The Intersection of Travel and Disability
Jake Steinman, Founder of the TravelAbiliity Summit, recently appeared as a guest on Bill Geist’s popular Destination Marketing Organization University (DMOU) podcast.
The two discussed how a bogus award led to the creation of the TravelAbility Summit and how destinations are beginning to respond to visitors with disabilities, before ending on a high note: how a live leopard peed on Jake’s foot at a conference he hosted.
To listen to this entertaining and enlightening interview, click here.
RISE Adaptive Sports, a non-profit action sports organization says their mission is to assist persons with physical challenges to recover, inspire, succeed, and empower themselves and others by providing inclusive adaptive recreational sports programs. They neglected to mention heart-pounding adrenaline rushes and Texas-style revelry.
Our take: Organizations like RISE Adaptive Sports are critical, as they give people with disabilities – both young and old – the confidence to actively participate in society and push the boundaries of possibility. With so many sports and activities – including wheelchair skating, rugby, kayaking, handcycling, fishing, swimming, parasailing and more – there is clearly an event or opportunity for everyone!
The Hampton by Hilton in Amherst, New York, opened the first universal design-certified (isUD)hotel in the country recently. The hotel has large turning radiuses, wider hallways for easy passing, and illuminated room signage, according to a report in the Sled Hockey Foundation News. It’s worth noting that the Sled Hockey Foundation, which is conveniently located across from the new hotel, which is owned by Uniland, a major developer in the region. Sled Hockey, a Paralympic event, provides the opportunity for individuals with disabilities to participate in the adaptive sport of sled hockey and, through this participation, develop the social, emotional, and physical confidence necessary to become leaders. Pretty cool.
OUR TAKE
At TravelAbility Week, Nov 9-13, 2020, we will be advancing accessibility one hotel at a time by featuring an interview with the GM of this marvelous 107 room property. Awareness of needs and the scope of the work it takes to design a hotel for all is growing. When’s your next renovation? You might want to spread the word and educate people now. Find out more about universal design, here.
Advisory Board Member John Morris of Wheelchair Travel is always ahead of the news when it comes to accessible travel. His most recent find? An app that shows where wheelchair spots are available on local buses. While it’s still only in Europe, we see a groundswell of accessible technology solutions coming to the states soon.
OUR TAKE: Advancing accessible transportation— what better way to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act? Learn more, here.
When the Cerebral Palsy Foundation held a competition, a University of Virginia team crafted a solar-powered wheelchair prototype for the win. Read about it here. It is just one of the many ways that CPF builds awareness of medication, research, civil rights and opportunity during World Cerebral Palsy Day each year. There is still time to start planning an event for World CP Day in the U.S. on October 6, 2020. Learn more here.
OUR TAKE Thank you, Cerebral Palsy Foundation for continuing to support events that change the conversation around CP and disability. A whole different picture is emerging—about minds and bodies—as people with disabilities participate in hackathons, see films and participate in exercise programs, to name just a few. This year, leaning into student-driven virtual or socially distanced events in the community makes sense this fall, especially when many of American’s young leaders are sitting out the semester or sitting at home doing their work thanks to the pandemic. Learn more about World CP Day, here.
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