Watching Casts and Cushions

ATLANTA — When the Transportation Security Administration
published its airport security guidelines earlier this month,
legislators got mad, and would-be terrorists got educated. The Web
posting contained a list of items — including wheelchair
cushions, footwear of disabled individuals, casts and orthopedic
shoes — that did not require screening. Would embarrassed TSA
officials respond with extra scrutiny directed at wheelchair users
and others with disabilities?

Paul J. Tobin, president and CEO of the United Spinal
Association, said he never felt under-scrutinized prior to the
TSA’s gaffe, but he said that officials could overreact in light of
recent events.

“I am a frequent traveler, and I get plenty of attention, as
does my wheelchair, when going through security,” said Tobin. “When
I heard about the publishing of those documents on the Web site, I
said to my wife, ‘I expect that we will probably be scrutinized
going forward.’ A wheelchair is a pretty big piece of equipment,
and you could hide quite a bit on there if you really wanted
to.”

Whatever happens, Tobin hopes that TSA officials will remain
sensitive to the needs of people with disabilities.

“I’ve always felt that the search that I received when traveling
was pretty thorough. There were scans, pat downs and bomb residue
checks. The TSA has become much more sensitive to people with
disabilities, much more so than when they first began in earnest
after 9/11. Before, it was more brusque: ‘Take off your shoes. Do
this, do that.’ And that is fine if you can do it, but if you’re a
person with a disability who has some difficulties, then you need
some alternatives without being treated like a criminal.”

Ultimately, Tobin said, wheelchair users usually arrive so early
to the airport that any extra scrutiny would not likely be a
problem. “I don’t think extra attention will slow things down on
the global scale,” he said.

Reaction from Washington was swift following the posting of the
secret airport screening procedures.

“This shocking breach undercuts the public’s confidence in the
security procedures at our airports,” said Sen. Susan Collins,
R-Maine, ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs Committee, in a statement. “On the day before
the Senate Homeland Security Committee’s hearing on terrorist
travel, it is alarming to learn that the Transportation Security
Administration inadvertently posted its own security manual on the
Internet.”

Last week, TSA Acting Director Gale Rossides told Congress the
mistaken posting posed no threat to holiday travelers.

See the TSA Web site for a complete list of disability-related items permitted through the
security checkpoint.