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Welcome - Introduce Yourself Here!
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Upload your photos, post a comment, contact a poster, or just browse.
Whatever you choose you will be filling in part of the puzzle that faces travelers with disabilities and contributing to a travel & hospitality industry that is slowly awakening to inclusion and Universal Design.
The administrator of the this group is Scott Rains, publisher of the Rolling Rains Report on travel, disability, and Universal Design -- www.RollingRains.com
Originally posted at 7:27AM, 4 August 2006 PDT
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srains edited this topic 71 months ago.
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I'll paste in my thumbnail bio below. Before that, I'll just note that BrazilMax - www.BrazilMax.com - is interested in accessible travel in Brazil. It would be nice to produce a little guide on the subject sometime. If anyone has ideas on how to make that happen, we're interested in hearing them. We also invite posts on our travel forum: brazilmax.com/forum/forum.cfm?FID=4
Bill Hinchberger
Editor, BrazilMax
Here comes the thumbnail bio:
Bill Hinchberger is the founding editor of BrazilMax, www.BrazilMax.com, “the hip guide to Brazil” and host of Secret Brazil, a television project co-produced by BrazilMax and TV PUC in São Paulo. A former correspondent in Brazil for The Financial Times, Business Week and Institutional Investor, he contributes to publications like The Lancet, ARTnews, Metropolis and Nickelodeon and does contract writing for the Geneva-based World Economic Forum, the World Wildlife Fund and others. He is an accomplished public speaker and teacher and gives “understanding Brazil” sessions to visiting executives of a European bank. He holds an M.A. in Latin American Studies and a B.A. in Political Science, both from the University of California, Berkeley. He is the former president of the São Paulo Foreign Press Club (1995-99) and a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) and the Brazilian Studies Association (BRASA).
Originally posted 71 months ago.
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billhinchberger edited this topic 71 months ago.
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jackfrancis [deleted] says:
Hi & thanks for the invite! My wife has progressive multiple sclerosis, & it has progressed to the point where it dominates our lives.
We've found that design of public facilities to accomodatre disabled people is a real hit or miss situation - making facilities & buildings accessible seems to be something property owners & governments are compelled to do, not something they want to do, & that's where the problem lies.
So travel is a real adventure for my wife, even travelling a few blocks to our town's (San Carlos, CA) downtown area.
Let's hope groups like this help to raise the awareness of people to the point where they understand the importance of making the world more accessible to all.
Posted 71 months ago.
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Hello and thank you for the invitation.
My partner has been in a wheelchair for 35 years after a car accident, a tetraplegic. We both love travelling and do get around, for a day or for several weeks. It takes some planning, but has not been a problem. If we do not find a suitable hotel, the car is big enough to sleep in.
I am glad you started this group. As jackfrancis says, awareness is important.
And I find that lack of it makes a lot of lives more difficult than they need to be.
Originally posted 71 months ago.
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Mynda edited this topic 71 months ago.
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JackFrancis & Mynda,
You, and many others like yourselves who I meet as I travel the world researching travel & disability options, are the reason for this group. Don't doubt for minute that your contribution is important. Look at how the group has grown to over 30 in only 3 days of existence!
JackFrancis notes that sometimes there is a grudging "I'll meet the minimum legal requirements but no more" approach to barrier-free environments. That attitude is wrong purely from a self-interest point of view for a business person. In fact, there is a network of us around the world making that argument consistently from inside and outside the travel & hospitality industry.
What I consider the key advocacy concept for all of us PWDs (people with disabilities) and our friends, traveling companion, and allies to master is Universal Design. the seven principles of UD combine to make human-centered environments that in turn allow us to participate in the marketplace. The pent-up purchasing power (and frustrated desire to participate) is brilliantly documented every couple years by Eric Lipp at Open Doors Organization while Simon Darcy, Bruce Cameron, and many others have made inclusive travel a full-on national priority of the government in Australia.
More on Universal Design:
www.rollingrains.com/archives/001011.html
Originally posted 71 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 71 months ago.
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Hi, I discovered you group from a link from another flicker group. My name is Norman Montifar, a New York City resident. I'm an artist & a photographer by trade currently working for a toy company shooting products for catalogs, packaging, advertising and promotional publications.
I had been a polio victim since I was two years old but I manage to move around with leg braces and crutches.
Aside from my commercial work I love to photograph different places, and cultures.
