Interview with Blogher Business ‘07 Panelist Karen Wickre
In anticipation of next week’s Blogher Business 07 Conference in New York City, I am posting interviews with the participants on the panel that I am moderating on Day 2, How to Keep Out of Real Trouble. ﾃつ This panel is part of the track How Do I Get It Right The First Time which focuses on issues that should be discussed in the planning stage in order to launch the most effective social media initiative.
Yesterday, Megan Belcher discussed potential real trouble issues relating to employment law, her field of expertise. Today, Karen Wickre, managing editor of the Official Google Blog has answers for a few questions.
Marianne: The panel that we are doing at Blogher is about how to keep out of real trouble with social media. You oversee all 40 of Google’s corporate blogs and are managing editor of the Official Google Blog. How top of mind is the concept of "keeping of real trouble in your daily life at Google?"
Karen: It’s simply not a daily issue. Corporate blogs-those created and maintained by one or more people on behalf of a company featuring the company’s news–aren’t particularly racy by definition. We’re clear at Google that our family of corporate blogs are a PR vehicle–a more direct, friendlier, speedier and perhaps more candid platform than companies have had in the past, but a PR mechanism nonetheless. As such, its not a risky business.
Marianne: Continuing with the "keeping out of real trouble theme"…how frequent is your interaction with the legal department; or said another way, how involved is legal with Google blogging?
Karen: Legal submits its own blog posts! That is, when we have a policy or legal issue, such as privacy or perhaps a lawsuit we’d like to comment on (here are two examples):
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/02/response-to-doj-motion.htm l
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/germany-and-google-books-library.html
The legal group wants to get out viewpoint out there via the blog. In non-legal matters, an attorney related to, for example, a specific product launch may review an upcoming post, in the course of reviewing all public communications. Beyond that we only reach occasionally and vice versa.
Marianne: There are many ethical issues that surface in the blogosphere on an ongoing basis. There are also ongoing discussions about adopting a blogger code of ethics. Some of the issues are covered in things like the WOMMA code of ethics but there is no universally agreed upon code of ethics. Disclosure seems to the basis of many of the ethical issues. Currently, as you know, social media is more or less unregulated. Do you see the need for the adoption of a code of ethics?
Karen: Personally, I’d like to see a code of ethics for several reasons. In this I speak as an inveterate reader of blogs, a writer and a media junkie. Disclosure (about work for hire and other reward consideration) is one reason a code is needed, in the case of bloggers who are crossing the line into journalism but not agreeing to all of its traditional tenets.
I also want some ground rules about the identity of the person who is blogging…so often I can’t find a name, a profile, a bio, or even an email address for some blog I read, which discounts it immediately in my mind. And for those who "do" fancy themselves reporters, I’d like to know if they will or will not be honoring press embargoes, and if they will cite their sources responsibly when possible (there are good reasons for tech bloggers to do this).
For all these reasons, I’d welcome a code.
Tomorrow, look for the interview with our third panelist,ﾃつ Nina Kaufman.
Tags: Blogher, Blogher Business 07, Google, Karen Wickre, Megan Belcher, disclosure, WOMMA, blogger ethics,ﾃつ media2.0, legal
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Interview with Blogher Business ‘07 Panelist Karen Wickre
In anticipation of next week’s Blogher Business 07 Conference in New York City, I am posting interviews with the participants on the panel that I am moderating on Day 2, How to Keep Out of Real Trouble. ﾃつ This panel is part of the track How Do I Get It Right The First Time which focuses on issues that should be discussed in the planning stage in order to launch the most effective social media initiative.
Yesterday, Megan Belcher discussed potential real trouble issues relating to employment law, her field of expertise. Today, Karen Wickre, managing editor of the Official Google Blog has answers for a few questions.
Marianne: The panel that we are doing at Blogher is about how to keep out of real trouble with social media. You oversee all 40 of Google’s corporate blogs and are managing editor of the Official Google Blog. How top of mind is the concept of "keeping of real trouble in your daily life at Google?"
