In order to implement the spirit of CRPD and promote the right to information equality for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities, so that they can also enjoy the convenience of public transportation, Eden Foundation has published the "Taichung MRT is Fun" EasyRead version booklet, hoping that through the distribution of the booklet, persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities can ride the MRT alone, promoting their ability of community-adaptation, and also conveying the right to information equality for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities to the public, so that reading can be made easy without barriers.
Ms. Lily Lee, Director General, Taichung area of Eden, Mr. Chin-Tsai Yeh, General Manager of Taichung MRT Corporation and Mr. Wen-Hsuan Wu, Senior Executive Officer of Social Affairs Bureau, together support accessible travel in Taichung.
A couple of days ago on 14th of October, Eden held a press conference for the release of the EasyRead version booklet and the award ceremony of short documentaries at the Jiushe Station of the Taichung MRT. At the beginning of the event, service users from Eden Le-Ai small-scale sheltered Community Workshop gave a wonderful performance to heat up the atmosphere. Ms. Lily Lee, Director General, Taichung area of Eden, Mr. Chin-Tsai Yeh, General Manager of Taichung MRT Corporation and Mr. Wen-Hsuan Wu, Senior Executive Officer of Social Affairs Bureau, all came to support of the event, and together they invited more people to take the MRT then accessible travel in Taichung.
Service users of Eden Le-Ai sheltered Workshop gave a wonderful opening performance.
The publication of the "Taichung MRT is Fun" EasyRead version booklet was made possible by an editing team of six members with disabilities of Eden's Independent Living Program. The editing team spent three years preparing the booklet for publication, during which time they were able to learn editing skills, which, combined with vocational training, enabled them to work at home. After that, service users of the small-scale sheltered community workshop as the quality control team for the booklet, and through their reviews, the EasyRead version booklet shall be published in the most accurate way that best meets their needs. In addition, this time also invited the disabled people’s organizations in Taichung to experience the EasyRead version booklet, and the process of operating and experiencing the booklet was filmed into a short video, which was then voted on, and the five groups of award-winning videos were announced at the press conference on the same day.
It took three years for the editing team to prepare the booklet for publication, and they were very happy to share the achievement with all of the audiences.
Besides to explaining how to take the MRT, what to watch out for, and who to ask for help if there are any problems, the EasyRead version booklet “Taichung MRT is fun” also contains a complete route map. Through the booklet, people can plan their own itineraries and routes, so that persons with disabilities can as well as go out on their own, decide their own destinations, and improve their self-confidence and sense of self-worth. In addition, welfare organizations for persons with disabilities can also use the EasyRead version booklet in their education service plans to make riding the MRT as one of the community participation courses, increasing the opportunity of community participation.
The EasyRead version booklet "Taichung MRT is Fun" not only explains how to ride the MRT, but also has a complete route map and trip introduction.
Eden is committed to promoting CRPD's spirit of community participation. Last year, during our 40th anniversary, we published an EasyRead and easy-to-understand handbook on the services, and this time, in cooperation with the Social Affairs Bureau and the Taichung MRT Corporation, Eden is launching an EasyRead version booklet "Taichung MRT is Fun", then in the future, we will also plan to make the pre-service training materials for peer supporters of persons with disabilities as easy to understand and EasyRead version then to realize the equality of information. The "Taichung MRT is Fun" EasyRead version booklet will be available at every MRT station from now on, and people who need it can obtain it at the MRT stations.
“Taichung MRT is Fun" EasyRead version booklet that realizes information equality and reading can be made easy without barriers.