You could see more of my photography at www.montifar.com/norman
Posted 71 months ago.
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Welcome, Norman!
Your shots are captivating. What Pow Wow were you at to capture the photos in that set?
Originally posted 71 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 71 months ago.
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Thanks Scott,
The pow wow pictures were taken in Harriman Park and in Long Island, New York. I try to attend the local Pow wows whenever I can but i missed it this year.
Posted 71 months ago.
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Thanks for the invitation!
Myself looking very normal but being as an IDC patient, I shouldn't be too active and sometimes get a wheelchair assistance.
Though I am not really disabled, I found it was very challenging to travel within my country and overseas: I had to travel overseas in wheelchair several months ago.
I hope I could deliver a message to people with disabilities to go out more, or draw attentions from the others through my photos.
Looking forward to seeing this group grow!
Response from Scott:
Hirosan,
Your city, Fukuoka, has a good reputation for accessibility:
www.rollingrains.com/archives/001056.html
It would be interesting to see photos and hear your commentary on Takayama city and its unique accessible design:
www.rollingrains.com/archives/000474.html
Scott
Originally posted 71 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 71 months ago.
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Hello fellow flickr-fans from our group around the world! I need your help!
As I wrote here, I am working for www.MyHandicap.com, a non-profit Organization based in Switzerland that runs a Website with informations for disabeld people (soon in english as well, a financial institute declared to sponsor the translation). We are running a blog as well, and that's why I am writing here. I want that blog to be written by disabeld people, being a place where their view f the world can be seen. I am looking for:
- people that would like to send some texts (in german), not too long, subjective and open minded,
- people that would like to send some pictures as moblog (and - WOW - pictures do have an universal language!).
If you are interested to join in for one of these things, just contact me, here (as comment or with flickrMail) or on the blog.
Pics: I'll give you an Mailadress to publish the pics directly to the blog.
Texts: You'll get access to the admin-part of the blog, to write the texts.
Thank you, for your help.
Dominik
Response from Scott
Thank you Dominik. What you have offered is a writer and photographer's dream - access to a publication without any responsibility for upkeep and maintenance!
Any takers?
Scott
Originally posted 71 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 71 months ago.
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Hello folks !
Here is my intro: My name is Ela.
( I dont know the right word in English ) I am a geriatric nurse in a home for the aged and disabled people.
I specialise in the care of people with Alzheimer and other dementias.
My husband and I have a motorhome in which we travel all over Europe, and I always keep an eye out for people with disabilities.
It interests me to see those people manage to get around.
We have seen in Europe motorhomes with special lifts to raise disabled into the vehicle.
I often talk to these people to find out more about them and their disability.
Sometimes "normal " people are disabled to get in touch with handycapped people.
My photos contain many views , bridges, broken windows, old forgotten houses, railroad tracks, rusty metal etc., which very often represent a connection between handycapped and nonhandycapped people.
Some of the pictures may not be so interesting to everyone but I always see various meanings in all of them.
But anyway, I love nature and all of its facets.
If you have any questions or comments , please ask
Greetings from Germany , Ela
Response from Scott:
Welcome, Ela!
Here is an idea for you.
Your work might make a good art show or a book because it has a theme. You could combine your photos and the interviews you do with with travelers. The mix of stories of interesting people seen in varied landscapes could make for a many-layered presentation. I don't know of anyone else who has done this before.
Scott
Originally posted 71 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 71 months ago.
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Dear Scott
Sorry , but I dont´t understand exactly what you mean. Could you please formulate a little simpler?
Greetings Ela
Posted 71 months ago.
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Hi Scott,
Congratulations on a great initiative. Photos are such a powerful way of raising awareness about universal design and sharing ideas. I'm looking forward to seeing the resource grow.
Thanks for the invite. I've posted a news item about the group on e-Bility.com at Accessible Travel Photos on Flickr and will mention it in the next e-Bility News due out this week. e-Bility has an international audience but as we are based in Australia you may start to see more photos from dOWN uNDER soon.
e-Bility also has a library of travel articles, including stories and diaries from fellow travellers, such as Rolling Rains (well worth a read) - plus the ever popular Access Travel Spot (currently being redeveloped).
Somewhere in my own collection of travel photos I have a picture of an accessible toilet in the middle of the road - luckily not a very busy road, but a road all the same. I'll try and find it and post it here - fortunately its not something you see everyday!