Karen: It’s simply not a daily issue. Corporate blogs-those created and maintained by one or more people on behalf of a company featuring the company’s news–aren’t particularly racy by definition. We’re clear at Google that our family of corporate blogs are a PR vehicle–a more direct, friendlier, speedier and perhaps more candid platform than companies have had in the past, but a PR mechanism nonetheless. As such, its not a risky business.
Marianne: Continuing with the "keeping out of real trouble theme"…how frequent is your interaction with the legal department; or said another way, how involved is legal with Google blogging?
Karen: Legal submits its own blog posts! That is, when we have a policy or legal issue, such as privacy or perhaps a lawsuit we’d like to comment on (here are two examples):
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/02/response-to-doj-motion.htm l
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2006/06/germany-and-google-books-library.html
The legal group wants to get out viewpoint out there via the blog. In non-legal matters, an attorney related to, for example, a specific product launch may review an upcoming post, in the course of reviewing all public communications. Beyond that we only reach occasionally and vice versa.
Marianne: There are many ethical issues that surface in the blogosphere on an ongoing basis. There are also ongoing discussions about adopting a blogger code of ethics. Some of the issues are covered in things like the WOMMA code of ethics but there is no universally agreed upon code of ethics. Disclosure seems to the basis of many of the ethical issues. Currently, as you know, social media is more or less unregulated. Do you see the need for the adoption of a code of ethics?
Karen: Personally, I’d like to see a code of ethics for several reasons. In this I speak as an inveterate reader of blogs, a writer and a media junkie. Disclosure (about work for hire and other reward consideration) is one reason a code is needed, in the case of bloggers who are crossing the line into journalism but not agreeing to all of its traditional tenets.
I also want some ground rules about the identity of the person who is blogging…so often I can’t find a name, a profile, a bio, or even an email address for some blog I read, which discounts it immediately in my mind. And for those who "do" fancy themselves reporters, I’d like to know if they will or will not be honoring press embargoes, and if they will cite their sources responsibly when possible (there are good reasons for tech bloggers to do this).
For all these reasons, I’d welcome a code.
Tomorrow, look for the interview with our third panelist,ﾃつ Nina Kaufman.
Tags: Blogher, Blogher Business 07, Google, Karen Wickre, Megan Belcher, disclosure, WOMMA, blogger ethics,ﾃつ media2.0, legal
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Pay attention, Say Thank You
Church of the Customer recently highlighted a story from the Wall Street Journal about the law firm, Sullivan & Cromwell, LLP who in response to low morale and an excessive level of associate turnover initiated a program to encourage partners to show more appreciation and respect to the firm’s associates.
Specifically, the need to say "thank you" and "good job’ and to return associate’s phone calls and not cancel their vacations. As Ben McConnell notes, "that weird common courtesy stuff." When Ben says, "its no joke" I presume he means the facts of the story are true and, C,’mon, do you seriously need to be told to say thank you? It makes you ask some other questions:
- What’s wrong with the partners in this law firm that they are so un-appreciative of their associates?
- How do they treat their clients?
- Do they kick their dogs?
The title of the article asks the question: Does Saying Thank You Help Keep Associates? Well, doesn’t "that weird common courtesy stuff" help" keep" everyone? And, the opposite, being discourteous and unappreciative keeps everyone away.
Saying "thank you" and "good job" demonstrates attention and articulates appreciation. Paying attention and showing appreciation will improve morale and reduce turnover in all of our relationships, personal and professional….you can offer a money-back guarantee on that one.
David Pollard at How to Save the World wrote, "What people seek from others more than anything else, is attention and appreciation. I’ve observed that to be true in boardrooms, bedrooms and barrooms. You want to win over your boss, give him or her your full attention, and acknowledge his or her successes, without being a suck-up about it. You want to win over your audience in a presentation, make lots of eye contact, show empathy for their situation (which means doing your homework in advance) and thank them more than once for their attention and their awesome questions."
