikas Nagar - Madhouse.
Here's hoping we keep reaching out to more and more places and people and there comes a day where orientations like these aren't really needed.
About I Support Foundation:
I Support Foundation is a Non-profit-making organization based out of Lucknow and Bangalore. It runs to help people and children with disabilities, especially Autism. We feel strongly about the issue of social isolation for persons with disability. Social exposure is essential for learning and growth. As a start, we would like public places like parks, cafes, and restaurants to be disabled friendly.
Every child, however abled, has the right to play, says Kavitha Krishnamoorthy. But India’s playgrounds are often not friendly for kids with disabilities. What about your local playground? You can change that with a little effort. Click here to find out more
How to reach I Support Foundation : www.facebook.com/isupportfoundn
Editor's Note: differently abled* - Our editorial stand is to use the phrase "person with disabilty". However if the contributor has a strong preference for "differently abled" or "special kids", we accept their preference.