Sandra.
Response from Scott
Welcome, Sandra!
Just a bit of history to brag on Sandra's work. When my first article went online at Suite101.com Sandra's e-Biity.com site was already up and drawing a following. She graciously reprinted my piece there. Ultimately I ended up down her way as a Visiting Journalist in Tasmania and a speaker for NICAN in Perth.
Do check out her site. And thanks again, Sandra.
Scott
Originally posted 71 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 71 months ago.
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Hello everyone,
I just joined, though I am not doing a whole lot of travelling, but when I do, I'll keep this in mind.
Scott pointed me here after blogging about my latest project caughtya! . Cool stuff going on all over :)
Thanks Scott
Response from Scott:
Caughtya.org is something most wheelchair users wish they had invented!
It's a non-threatening but undeniable public documentation of thoughtless drivers in "Disabled Driver Only" parking slots "just for a minute."
Sometimes "travel with a disability" conjures images of exotic vacations or extreme sports wheelchair treks up Kilimanjaro. We know that sometimes -- often times -- it is business travel or daily tasks. I wonder how often reserved parking space scofflaws consider the consequences to someone unable to make it to a meeting with a client and losing a sale (or a job) because of their arroganance?
Caughtya.org is a gentle prick in the conscience (when some have advocated an artful slash to the tyre) for those who need the reminder that we share this small planet with people who are not always like ourselves. Cross-post your photos to caughtya.org
Originally posted 71 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 70 months ago.
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Thanks for the invite, Scott. I have recently been to parts of Queensland, Australia, that most people only dream of. Wheelchair access is slowly gaining a foothold (wheelhold?) there too. I will process the pictures during the next few days whilst I am nursing a nasty flu.
Irene
Response from Scott:
Irene promotes travel accessibility in Northern Australia with a passion!
Her breadth of knowledge and familiarity with the Queensland region is clear at www.wheelieeasy.com.au/
If wheelchair access is gaining traction up (down?) there then you can be sure it is because Irene is giving it some horsepower.
Welcome Irene. Please keep posting tantalizing photos and offering your commentary - it makes it harder and harder for me delay my next trip to Australia ;-)
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 70 months ago.
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Hi Scott and Everyone Else!!
I'm Catherine and I've been focused on pulling together accessibility info for Brussels and London (and a bit for Paris). My activities in this area have been unfortunately interrupted by a need to earn a bit of income and pay the bills but accessible travel remains a passion of mine. I have travelled (with wheelchair in tow) to every country in Europe except Norway..next on my list..and if anyone wants some views on Bulgarian access, I can share those too!! Look forward to participating!
Catherine
Response from Scott
Sometimes I am amazed at how small the physical world seems to be with these new communication tools -- and how huge cyberspace is becoming with so many interesting people doing great projects. It sounds like you have a treasure chest of resources to share.
I hope that this group becomes a launching pad for your original project on Brussels, London, and Paris. Thank you for sharing what you can!
Welcome, Catherine.
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 70 months ago.
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Hello!
My name is Katja, I'm a software engineer in Colorado, USA. I use a manual wheelchair due to MS.
I began blogging in order to have a safe place to express the frustration, disappointments and general idiocy I encountered while moving about the world in this fashion; my blog is brokenclay.org/journal/.
I've recently started using flickr to keep all my photos. I am not a photographer by any means, but it's good to have a picture of your kids every five years or so. I am amazed by the talent that is on display here.
When I travel, I try to share my experiences with my readers; I will also try to capture some of those experiences in images in the future.
Response from Scott;
Willkommen Katja!
For those here with an interest in life with a disability but who, so far, have not become regular blog readers I recommend Katja's brokenclay.org/journal/. Her story is compelling. Her style is enjoyable - and her network is outstanding. If you regularly read Katya you will find that you are taken into an extended conversation with the world.
One of her skills that I appreciate is her ability to bridge the German-speaking and English-speaking blogospheres. Another is her hacker's eye for code problems when they arise in my own blog. Thank you, Katja!
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 70 months ago.
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PolloPatagonico [deleted] says:
hello, my name is Ernesto (aka Pollo), I´m in a wheelchair since 1994,. after a car accident, I live in Argentina, here don´t exist many places to go if you are in a wheelchair, if everything is fine, maybe in 2007 I´ll travel to France to watch the Rugby World Cup.
