Exploring Behavior Issues

I decided to look more into traveling with behavior problems as opposed to just physical disabilities. A majority of the information I found dealt with physical disabilities but what about the families who have children with behavior issues. I would imagine the scariest part of travel is the unknown. Children with behavior problems can be set off by anything at any time. I visited a website that I frequently visit for other questions, About.com. I decided to explore what they had to say about behavior issues. They had information on managing your child's behavior while traveling. It wasn't much but it had a list of suggestions on how to keep your child busy to avoid outbursts. THey suggested packing extra activities and such for children to do to keep busy. I think that this would be a good idea when traveling with any child. One of their suggestions was to allow time for physical activity to manage hyperactivity. My first thought was "how can you manage to fit this in if you are travelling on a plane". There was not a response for this unfortunately. Perhaps exploration for another day. One link they had on the site that I found interesting was a link to a list of "101 things to do when there's nothing to do". It had an extensive list of activities that could be fun to do with a child. Some of these ideas could work on a plane such as thumb wars, 20 questions, I spy, counting games, etc. Even though these weren't targeted towards travel, you could use this list to assist in keeping engaged during travel.

Website: http://learningdisabilities.about.com/od/behaviorproblems/tp/backpacksfortravel.htm
101 Things to do: http://specialchildren.about.com/od/behaviorstrategies/a/timewasters.htm

Flying with Wheels

One of my classmates has a sister who was in an accident that left her paralyzed. She has been checking out my blog and was curious to know about the actual transportation factors that you come across when traveling with a person with a disability. I had found vacation spots and some accommodations for when you get there but what about how to get there? I googled transportation for persons with disabilities for vacation and came across some interesting things. One website was very helpful but needs some work on the layout, some links were covering the page...The main website was entitled Disabled Travelers. On the left were Accessible Travel links that led you to specific areas depending on the type of transportation. The home page introduced you to what sort of information you could find. Just like on the other website I found, this one also offered a list of travel agents and broke it down by region and type of disability. There was also a link for Airline Travel Info which took you to the crazy, link covered page. The links covering the page were hard to see but they were the various airlines. If you clicked on any airline name, it took you directly to the airlines disability information page. I clicked on Delta's link and explored a bit fo what they had to offer. They had a list of accommodations ranging from service animals, pregnant travelers, peanut allergies and oxygen users. Back to the Disabled Travelers website there was a hyperlink to Mobility Air Transport which is a non-profit organization working to better airline travel for persons with disabilities.

Something very interesting that I found on the website was a link for Travel Companions. I just assumed that this was advice or information for those traveling with the person with the disability. I was mistaken. This link offered you hyperlinks to websites that offered the option of taking a companion with you on your vacation to assist you and offer company. One of the websites I explored, offered profiles of the various companions. Most of them were in the healthcare industry, not surprising. What an interesting idea!

Below are the links to the various websites I have discussed.
Disabled Traveler: http://www.disabledtravelers.com/
Delta Information page: http://www.delta.com/planning_reservations/special_travel_needs/services_travelers_disabilities/index.jsp
Travel Companions: http://www.disabilitytravel.com/companions.htm

Accessing Ability

Hello again! 


Today I chose to do some more research on the Access-Able website that grew from the Travelin' Talk website. This webpage was easier for me to explore since I didn't need to be a member of the website in order to view it more thoroughly. The website is very easy to navigate and is broken down into several categories that you can choose from to help guide you through. When you first enter the website, it tells you what information and resources are available. The list includes information and resources about: travel with a special need, disability magazines, access guides for cities, resorts and attractions, wheelchair or scooter rentals, and accessible transportation and more! They have links you can click on that will take you to specific areas such as "summer fun", "cruise ships", "travel tales" which offers good and bad stories from travelers about what to expect when traveling to certain destinations. I chose to look at some of these tales to see if they were helpful at all. When you click on "travel tales", it then takes you to a page that has the stories broken down by regions and each of the stories has a title which you then click on to read the entire story. I read a story entitled "Disaster at Sea". This family went on a cruise ship and had a horrible experience. The handicap rooms that were available were few and far between and were not up to snuff with what they actually required with having to use a wheelchair. The elevator barely held the wheelchair and their windows were blocked by lifeboats. Another resource that they offered that I think would be very helpful when trying to plan a vacation with a family with a person with a disability, was a list of travel agents who are experienced in planning vacation for just such families. During my research, it has been uplifting to learn how many great resources are available out there for families who have persons with disabilities. I only hope that these families are aware of just what's out there for them. Here is the link for the website I explored today: http://access-able.com/graphical_index.html

Let's go back to the basics

After posting my original thoughts, I realized I probably should have started with a more general idea of traveling with families with disabilities. How do families go about choosing vacation spots? Can they go to the places they always have been if the disability is new to the family? Is there a place that offers ideas of disability friendly vacation spots that families can look to for guidance? I chose to begin my quest by simply using google to search for "families with disabilities traveling". I came across a very interesting and unique website.
http://www.travelintalk.net/pages/about.phtml
The website is called Travelin' Talk Network. In order to view most of the website you need to become a member of the site. I tried to become a member so I could get to explore the site more but I was having difficulty connecting to the database. It was created in 1995 when a man was going cross country and needed to find out places he could go to if he needed assistance with his wheelchair lift. The website grew from there and now has 1000's of members who can come together for advice on vacation spots. The website is now run by a couple who love to travel. The wife has MS. They have now grown into another website called Access-Able Travel Source. I will be exploring this website for my next post.

Walt Disney World Accommodations

Hi guys! I have chosen to explore accessibility options available for families who love to travel as much as I do with my family. Since no one in my family has a disability, this has never been something that I have put much thought to. When it was mentioned as a choice of topic, I began wondering how families with children with disabilities travel. Do they choose certain vacation spots because they know they are friendly for those with disabilities? The first place I chose to explore was Walt Disney World. It is my families favorite vacation spot. I have been there numerous times and I haven't paid much attention to the facilities and accommodations made for those travel with a person with a disability. Obviously, the first place I chose to look was on WDW's site to find some answers. I discovered that they have a large number of accommodations for persons with disabilities. Below is the link for "Disney's Disability Info" website. 


http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/disabgeneral.htm


The site was very organized. It had choices at the top that would lead you straight to the accommodations made for specific disabilities. I thought this was a great idea so that you didn't have to scroll through information that doesn't apply to you personally. Once you click on the link, it takes you to a new webpage that then breaks down that specific disability into more specific parts so you can find what will be available for you. I chose to explore within the "hearing" category. Once in there I clicked on "handheld captioning" since that caught my eye. They offer electronic handheld devices for persons who are hearing impaired. "The Handheld Captioning units receive infrared signals from transmitters located at the rides/attractions. These transmitters prompt the unit (similar to a Personal Data Assistant - PDA) to display the illuminated text. Once it's activated at Guest Relations, it will automatically turn on when receiving a signal." It lists every park that they are available at and what you use them for within that park. That seems like an awesome idea. That way you are able to participate in all of the activities and not miss something simply because it is verbalized. This is something I may not have ever thought of.