A study by Mitchel Adler and NS Fagley (2005) provides some basis for the other side of the equation…why being appreciative is a good thing…they found that being appreciative and expressing appreciation to others enhances feelings of well being; it makes us feel connected to what we have and to our experiences. They find that expressing appreciation builds social bonds and in fact "appreciation was significantly related to life satisfaction and positive affect. Importantly, they believe that even though being appreciative is a disposition, it can be taught. The WSJ article said that Sullivan & Cromwell saw an improvement in turn over after the partners went to charm school.
Another recent article in the Wall Street Journal about the Dali Lama addressed the ability to change our brains through a change in thinking….to actually become more compassionate and empathetic. In a study done with monks during meditation, it was found that indeed meditation could change the function of the brain and importantly, "monks with the most hours of meditation showed the most dramatic brain changes. That was a strong hint that mental training makes it easier for the brain to turn on circuits that underlie compassion and empathy."
So, mother was right: Say thank you, write thank you notes; be appreciative and don’t scrimp on expressing appreciation and gratitude. Should appreciation not come naturally, it is possible to acquire the traits that make it possible….through mental training or meditation. If you do these things you will grow up to have successful personal relationships, loyal customers and clients …and be especially successful at generating positive word of mouth.
Jackie Huba writes about the $800 million dollar company that connects with customers through the "thank you" note written by a sales associate. Andy Sernovitz sent me a handwritten thank you note for blogging at the WOMMA Summit that demonstrated recognition and appreciation that stood apart …I really appreciated that he took the time in our electronic age to write a handwritten note!
The Lesson: Pay attention, listen, observe those around us…let them know that you appreciate them and what they do. Practice it until it comes naturally. You will improve your own sense of well being as well as contribute to theirs. This will become the environment in which you live and work.
Kathy Sierra, in her post Angry/ Negative People Can Be Bad for Your Brain talks about social contagion/emotional contagion…the spread of attitudes throughout populations. She quotes Memetics and Social Contagion"…social scientific research has largely confirmed the thesis that affect, attitudes, beliefs and behavior can indeed spread through populations as if they were somehow infectious.
She quotes the Dali Lama, The fact that there is always a positive side to life is the one thing that gives me a lot of happiness. This world is not perfect. There are problems. But things like happiness and unhappiness are relative. Realizing this gives you hope." Paying attention to the positive side and expressing this to others gives everyone hope.
One final thought. My cousin, Dr Leonard Berg passed away several weeks ago. He was an incredibly accomplished man who left behind a legacy that truly produced positive change in the lives of people all over the world. At his memorial service one of his children noted that because of his work, he really wasn’t home a lot but she always felt that he was there for her. He was paying attention and she knew that what she did was appreciated; his attitude was contagious.
Tags: Church of the Customer, Ben McConnell Jackie Huba, Andy Sernovitz, WOMMA, Kathy Sierra, David Pollard, Social Contagion, Attention, Dali Lama, Appreciation, Sullivan & Cromwell,Wall Street Journal, Dr. Leonard Berg
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St. Louis Blogger Lunch
Dennis Kennedy posted first, so I will just add a second….an impromptu St. Louis bloggers lunch today was so much fun it should be a regular event! Maybe next time we can plan it enough in advance so some of the other St. Louis bloggers will be able to join us. Perhaps we can have a welcome back lunch for Matt Homann.
It was great to meet Randy Holloway and great to see Dennis, Michelle Golden, and George Lenard, the St. Louis bloggers that I met for the first time in Chicago at BlawgThink!2005. George and I are working on some things together and recently gave a talk to students at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University on using blogs for their job search.
As an aside, Yvonne DiVita has a wonderful interview with Dennis on her Lipsticking Blog. It was really fun to meet Yvonne at the WOMMA Conference in Orlando.