Well, thanks Scott for the invitation.
Pollo
Response from Scott:
Bienvenidos Pollo!
Folks, I'm somewhat new at Flckr so there may be photographers here with more Testamonials than Pollo (Yes, English speakers that's the Spanish word for "Chicken"). If there is someone with more endorsements I would be surprised if they were more loving and loyal than the ones Pollo has earned with his excellent photography and candid self-disclosure.
Coincidentally, it was Pollo who found us here first. I was composing an invitation to him as his first note arrived. Serendipity!
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 70 months ago.
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There is a very big demand for group travel for people with disabilities, as you can tell by this blog. It can be a very profitable and rewarding home based business for someone who loves to travel and would like to get paid to do it. Group travel amoung people with disabilities is huge because the group can set up trips and vacations that cater to the special needs of the group. For example, one of our family friends (who is paralysized) just took a group trip to Bora Bora, where she went sailing for 14 days. She had a blast! As the group travel organizer for this trip, you could have made about $15,000 and would have gone on the trip for free. Not bad! So, if you are interested in travel, this could be a very good business for you.
There is this guy named Carl Meadows who is thought of as the guru of the group travel business. He has an exellent course on how to set up your very own group travel business. He teaches it in a way that you are not the tour guide, and you do not need any special skills or prior training.
The name of his travel course is Write Your Own Ticket!
Click here to see this online travel course "Write Your Own Ticket!" for Group Travel as a Home Based business
Food for thought.
Bon Voyage!
Sincerely,
Laura
Response from Scott:
Full Disclosure Statement: I am a registered travel agent with Ticket to Travel in San Jose, California.
My area of expertise is research and consulting on accessible travel opportunities. That is, I don't arrange other's travel (I don't sell travel). Others have those skills. Hopefully, what I am doing makes it easier for entrepreneurs like Laura to serve us all better!
Instead, I provide access to information that grows the travel sector variously known as "inclusive travel," "accessible travel," "tourism-for-all," "easy travel." etc. The Rolling Rains Report, blog is a daily free resource documenting my research and freely sharing it for individual travelers, travel agents, tour operators, and tourism, hospitality, and architecture faculty & students around the world.
By contributing to this Flickr group each of you is communicating with that rather impressive network of people working for the same goals.
Want to see travel become more accessible and inclusive? Contribute your best shot(s) here!
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 70 months ago.
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Hi, and thanks Scott for the invite!
I'm C5/6 quad from a diving accident in '98. I'm Scottish and live in Belgium. I used to work as a guide in Africa and have visited more than 25 countries in that continent. I've been back several times now with wheelchair.
Want advice about safaris or world travel in general? Have a look here: www.able-travel.com
Response from Scott:
In the most recent Rolling Rains Report Newsletter (sign up at the Rolling Rains Report I misidentified Gordon as living in the continent he knows so well instead of Belgium. I stand (OK, I "sit") corrected.
I have not traveled using Gordon's advice but his firsthand experience gives him a credibility at least as good as experts that I count on in other parts of the world. As I stressed at the International Conference on Accessible Tourism in Taiwan, we, as a disability community, depend on each other's firsthand experience. Gordon's service is essential to the growth of this market.
Be sure to look at his Able-Travel web site.
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 70 months ago.
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Hello to everybody!
Thank you Scott for the warm welcome and the invitation to post here.
Accessibility is my job. I'm teaching and consulting as well.
I do seminars for children, for teens and also for adults (for example people who work in hotels) to get to know their environment from perspective as wheelchair user or sight impaired or hard hearing person ... the perspective they don't know. The last thing we (my workmate and me) did, is a travel guide for Muenster (the city in Germany) in easy speech to discover the city on your own. At first it is made for people with learning difficulties (aka mental handicapped), but it's also useful for children or people with small german knowledge or for people who can't read at all. It is made with many pictures to find your way. But also with a cd where all the texts are read, so you can put it in a portable cd-player, look at the pictures and be leaded by the voice you hear.
If you would like to have a look on it follow the link to our example on the zugvogel-site: www.muenster.org/zugvogel/tour1.htm
On the other hand we are collecting informations about accessible hotels, guest rooms holiday possibilities.
Ummm, and I take photos ;-) the ones I've posted in this group are from a holiday trip to norway. It was great there!
