SURVEY: MANY AIR TRAVELERS WITH DISABILITIES MISTREATED.

Byline: Mary Ann Farrell Knight-Ridder Tribune News Service

If you're a disabled traveler flying somewhere, there's one item you shouldn't leave home without because in the long run, it could prove to be even more valuable than that traveler's check.

It's a pocket-sized copy of your rights as a person with a disability when flying or using an airport. The 1986 federal Air Carrier Access Act guarantees that people with disabilities should not be treated in a discriminatory manner when flying. But a recent survey conducted by the Paralysis Society of America - a nonprofit organization founded in 1982 by the Paralyzed Veterans of America to help people with spinal cord injuries and diseases to get their benefits - has found that many airline travelers are still being mistreated.

The survey was done through the group's newsletter, which reaches about 3,000 people.

Among the major things the survey reports are that wheelchair users have been illegally told chairs cannot be stored on the plane, that assistive equipment of all kinds has been often broken or damaged, and that many airline personnel still do not know how to respond to people with disabilities in both transport and counter situations.

``Some people said they were abandoned on planes, just left there,'' said PVA project coordinator Michelle Meacham. ``Others said their power chairs had been broken or lost, as had other types of assistive equipment. We even had people tell us they had to undergo humiliating security checks because they had a disability, a forced strip search.''

Larger airports and airlines often have special boarding devices for people with disabilities. The PSA survey, however, shows that when it comes to smaller airlines, however, the person with a disability can be out of luck. Meacham says the DOT has failed to issue implementation regulations regarding these boarding devices for commuter or smaller aircraft thus making an integral part of the act unenforceable. People with disabilities are still being strapped into a variety of awkward devices and forced into humiliating situations as they're carried up dangerous stairs. Some people reported they had even been denied ticket sales on smaller craft.

What allows these practices to continue is that travelers do not know their rights under the Air Carrier Access Act. The PVA has a pocket-sized, free guide to the law that can fit into a suit jacket or in other carry-along items. It's easy to read and informative. And if that's not enough, flyers can request what's known as ``the little yellow book'' from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Aviation Consumer Protection Division, which also explains the act and consumers' rights.

On Location

To receive a copy of the Paralyzed Veterans of America guide, write to: 801 18th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20006. For the Department of Transportation guide, write: 400 Seventh St. SW, Room 10405, Washington, D.C. 20590.

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Box: On Location (See Text)