Technorati Tags: St. Louis bloggers, WOMMA, blogs, BlawgThink
Social Entrepreneurship for Seniors: Purpose Prize
A great deal is being written about the aging baby boomers, that attention grabbing, developmental stage defining, amorphous yet distinct, demographic group that I count myself as a member of…..I think sometimes that one of our most distinctive characteristics is our lack of acceptance of aging but perhaps that, along with the feeling of distinctiveness itself, is just part of the developmental stage process. So, the addition of aging to baby boomer, aging baby boomer, as in, I am an aging baby boomer, is a bit disconcerting.
There are several recent blog posts asnd articles specifically addressing the aging baby boomer paradox. David Wolfe at Ageless Marketing frequently writes great posts about aging and baby boomers in the context of marketing. His perspective is shaped by developmental stage theory and in his view the second half of life is very different than the first in regard to internal versus external focus. In our later years, we focus outward and seek to understand the meaning of life, specifically the meaning of our lifes.
James Hillman, a psychologist and the author of 20 amazing books, wrote one book, The Force of Character and the Lasting Life that says that the purpose pf aging is the fulfillment and confirmation of our character. His thesis is that even the ravages of old age have a purpose: changes in sleep patterns allow us to experience elements of nighttime that we missed when asleep or the decline in short term memory allows us the opportunity for longer term reflection. He writes, "Aging makes metaphors of biology." He speaks of life being cyclical and that if we want our lives not to stray too far from our character, we need to make tiny adjustments like a sailor with a hand on the tiller, constantly correcting course though never exactly on-course.
It is in the second half of life that we feel the pull to stay close to our families and to work toward the social good. The benefit to society was termed, "return on experience(ROE)" by Civic Ventures, a San Fransisco non-profit that develops outreach programs for baby boomers and seniors to serve the public good. They are launching a program in June called the "Purpose Prize" that will award $100,000 each to five social entrepreneurs who according to the Wall Street Journal are "individuals age 60 or older who are trying to improve their communities through their work." Applications will be taken at www.leadwithexperience.org beginning on Tuesday, December 6th.
Civic Ventures says according to the Wall Street Journal, that in addition to helping the five social entrepreneurs they also wish to highlight the results of a survey they conducted that indicated that three fifths of adults in their fifties said they wanted to use the next stage of their lives to serve their communities. Civic Ventures notes that the oldest of the baby boomers will turn sixty in January, the healthiest, best educated population of Americans to reach the stage that Civic Ventures calls "pioneers"…a stage of life between middle and later life, neither young nor old. Essentially, baby boomers will become senior boomers….as we turn sixty we will be, now let’s not choke when we say it, seniors.
The Senior Lawyers Project is another non-profit that uses over 60 talent for the prublic good. With a budget of $175,000 and three employees, they have sent 200 US attorneys to developing counties over the past four years.
Technorati Tags:
social entrepreneurship, non-profits, baby boomers, aging
Del.icio.us Tags:
social entrepreneurship, non-profit, lawyers, baby boomers, aging baby boomers
Client Expectations and Satisfaction Surveys
This post is about customer experience, this time from the vantage point of a client satisfaction survey…specifically law firms client satisfaction surveys.
Rees Morrison of Law Department Management asked the question,
"Does asking clients to assess the department raise their expectations
for the future?" His answer was "Yes." He went on to say that customer
satisfaction surveys may raise the bar for performance expectations for
the future. Further he writes,
Social science researchers recognize that when you ask people about
a feeling ﾃ｢竄ｬ窶 ﾃ｢竄ｬﾅ滴ow satisfied are you with the responsiveness of the law
department?ﾃ｢竄ｬﾂ or ﾃ｢竄ｬﾅ典o what degree do you feel the law department meets
your needs for professional development?ﾃ｢竄ｬﾂ ﾃ｢竄ｬ窶徨espondents over-rate their
feelings. In large measure, the respondents never give a momentﾃ｢竄ｬ邃｢s
thought to the question, and when they do focus on it, they inflate or
distort their views, thus the focusing illusion.