And I love live music and like to take photos from the bands!
thank you for this group
kirsten
Response from Scott:
Hey, welcome Kirsten.
We are lucky you like to take pictures. We like your pictures too!
What really catches my attention is your unique work creating a self-guided tour of Munster.
In 2004 many of us gathered in Rio de Janerio under the sponsorship of Adaptive Environments. Our focus was tourism and Universal Design. We identified the travel industry as ripe for the concepts of Universal Design for Learning.
Yours is the first German project in that field that I am aware of. Great idea!
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 70 months ago.
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Hi Everyone,
Thanks Scott for inviting me to this group. Having done an around the world trip recently, I hope I will be able to learn from the experiences of others and also share my experiences to help others. There is so much we can learn from each other from traveling, whether it is disability-related or not. I hope that I will meet some new friends here.
Have fun on your adventures!
Tom =)
Response from Scott:
We may be unique among Flickr groups in having a globe-trotting "International Man of Leisure" as a member. Welcome, Tom!
As you read through these posts you will see what a world-spanning cluster of informed travelers, travel advisors, and travel planners this has become.
I encourage you to contact each other for advice. I know that Tom, for examle can give you firsthand feedback on traveling with Marcelo's DecThird in South America as well as recent information gathered from his around-the-world trip.
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 70 months ago.
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Hi Everyone,
I just happened to find this group while searching for groups related to travel. As of yet, I have no related pics to post to this group - but I think the subject matter is excellent. I myself, do not have a disability. However, I have been working in the healthcare field with people with both mental and physical disabilities for the past few years. My background is in psychology, and I am currently working on completing a degree in Interior Design. Due to my experiences, my main areas of interest in design happen to be Universal Design as well as space planning and accessibility issues. I'm constantly noticing things that can be improved upon in regards to good design... and maybe now I will start snapping some pictures of them. I am sure this group will serve as a good resource for information, and hopefully I can provide some info as well. Glad to see this group exists!
Jen
Response from Scott:
And we're very glad you found us, Jen. Welcome!
Someone certainly does not need a disability to participate -- and hopefully even feel at home here. I suspect that your background, interests, and eye for detail in photos is going to make you an important contributor here. As we get more photos and discussion on the site I will invite professional colleagues in design & travel to drop in and do a "crit"(ique) of our work.
BTW, you will want to meet Mary Jo Peterson. I had the pleasure of attending one of her workshops recently. She really is a good with Universal Design in home design as the reputation she has acquired. Her book is Universal Kitchen and Bathroom Planning
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 70 months ago.
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Scott, thanks for inviting me to the group. It took me sometime to load up photos and then even more time to respond and actually join. I also have a blog at ewheeling.over-blog.com/ if people here care to have a look. I have travelled a bit and enjoy travelling - sometimes on my own and with others. Good to share information.
Response from Scott
Ever get so engrossed in something that you lose track of time and have a little jolt of shock when you realize you have been "gone" for a while?
That's what happened on my first trip over to ewheeling.over-blog.com/ where I discovered a kindred spirit with eclectic tastes and wandered on to her storehouse of disability activist photos.
Yes, it's good to share. Thanks for doing it!
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 70 months ago.
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Hi Everybody
I'm proud to claim Scott Rains as a pal, friend, partner in crime, gadfly, etc etc etc. So he got me to sign up for Flickr & post a couple of pictures. Cool stuff!
One current co-project with Scott is "Take Flight for Kids" and "Day in the Sky", which is essentially the same project, just hosted by different nonprofit organizations in different parts of Northern California. We recruit volunteer pilots to take kids with special needs flying in private airplanes. Each event sees about 1000 people show up for a big accessible events ground festival, and each event gets about 400-500 people flying including 150 kids with special needs + 2 guest passengers each.
The coordination headaches of hosting such events are fearsome. But the palpable attitude transformation the kids experience when the disembark from airplanes after having flown the plane (under pilot's strict supervision of course), makes it all worth it. "Mommie, mommie, I flew the airplane, I flew the airplane all by myself!" That from kids who are often told by society they will never amount to anything because their perceived limitations won't allow them to play football or go to college or amount to anything except be a burden to society. To heck with that noise. Once we get them off the plane, wide eyed and often feeling in control for the first time in their lives, we take them over and introduce them to the world champion wheelchair football/rugby/basketball/tennis players who often join us, and the pilots with disabilities who fly the huge wildfire tankers into wildfires in Southern California using special hand controls, and the commercial pilot who makes a living running Challenge Air of Dallas from his wheelchair.
