This is the sixth year that the small liberal arts college has taken the entire freshman class to Paris, but it is the first time that the group has had to work on accommodations for a non folding wheelchair. Students on crutches have traveled before and there have been a couple of occasions when the staff had to use wheelchairs that fold for students who have been injured while they were away, but this will be different. One of the boys in the freshman class is in a motorized wheelchair the entire time when he is not in bed or in therapy.
The arrangements have taken a little extra work, but the staff realized that there are companies that specialize in inclusive excursions and even exclusive travel for a single day. Wheelchairs that fold and wheelchairs that are rigid require different amounts of space, so it is important to let the accessibility adviser that you are working with know the kind of chair that will be used. As more and more places around the world are made accessible to people with a limited mobility who want to live an active lifestyle, it is increasingly common to find a travel agent offering these very specific services.
Wheelchair Accessible Travel Details Often Require a Little Extra Attention to Detail
In the U.S. we are often pretty accustomed to the fact that the majority of our buildings are ADA approved. The American Disabilities Act has been in place for a number of years and, as a result, most schools, hospitals, and public places are fairly accessible. When you travel outside of the U.S., however, this is not always the case. For this reason, it is important to work with travel agents, hotel managers, and airline representatives to make sure that there is always a plan in place.
Interestingly enough, all of the accessibility efforts that are in place are not only helpful to those who have been in wheelchairs their entire lives. They are also, of course, beneficial to the population as a whole as people age. Did you know, for instance, that in countries with life expectancy beyond 70 years, people spend approximately 8 years living with disabilities. This means that nearly 11.5% of their life span is spent with limitations in mobility, sight, hearing, or other factors.
Because the ADA has so diligently enforced their regulations, today there are as many as 98% of public transportation buses that are appropriately equipped to accommodate people in wheelchairs. the list of accommodations is long, but as long as you are in this country you may take many of them for granted. When you travel out of the country, however, it is often necessary to check ahead to see that the same accommodations are available there as well. Whether you are traveling with someone who is on crutches or a group that has several people with wheelchairs that fold, it is important to make sure that you plan ahead and ask a lot of questions.
