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PHOTO BY CLARE JENSEN

DISABLED RIGHTS. Pami Perry, a disabled epileptic, believes she was mistreated several times while riding a Pierce Transit bus. She said she was forced to make room for others, but others were not required to make room for her.

Woman standing up for right to sit down

By Clare Jensen

Pami Perry is a near encyclopedia of information on the Americans with Disabilities Act. In fact, she is writing a book about the law and service dog training in order to share her vast knowledge with others.

But even if she did not have her rights as a disabled person ingrained in her brain, she would still have known that a certain Pierce Transit bus driver was in the wrong when the driver demanded she stand up for her bus ride on several occasions.

Perry said that in those situations, she felt she was discriminated against, and believes the law was broken.

Perry is a long-time epileptic and has the potential to experience a severe seizure at virtually any time. She has her service dog, Joy, in order to alert her of a seizure, and help her with her medication.

Sometimes, Perry rides the bus downtown to go to the library, or visit Freighthouse Square. Because she desires to be as independent as possible, she and Joy take public transportation when their destination is too far to walk.

Usually, Perry gets treated with respect when she rides the bus from bus drivers who understand the severity of her disability.

But on more than one occasion, Perry has been subjected to potentially harmful situations.

Three times while riding Pierce Transit bus route 1, one unidentified bus driver has demanded that Perry and Joy stand in order to make room for a person in a wheelchair or a person with a stroller.

While standing on the bus from time to time is just the way of the road for the average non-disabled rider, for Perry it can be dangerous.

As a disabled person, Perry has the right to sit with her service dog on the bus.

“If the bus is full, the people should have had to wait for the next bus,” she said, which is something that Perry has had to do herself on several occasions. When the bus driver asked her to stand in order to make room for the wheelchair riders and the stroller, she told the bus driver she had a right to be sitting because she is disabled.

“I showed the bus driver my [disabled person identification] card,” Perry said. “That bus driver didn’t care. She said the wheelchairs have priority – make room.”

According to Pierce Transit spokesperson Lars Erickson, wheelchairs do have priority when it comes to those seated in the “jump seats,” spots in the front of the bus that can be used to secure wheelchairs while the bus is in motion.

“Those jump seats specifically must be vacated,” he said, noting that depending on the size of the bus, not all seats in the front portion of the bus are always of that nature, in which case they would not need to be vacated.

Strollers, on the other hand, do not have priority.

“We would not give them priority in disabled seating, and would not ask a customer to move to make space for a stroller,” Erickson said.

Perry said she has twice been asked to stand in order for a stroller to fit on the bus.

So Perry stood, even though she knew she should not, because the bus driver told her to make room, and because other non-disabled bus riders did not make room for her and Joy to sit down in the other portion of the bus.

The stress of standing for Perry could induce a seizure, and the impact of a fall from standing could injure her, her dog, or another passenger, she said.

It also causes Perry to potentially break the law.

Service dogs are required to sit at the feet of their owner, or under the seat while riding a bus. If they are forced to stand, Joy ends up blocking the aisle, which is illegal and something Perry could be held liable for.

It also puts extra stress on Joy, a 12-week-old German Shepard.

“She knows I’m supposed to be sitting. She’ll nudge me and push me until I do,” she said. That is something Joy has been trained to do as part of her epileptic seizure notification training.

Perry said she contacted Pierce Transit with complaints about her treatment on the bus.

Erickson said they have no such record of her contact at this time.

Perry hopes her book, which is still in the works, will help others be more independent and stand up for themselves in tough situations, something she tried to do when she felt discriminated against on three of her bus rides.

“Some people don’t know the law, and they treat you differently just because you’re not in a wheelchair,” she said. “I want everyone to have the same rights, no matter what their disability is.”

Pami Perry can be contacted at ServiceDogTaffy@hotmail.com.

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