No telling the long term effect of the project just yet. Some of the kids will revert to hopelessness when they return to their daily lives and are innundated with the same old rubbish about how they can't play football with "normal" kids = they're worthless to society. But I gotta believe that some of the kids are going to get it, bigtime, and reach out and touch the clouds...
Happy Day to all!
Dean
Response from Scott:
Getting together with Dean is always an aerobic workout for mind & imagination. Stimulating! It also frequently leaves one or the other of us committed to a new project.
Some of Dean's many projects include:
Take Flight for Kids
Day in the Sky
Day on the Beach
Santa Cruz Universal Design Conference
I am convinced that Dean, a Silicon Valley engineer with theological training, runs his life by the algorithm, "If x is an achievable goal then my goal is 4 x."
We can be certain there will be many more amazing events organized by Dean and his Regathon event management system!
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 70 months ago.
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Hi everyone! Scott invited me to join the group and add a couple pictures I had taken of the wheelchair division winners in the Peachtree Road Race crossing the finish line. I hope you'll enjoy them, and thanks for the invitation to the group!
Response from Scott:
Thank you and welcome!
I love the smile and victory salute in "Wheelchair Winner." Good capture!
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 70 months ago.
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Thank you for your invitation to post one of my photos on your site. Among other topics and subjects, I like finding signs that one does not see everywhere ...heck a STOP sign is not interesting - I will stay aware of situations that may be of interest to this group .... till then - roll on.... and keep that photo taking finger ready1
Response from Scott
Inkfeather found a "Wheelchair Crossing" roadsign. What I notice is the icon is "backwards" (facing left) but at least it looks like someone crossing the road. On other signs I've seen the icon faces right but then an arrow points the opposite direct.
What does that say? "Wheelchair crossing the road backwards??"
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 70 months ago.
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Thank you, Scott, for the invitation to join this group and share photos.
I have added what I think is the photo you asked about re: Wheelchair ramp to the horse.
I'm happy to find another group discussing issues facing people with disabilities.
Everyone is invited to visit our Flickr group and also visit our Web site at www.campascca.org/
Unfortunately, the site's server is down right now, but when it comes back up soon you'll find a large number of videos, podcasts and more about Camp ASCCA. It is located in Alabama on Lake Martin.
ASCCA has an international reputation for barrier free architecture and therapeutic recreation. I hope you'll all visit.
Thanks again.
Robert
Response from Scott
Yes, the photo you posted is the one I liked - although you have several good ones.
It is so encouraging to see a built environment demonstrating best practices of inclusion. For the day when the travel & hospitality adopts Universal Design as its norm!
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 70 months ago.
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Scott,
Thank you for the Invitation.. I have a few more shots in here of other wheelchair athletes.. I actually run alot of marathons & work at Triathlons.. so I now will focus a bit more now on the wheeled athletes now ;) Good luck to all of you & don't stop!! even if your wheel breaks.....
Thecanonrattman.. or Paul..
Response from Scott
Paul,
From your eye to our site -- a permanent marriage of art and audience! Keep capturing those marathon moments.
Your shots portray our community as strong and engaged -- something to counteract stereotyped passivity and encourage the business sector to include us as a market when they develop products and services.
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 70 months ago.
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Hi all, I'm Mary, I blog at batsgirl.blogspot.com
I have ME.
I don't "travel" as such, as the travelling involved in even a short journey - a couple of hours in a car, an hour or so milling round an airport, a couple of hours on a plane, a couple of hours on a train - would leave me in a state where I'd need to spend the next five days lying in the darkened hotel room trying to recover, and then it would be time to go home again.
But I like to "do stuff" in and around the UK. My proudest achievements so far were going up an old, but still operational, windmill, and climbing a tower in a castle. As far as accessibility was concerned, these were not situations where the DDA could be applied, but my boyfriend/friends were happy to accept my word that I felt okay to attempt it and help me to crawl up the steps on all fours, and then slide down the steps on my bum (I go through a lot of pairs of jeans).
Actually, as regards the crawling/bumsliding on stairs... I wish I could explain to some large store owners that it is one thing to do it in a preserved castle or windmill as a one-off, but I'd really rather I didn't have to do it in their shops.