To the extent this distortion operates, it undermines the validity
of client satisfaction surveys, employee morale surveys and value
questionnaires and other instruments that collect feelings and
perceptions.
Is Mr. Morrison suggesting that attorneys shouldn’t ask their
clients for feedback for fear that they may have to live up to their
client’s expectations? Or that by asking for feedback it might be
implied that attorneys upon receiving feedback might feel obligated to
improve their performance? Surely not.
But, a client satisfaction survey is market research. As such, the design of the research question is critical to the value of the information that is received as a result of asking the questions. I believe this is very analogous to for instance the questions asked in a cross examination. The meaning of the words in a satisfaction survey has to be exactly what the operational definition of the words specifies.
Ask a question about responsiveness and unless you have defined responsiveness, or operationalized it, to mean something specific to the client, such as returned phone calls, then collecting "feelings" will be useless information because you will not know how to improve responsiveness….or as Mr. Morrison notes, the validity will be undermined. Set up your client relationship with specific satisfaction promises, perform to those promises, measure the specifics of the performance by a survey and then you will understand the meaning of the feeling of responsiveness.
Remember Humpty Dumpty from Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland? He tell’s Alice that, "When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean…nothing more nor less." Alice asks him, "whether you can make words mean so many different things." Humpty says, "The question is, which is to be the master, that’s all." Master the operational definition of what you are measuring and the precision of the survey will increase its value. To carry the Humpty Dumpty analogy a bit further, if you and your client do not have the same understanding of responsiveness for example, then expectations will never be met and if your survey attempts to assess the situation based upon ambiguous words then…"all the king’s horses and all the king’s men will not be able to put Humpty back together again."
Client experience is a marketing issue. Measuring it is market research. The client experience is really the operationalizing of your marketing. Operationalization means specifying the exact operations that defines the marketing promise. A client satisfaction survey is research. If your marketing states that you "use technology to be a better lawyer" your clients should be able to experience tangible evidence of the technology.
If a satisfacion survey is used to evaluate how well the firm met a client’s needs in terms of technology, the client and attorney should have all ready agreed on the technology to be used on their case, e.g. to exchange cell phone numbers, be updated via Basecamp, and have a Power Point Presentation presented at the trial. Then a client can be truly asked about and assessed for "satisifaction". The latter is best practices for research design.The design of research is critical to its value. Ask the wrong question
and you will get the wrong answer….and you may never know why you lost you client.
Don’t blame your client for "over rating" their feelings. Establish
specific functional elements that will result in positive or negative
feelings and then assess those. Instead of asking, "to what degree do
you feel the law department meets your needs for professional
development" begin your relationship with the client by:
- Determining their needs.
- Agreeing on how those needs will be met.
- Set measurement standards.
- Then assess satisfaction by surveying performance versus those standards.
- Meet their needs and their hearts and minds will follow…as will high ratings onsurveys.
The Greatest American Lawyer, an attorney genuinely concerned with providing excellent customer service, recently posted that he was sending out his first client survey and posed some interesting questions regarding client surveys in general.
- Will client’s respond at all; if so will they provide constructive criticism that can really help improve service.
- Will the survey serve a marketing function….a reminder to clients.
- Will the survey produce surprises…provide feedback regarding issues we were not aware of or mistakes that we didn’t know we made.
It will be interesting to hear the results of his survey. If the first time a client feels like they are being asked about the quality of the service provided is by a satisfaction survey and they feel like they have received poor service, it is my experience that client’s will either not respond or you will receive criticism that goes beyond the constructive variety. If the foundation of the client relationship is based upon clearly defined and agreed upon service needs and goals, and the relationship is nurtured along the way, then the client will be more likely to answer the survey and feedback should not produce unexpected results.
