For twenty-five years Women of Influence has focused on empowering and helping to advance women in the workforce. Maayan Ziv, a Canadian tech entrepreneur, disability advocate, and voted one of 25 Women of Influence in 2017, was recently interviewed for an article in the publication.
Maayan, who was all too familiar with the obstacles she and others with muscular dystrophy encounter, founded AccessNow. It is an app that displays an interactive map. The app uses crowdsourcing to give the accessibility status of various locations with three options.
- The app encourages the user to join the AccessNow community and rate the locations using descriptions and tags.
- The user can use the filter to find locations that offer certain accessibility features.
- The service areas are far-reaching, covering the globe.
The Canadian Government’s Intervention
Just prior to this interview, the Canadian government unsuccessfully attempted to pass a bill that would have helped over one million disabled Canadians through their community organizations and help them with extra costs resulting from COVID-19. Other unsuccessful attempts were made at passing the bill but party leaders accused each other for causing the stalemate.
Maayan began the interview by discussing the daily challenges of living with a disability during a pandemic. She expressed mostly the fear that she and others in her situation experience. Maayan explained that being immunocompromised means they must take many precautions.
At first it proved to be difficult for her. She began self-isolating even before the lockdown. She moved from Toronto to the suburbs to avoid the dense population in an urban environment. Maayan does not even go to the food market, nor do others living with her. She captioned their daily routine as pretty “extreme.”
Maayan said she cycled through several emotions such as first being fearful, then grieving over the life she had before COVID, and now she is accepting the “new normal.” She believes in finding the silver lining that comes with the new reality and that there will be opportunities in spite of the changes.
Analyzing the Silver Linings
The interviewer referred to other articles that claimed the way many people with disabilities adapt to COVID was beneficial.
Maayan agreed, noting that everyone her community interviewed said the same thing. They mentioned the advantages of working at home, being able to access various services remotely or online, but also being in a state of panic having to address something new that they had never experienced in their lives.
In the long run, it turned out to be an interesting experience. Disabled people in Maayan’s community began to realize that in fact most of their new adaptations were actually issues they had been dealing with for many years; these included working at home with flexible work hours and using online tools rather than attending on-site meetings.
Job Barriers vs. Opportunities
The disability community has dealt with employment barriers for years. Either a disabled person is not hired because they cannot get to the office each day or they are rejected with no reason given.
COVID has actually opened new avenues for the disability community which has been demanding such accommodations for years. Maayan believes they are revolutionizing a post-COVID world.
Now the measures that were considered accommodations to the disabled are changes needed by everyone. Maayan said that they should set new goals and capitalize on these unique opportunities.
An Important Moment in Time
Maayan and the disability community are hoping that the movement will continue and options will be available at restaurants. She hopes that businesses will encourage telecommuting and continue to be flexible. These are some of the things that the disabled community is advocating.
The interviewer asked Maayan if she was at all frustrated that they had been refused these accommodations for years but now companies are open to making them available to everyone.
Maayan agreed that there has been frustration but that it is nothing new. The issue of rights and opportunities for the world’s largest minority group is a global issue. But allowing frustration at this point would not be productive. Instead, her personal approach is to use that frustration as an incentive to move forward. She sees many others in the disabled community adopting the same attitude.
Access From Home
COVID changed the dynamics from AccessNow globally to Access From Home focusing on a world where people are not able to go out and participate in activities as they did pre-COVID. Maayan created a campaign to encourage people with disabilities to share their personal experiences and describe what access from their home actually looks like.
Access From Home answered many questions. The questions that appeared most often were:
- How to find safe access to food shopping
- What are the opportunities for online jobs
- What are the tools that are available
- What are the sources of entertainment or education that are accessible from my home
Maayan launched Access From Home by building a directory of services and companies that are available relative to these services and giving people a sense of empowerment while at home. This is simply a continuation of the original idea (which she still maintains) but in this case, it is connecting others to a world that is accessible. However, this world is digital and accessible through home devices.
The interviewer asked Maayan about the status of at-home care or group programs and how they have changed.
Maayan said that she has heard many stories from people saying that caregivers no longer feel safe going to someone’s home. She has heard stories from people who were separated from their families to avoid exposure.
But Maayan points out that many people are not following the CDC guidelines. Many are still congregating in large groups or not following social distancing nor are they wearing masks. These people, she says, may not be harming themselves but they are bringing harm to others.
Maayan was asked if she felt her voice is being heard.
Canadian Minister Qualthrough established a committee focused on COVID-19 and on disability. Maayan is concerned that the funding through this committee may be insufficient. She said that most people are not aware of the hidden expenses that affect the disabled.
The interviewer asked one final question of Maayan. What is the most valuable lesson you have learned from this that will lead to a brighter future?
The one word that came to mind immediately was “empathy.” Maayan said that when a person has empathy for others they are more considerate and thoughtful. This is an opportunity to empathize with others, with their fears and their reality. When meeting with others it is helpful to simply ask “how are you?’ This may not be our ordinary greeting but now it is a chance to connect. The typical scenario is to get on the bandwagon then in time slide back into old habits. Personal involvement would be an investment in the future and Maayan hopes we will continue on that path.