Response from Scott:
LOL! Bumsliding - a much maligned and little publicized mode of personal transportation. For all the years I lived with my parents that was the only way to my second-floor bedroom or the basement laundry. Definitely more of a domestic than a department store activity!
Your comment about not traveling made me remember the reason I began writing the Rolling Rains Report. It is about "awareness-along-the-way" not so much about destination. From the first post:
Pilgrimage: Mindfulness on the Journey
"This site is about seeing. The topic may be travel but the "revolve" is the-seeing-that-transforms.
Not literal sightedness, of course. In fact, I expect active interest by readers using Jaws for Windows or other tools that accommodate visual impairments and make their participation possible.
The seeing I mean here is the seeing of mindfulness.
The discussion will frequently be about business. Specifically, it will be about the business of travel and hospitality. It will look at the economic sustainability of doing busness with the ageing and/or disabled sector of the traveling public. It will look at profit, product development, marketing, competition.
But if this site ever loses grounding in persons - substituting statitstics or truisms for real travelers - then it will have betrayed the author's purpose." - The Rolling Rains Report, January, 2004
BATS EDIT:
No, Scott. I don't think it's big or clever to cause myself pain or damage myself further or turn my friends into carers/pack-carriers/chair-pushers in the name of "pilgrimage". Travelling for me is an intensely painful thing to do. There would be no "mindfulness on the journey", just a sluggish mind on painkillers and concentration all going on breathing relaxation techniques. I would much rather identify where my personal limitations are and remain within them, happy and relaxed.
And even the things that I *do*, I am sensible about. If I can't manage the stairs, be it in a shop or in a castle, I'm not going to be reckless, I will stay on the ground floor.
Perhaps this is because of the nature of the illness I have - the way to get better is "pacing" my regular and necessary activities, whereas doing extremely strenuous and stressful things is a sure-fire way of worsening my situation, possibly permanently.
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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Hi Scott, thanks for the invite concerning:
I lived in Eritrea for 3 years and there was a large number of people suffering from disabilities as a result of war (often landmines). The Eritrean people are very self reliant, and this was true of the people who lost limbs. The motorbike featured in the picturee is an Eritrean modification of a motorbikefor many of these soldiers. It allowed them to travel easily around town.
Regards and thanks again.
Good luck with your efforts in increasing awareness of what needs to ensure that people aren't handicapped by disabilities.
Regards and thanks again.
John
Response from Scott
Well, John, if your photo was not enough on its own you still would have won a friend for life by knowing the difference between disability (lack of function) and handicap (social discrimination based on disability.) Thanks for both!
I spent six years in the US working mostly with Somalis and some Ethiopians and Eritreans. The resilience I witnessed every day made every day a revelation. Thank you for this glimpse into a part of the world where I have not yet been.
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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Hi Scott, I'm John in England and you asked me about a shot of Chris Brogan. I have quite a few of him and wondered which one you meant ? Let me know and I'll upload it here. I have shots of a numbere of Athletes with A Disability (AWAD's) from that London Triathlon so would be happy to share those two. I'll also get in touch with one of my Flickr buddies in Holland. He has spina biff but is ambuland and he is quite a guy . I'm sure he's be interested in the Pool. Kind regards
John
www.flickr.com/photos/56959914@N00/221290357/
Response from Scott:
It is wonderful to have you and your work here, John. Welcome!
The photos of Chris Brogan and Jimmy Goddard are a good addition portraying athletes with remarkable personal achievement. It is encouraging to see people with disabilities gaining celebrity. With their visibility they are in a good position to carry the message of Universal Design to the travel industry.
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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zyrdty works as a webman at the university, started a wheelchair project there to improve the wheelchair basix but did not get any result of it.
might last a few more years.
just take a look at handbike.org
www.flickr.com/photos/53437376@N00/
thanxx for inviting me
Response from Scott
I was taken by the strong photos in your collection. Many show someone with a disability (you?) and enough of the location to understand that some travel has taken place. It made me wonder about the stories behin the photos.
I like the goal of your wheelchair project, "Construction of a multi-functional indoor/outdoor wheelchair." Very interesting to see the catalog of so many different kinds.
Scott
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Hi Folks,
and thanks for the invite Scott. I hope you get the same sense camraderie from my photo of a person in a wheelchair being assisted to get to the top of Helvellyn, the third highest peak in the English Lake District as I did when I took it from an alternative route up that hill.
