User:Lor.ensō/THESISCHAPTER1DRAFT

GET AROUND

Drawing that belongs to the essay

I am zooming in from the big picture to a personal experience. The questions I'm currently asking is:

How does one manoeuvre or get around 'town'?

Manoeuvre meaning,  a movement or series of moves requiring skill and care or carefully guide or manipulate someone or something in order to achieve an end.

I can not ride a bike, so I either walk, take public transport, take a cab or carpool with someone.

My brother can not walk, he is in a wheelchair or scootmobile, so public transport mostly isn't an option. He can be transported from bed to wheelchair, from bed to scootmobile, from wheelchair to a car.

It is mostly the case he gets around with something that is called Trevvel*: a customized transport. (A social taxi).

But more on that later. 

He manoeuvres around in scootmobile for long distances and for shorter distances, his electric wheelchair. There are plenty obstacles that may come along the way.

My own recent example was that I intended to go to a friends halloween party. He lives in a location that I needed to get to via metro and bus. I couldn't stay there but a taxi with a big group was an option. A too expensive option.  Another friend offered a place to stay but that was only accessible via bike ride.  I didn't go but that kinda struck to me the other day. It wasn't a big deal because I also was still feeling sick from the flu shot.  This wasn't the end of the world but just a bit shitty.

But it kind of resulted in a frustration concerning my brother. The thresholds that occur along the way: from a pavement without hills and ramps to bureaucratic, social and architectural threshold.  The frustration was because I was complaining about how people are inconsiderate considering disabilities.

The reason was because my aunt wanted to plan my grandfathers birthday at their place in Spijkenisse. It is meant to be a social gathering. But they were worried that my brother can't access the hallway because it is too small and it might damage the varnish. The other option is that he comes in through the backdoor. But it still pending because we do not know the measurements of the door.

My mother came with the idea that we would do it at 'our place'. Which means I have to 'work' for this: I sometimes help my mother as a Mantelzorger

[ informal caregiver ] Every 4-6 weeks, my brother, mother and I do a little get together. Because, if I want to meet with my brother and mother at my mother's place. It takes some preparation: My brother can not walk and he gets around by either his electric wheelchair or in a mobility scooter(scootmobile?).

For my brother to enter my mother's house, we need*:

- an empty parkingspot to place a hill or a plank

- to place a plank/hill from the street to the curb

- to place a ramp from the curb that which transitions into another a hill(small ramp) going into the hallway

- to place another small ramp in the corridor to enter the entrance hall.   

*The ramp and hills needed to be purchased.

So, my brother has multiple ways to manoeuvre around, which gives him freedom. To get these things, there's a process that has to happen via the municipality

Since the scootmobile is too heavy for the ramp, he needs to get there in a wheelchair. For this, he needs customized transport :**Trevvel Samen**.

Trevvel Samen is something you can apply for if you have an illness, handicap or age that public transport becomes impossible to use. It is a social taxi service that picks you up and delivers you to the spot where you need to be.

Applying for this takes 6-8 weeks and is done through the Gemeente via communicative layers of bureaucracy (Fill in a form, call 14010 or visit a location)

You would say this system would be great, customized for the person. Social transport. Traveling together.

This unfortunately depends as it were a case-by-case study.  Concerning my brother and mother. It either can go well and as it should be.

But when requesting a Trevvel, you can reserve a booking via the app or call the company.

It literally just works like a regular taxi service. It gets communicated via some sort of telecommunication device :

## \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"I'mavailable"\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

## //////"We have a ride from Boermarke 65 to Statenweg 127a" //////////////////////////////////////////

## \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'Yes I will take that one'\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\/////////////"Okay"///////////////////////

My brother then communicates that he has a Trevvel planned. He sends us a message and we set up the ramps and hills. We tip the driver based on the fact if they help, are friendly, cooperate and participate.

He gets Trevvel via Wet maatschappelijke ondersteuning (law considering the social support act of 2015).  

There are a few social factors and flaws in Trevvel:

On a personal level: We wanted to book a trevvel that picks up my mother and me and then also picks up my brother. That wasn't possible, because *there has to be*  an hour between rides. So we in that matter needed to be picked up and brought to my brother. And then we would join him on the same ride. We then decided to go separate and ended up being picked up in the same trevvel.

This ride was heading to my nephew's house. We would visit and look at his house. We were there on time and then the same family was not thinking about my brother's situation, were unintentionally ignorant. My nephew has these concrete tile stairs. So this house becomes a liminal space to my brother. It is highly upsetting that in these vinex type lifestyle arrangements of normality. It doesn't come to mind that a nephew that has been impaired since 2019, is taken into consideration. It was a hot summer day and we just continued, but then my mother and I were picked up and my brother was picked up the moment we arrived at my mothers place.  

So there are multiple obstacles to get around, socially, accessibly, bureaucratically, architecturally, virtually. And these become invisible when people do not see this. When people do not see it. It does not exist.

https://www.government.nl/topics/care-and-support-at-home/social-support-act-wmo

https://www.rotterdam.nl/wonen-leven/vraagwijzer

https://www.trevvel.nl/trevvel-sociaal/uit-thuis-agenda/

https://www.verwijswijzer.nl/rotterdam/hulpmiddelen-en-aanpassingen/aanvullend-openbaar-vervoer.html

https://openrotterdam.nl/directeur-miniworld-woest-nadat-senior-klant-drie-uur-moet-wachten-op-taxi/

https://www.rijnmond.nl/nieuws/1799787/krijgt-trevvel-een-opvolger-hopelijk-hebben-we-ook-als-gemeente-geleerd-van-de-fouten

https://www.ad.nl/rotterdam/trevvel-altijd-op-tijd-en-gezellige-chauffeurs-of-gaat-het-soms-toch-nog-mis~a9f4d9bd/

https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/zorg-en-ondersteuning-thuis/wmo-2015

https://www.trevvel.nl/doelgroepenvervoer/trevvel-samen/