DISABILITY ISSUES
Vol. 19 No. 1

Early in this new year I was fortunate in being able to attend the five day "World Congress for Travelers with Disabilities" which was held in Florida. The Society for the Advancement of Travel for the Handicapped (SATH) which has promoted travel for more than twenty years was the lead agency, and the meeting was co-sponsored by the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA). Their collective goal, and that of other supporters was and is to make the world accessible to all, and to be aware that disability is not inability.

Conventions and conferences are often most useful for acquiring information, meeting interesting and knowledgeable people, and developing resources. This one lived up to our expectations. As travel is an increasingly important part of life, we were hoping to learn what is possible now, what new ideas and developments have emerged and are emerging which will create more opportunity for people living with disability to travel safely and pleasurably, and where people can turn to find answers to their travel questions.

As was promised in the meeting’s title, it was a world congress, not the whole world, but with a surprising and significant representation from places as far away as Israel, South Africa (ape Town, Johannesburg,) Tanzania, Kenya, others from Italy, France, England, Portugal, many from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America,( including travel agents from Peru offering tours to Machu Picchu), and a large number of participants from the United States. These people, some with disability, some without, brought with them messages about their particular services, products, tours, ideas, and plans; all focused on increasing the opportunity for travel for people with disability.

Elaboration of a few issues which were addressed appear below:

Airlines are working on resolving access problems by finding convenient methods for mobility within the airport, by providing jet ways at gates for boarding, and by acquiring appropriately designed transfer chairs which will be safer and more convenient when traveling down the aisle and making a transfer into the seat. They are also concerned with redesigning restrooms so that people using wheelchairs can enter. Similar accommodations are being considered or are in process for buses and trains. Hotels are gradually adding accessible rooms, and refining others, and it was our good fortune to be able to see newly adapted hotel rooms. The organizers of the meeting also made arrangements with a cruise line to invite the whole assemblage aboard their brand new cruise ship so that travel agents and others could see the special rooms that they have modified.

An important issue not yet fully addressed, is how the many messages, spoken or in print which are essential in giving and receiving directions for travelers can be provided for people with blindness, low vision, deafness, or partial hearing. People with sensory loss may also need assistance in orienting themselves to new situations and locations.

Some of the notable people we met included:

A man, mobility impaired, who has taken time off from work to visit hostels throughout the United States. He plans to assess them for accessibility, and prepare a report.

A woman living with blindness, who is one of the directors of a travel agency called Travel by Touch was very helpful to the group by informing them when meeting procedures were inaccessible to her.

Another woman, familiar with disability, and aware of the difficulty of finding accessible transportation when traveling has compiled and published a listing of all public transit services in the country, and updates it periodically.

Readers of Disability Issues could contribute greatly to this effort by sharing, with people in the travel industry, their knowledge regarding what special considerations that each one needs, how the environment can be arranged for convenience, and what equipment will enhance their mobility, or their communication or their comfort. Relating actual experiences is also helpful and enlightening.

(See Ray Glazier’s "Tales of a Wheelchair Traveler" in this issue.)

For the industry to know what we need, we must ask for what we need not just accept what we are offered. If you send us your messages, we will pass them on to people who are in a position to make a difference.