25 July 2012 Sulaiman Khan - Disability Consultant
Trailblazers' London ambassador Sulaiman Khan has been busy this week consulting on tourism, transport and independent living.
Sulaiman's first job was to audit the footpaths and signposts between bus stops and the Tate Modern gallery on London's Southbank. He was asked to share his thoughts on the accessibility of what is one of London's most popular areas for disabled tourists, by Better Bankside.
Sulaiman said:
It was good to be able to describe some of things that can be very frustrating for a wheelchair user, but may go completely unnoticed by non disabled people. Some of the problems I encountered included poor signposting, steep curbs onto and off pathways and uneven footpaths. All of these things could put a disabled person off visiting the gallery and the surrounding area.
Later, Sulaiman met with representatives from the Office for Disability Issues to discuss his thoughts on independent living and realising aspirations as a young disabled man. The Office for Disability Issues are currently working on the Government's Disability Strategy and hope to publish their finding soon.
Sulaiman added:
I recently left university and am now looking for jobs in advertising and the creative industries. I hope that my experience of overcoming barriers to accessing the support I need and the activities I want to take part in will help to inspire other young disabled people to try what might at first seem like the impossible.
Sulaiman, who recently graduated from the University for the Creative Arts with a degree in advertising, is a dedicated campaigner and communications specialist and he has been involved in all our campaigns since 2008.
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