Tom Collins, at morepartnerincome talks about applying Six Sigma to law firm practice. He insightfully writes, "It must place the clientﾃ｢竄ｬ邃｢s wants and desires first. It
must believe to its very core that when the firm improves the success
of their customer, it improves the law firmﾃ｢竄ｬ邃｢s success as well. It must be willing to honestly determine what its clients want and be prepared to deliver it." Determing the client’s wants and needs should mean in conjunction with the client. Also, agree on the specifics of delivery. Then measure against specifics, not feelings.
I have one final thought about "raising the bar for performance expectations in the future" as mentioned by Rees Morrison. Expectation is what is considered the most likely outcome. It is based upon past experience as well as what standards are articulated for the future. In many ways, achieving customer satisfaction is setting the bar too low. As providers of customer service, we should seek to exceed customer expectations. If our clients express that they would be satisfied with phone calls being returned within 24 hours, find a way to exceed the expectation and return calls within a business day even if the return call is just to set a time to discuss the issue the next day.
When we provide our clients with a list of "frequently asked questions" this is a helpful service….add a list of "frequently not asked questions" and you will be able to really differentiate your service and expertise. When someone says to me, "Is there anything you would like to ask me about this?" I am limited by my own knowledge of the situation or problem. When someone says to me, "You haven’t asked about…" and then proceeds to tell me something that exceeds my knowledge of the situation, then the value of the relationship is enhanced and my expectations are exceeded.
Technorati Tags: customer_satisfaction, client_experience, customer_service
Discrimination at SIU????
The Chicago
Sun-Times reported that the Justice Department has accused SIU (Southern
Illinois University) violating the Federal Civil Rights laws (Title VII) by
discriminating against whites, men and others in their graduate fellowship
programs. The programs cited were:
FELLOWSHIP: Bridge to the Doctorate Started:
2004 Award: $30,000 stipend, plus $10,500 for education expenses Purpose: "For
underrepresented minority students to initiate graduate study in science,
technology, engineering and math.” Budget: $985,000 Number of awards since
inception: 24 (19 blacks, 5 Latino, 1 Native American)
FELLOWSHIP: Proactive
Recruitment and Multicultural Professionals for Tomorrow Started: 2000 Award:
Tuition waiver and $1,200 monthly stipend Purpose: "To increase the number of
minorities receiving advanced degrees in disciplines in which they are
underrepresented.” Budget: $158,000 Awards since inception: 78 (61 blacks, 14
Latinos, 1 Asian, 2 Native Americans)
FELLOWSHIP: Graduate Dean’s Started: 2000
Award: Tuition waiver, $1,000 monthly stipend Purpose: "For women and and
traditionally underrepresented students who have overcome social, cultural or
economic conditions.” Budget: $67,000 Awards since inception: 27 (16 whites, 7
blacks, 4 Latinos) SOURCE: Southern Illinois University
Well, yes to qualify for
these programs one must be a minority, or traditionally underrepresented but
don’t almost all fellowship or scholarship programs at every university have
requirements that by definition exclude someone? When I applied for a graduate
program at Washington University George Warren Brown School of Social Work in
2002 I was given a packet of information that included a long list of
scholarship programs.
My recollection is that most of them had specific targets
that included everything from academic performance, math majors entering social
work, those currently employed in the non-profit sector, non-traditional
students (i.e. older than faculty) to "traditional" minorities and the
underrepresented. Didn’t the GI bill require military service and by applying the
standards that the Justice department is apparently apply to SIU, thereby
discriminate against those unable to serve in the military.
I found it interesting that Small Town Veteran writes, "I myself dropped out of the University of Illinois after two
years due to financial problems, at the same time as hundreds of
Chicago blacks were receiving a free ride just for being black, and
enlisted in the Air Force hoping I’d still be around in 4 years to use
my GI Bill benefits."
Again, aren’t those GI Bill benefits limited to those who served in the military? Certainly those serving in the military deserve the GI Bill benefits but the benefits do exclude those who were not able to serve in the military but may have wanted to.
As The
Color Blind Society notes, it is hard to write, "SIU puts whites and men at
a disadvantage" with a straight face. I presume that these three fellowships are not the only fellowships or scholarships being offered by SIU. It is reported that minorities make up 8% of the student body at SIU (92% of the population are not minorities!?!) which I believe would indicate that despite the three fellowship programs that the "playing field" is far from level and that it would be hard to support that "discrimination" is preventing whites and men from attending SIU.
Technorati Tags: SIU, Discrimination, Fellowships, Scholarships
Returning From BlawgThink 2005
BlawgThink 2005 was truly awesome! Matt Homann and Dennis Kennedy did an incredible job pulling everything together with an incredible group of attendees and speakers. I will be posting further details and perspectives later in the week…suffice it to say I learned a lot and came away with some really valuable insights and ideas. Thanks Matt and Dennis…and a special thanks to Fred Faulkner, who not only gave a great presentation on technical tips but also spent extra time trying to solve the mystery of the Technorati tags.
Technorati Tags: BlawgThink_2005,, tags
Lex Think Blawg Think
There will definately be a lot of thinking at LexThink BlawgThink. Matt Homann and Dennis Kennedy have put together an awesome 2 days of speakers, learning, collaboration, and fun….but don’t ask for the agenda, it’s all about open space! If you want an invitation contact matt@lexthink.com. Hope to see you there!
Technorati Tags: blawgs, blogs, LexThink, BlawgThink
MS Handicapped Parking Permits in Missouri
An article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch regarding compliance with a January 2005 revision to the requirements for doctors to issue handicapped parking permits. Apparently, the new requirements are having an "unintended consequence" for MS (multiple sclerosis) patients which essentially means that only if "a person cannot walk 50 feet without stopping to rest" they can have a sticker….otherwise start hiking. Doctors are interpreting the new law in its strictest sense and not issuing permits. Because MS is an "intermittent" illness, which means sometimes they can walk the walk, 50 feet, and sometimes they can’t. What is going on here???? Watching Politics asks, "Can blind people walk 50 fifty feet without resting?" Well, probably it would be a good idea if blind people didn’t have drivers licenses but probably the point is, blindness is a physical disability as is MS. Why the "intermittent" concern?
My 93 year old mother has suffered from MS for over 50 years and I think this is outrageous! Although she no longer drives a car, when she did, she used a handicapped permit and that permit made it possible for her to extend maintaining her independence….and maintaining her independence is directly related, in my opinion, to her longevity. MS is a devastating illness that can blur vision, weaken
muscles, impair cognition, decrease sexual performance, cause tremors, incontinence, and fatigue….and that is in the milder states. MS limits ones ability to participate in many of life’s activities that we take for granted….it seems to me that as long as an MS patient can drive a car and park it, giving them a handicapped permit to make access to their destination a little easier or in some cases possible should be a given. If they are having a good day and can walk, great. For the days that they are not, they need a permit.
The doctors that are not issuing handicapped permits to MS patients because of the 50 feet requirement fear that they will be "prosecuted" Dr. Beck Parks of the John L. Trotter Multiple Sclerosis Center at Washington University School of Medicine is quoted in this article saying, "A patient’s neurological ability can decline significantly during the
course of a day, or from one day to the next, especially in the heat. The law makes no allowances
for a person with a condition such as multiple sclerosis." Does the new law make allowance for common sense?
I have to say that if my mother could have walked the length of a parking lot, she would have gladly done so…and if she could have walked it in the morning and not in the afternoon she would have walked it in the morning and used her handicapped permit in the afternoon.
I know there are a number of MS bloggers and podcasters out there…I hope they will post their opinions of this refusal by some doctors to issue handicapped permits in Missouri to MS patients. I know I am going to write a letter to the editor of the PD and an email to the Trotter Center.
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