Despite the path that they were on being longer, they beat this full ambulant to the top by a long way and were, as far as I could tell the person in the wheelchair was one of a tandem parasail off the summit and was already in the air and on her way down when I straggled onto the summit! Way to go!!!
Response from Scott
I love what you have done with a photo that, at first glance, is perplexingly unremarkable.
Some photos carry the whole story visually. Yours is a backdrop to a story of personal achievement and a core value of disability culture -- "interdepenence."
And now everyone who reads your post will also know that there is a wheelchair negotiable path up Helvellyn - maybe with a little help from your friends. I don't expect that's a fact reported in to many tour books!
Thank you for posting.
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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Hi, and thank you for the invite!
Honestly I haven't thought much about universal design until Scott invited me. (Please forgive my naivety!) But reading the responses above and looking through the picture forum broadened my outlook in this subject.
Just a little bit about the picture "Wheelchair Race"...I went on a short-term mission trip to Haiti, and at the mission, there is a place called "Heaven's Waiting Room". The large room shelters several children with various disabilities, and volunteers as myself and others feed and play with the kids. One of the activities we had was this wheelchair race--the kids were squeeling and laughing in excitement as we pushed them across the small courtyard! Not only did the kids love it, we had a great time as well!
Thank you again for opening my eyes to UD and accessibility!! I hope to educate myself more in this!
Elis
Response from Scott:
Hi Elis,
The funny thing about Universal Design is that people only tend to think of it a special times in their lives and maybe never know it has a name.
Kids recognize that the built environment is designed for adults if it isn't designed with Universal Design. Elders discover that what they took to be "normal" when they were mid-life no longer works for them. Folks who experience, part way through life with an injury, pregnancy, or illness, that being "able bodied" is only a temporary state and discover the subtle way inclusive design allows for community.
One way to look at it is that you now have an extra gift to share in your evangelism. To me it seems consistent with the best principles of any religion -- the knowledge that respect for human beings, in all their variety & difference, can be designed into almost whatever we spend our lives producing. That makes producing something with attention to Universal Design seem something of a grace-filled act to me.
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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Hi!
I'm 1140tv.
I'm portuguese and when I have free time, I take some photos of old motorcycles made in Portugal. Unfortunetly today only two companies produce them, and only one make tree wheel vehicles - chek www.acarvalhoaraujo.pt/.
I olso have a blog where I show this stuff and many other things - chek www.1140tv.blogspot.com.
See you!
1140tv
Respose from Scott
Oi 1140tv. Bem vindo!
The motorized tricycle that your photographed captured my interest. After discoving your shot I began to notice similar design around the world in photos at Flickr hopefully owners of those shots will post them here also.
It is great to have a contributor from Portugal. Keep your camera ready to get more photos to share here.
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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Hello everyone. My name is Jill. I am the moderator of Rock That Disability! Scott found me a little while ago and I told him to come on over to my group as well. Though I completely forgot to leave an introduction for myself here!
I'm 23, and I have Muscular Dystrophy. Specifically Spinal Muscular Atrophy. I was diagnosed at 2 and a half so I've never really known anything else. I use a motorized scooter to get around but I can still walk. I take every day and the challenges presented to me one at a time. That's really all you can do right? I'm very involved with the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). I've been a Goodwill Ambassador for years.
I look foward to reading about everyone's travels here as I am an aspiring traveler I guess you could say. I live in NJ and have traveled to a few places in the US but I hope to visit other countries and continents one day. Especially Australia and New Zealand.
I'm also too busy for my own good. I also moderate My Cats Let Me Take Pictures *WITH* Them, Fhloston Paradise and Someone Took Pictures With *MY* Camera! . Feel free to join! :)
Response from Scott:
And a belated welcome to you Jill! You have been posting here from the start. Glad you had a moment to introduce yourself before you go back to being a tv celebrity!
Take note, mates. Jill says she wants a little Kiwi hospitality and a visit to Australia. Sounds like a job for Irene at www.wheelieeasy.com.au/
and the rest of that crew Downunder that I know is lurking but not posting yet! ;-)
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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Greetings and thank you for the invite!
I am the mother of an 11year old little girl with Rett Syndrome. You can learn more about Rett Syndrome at www.rsrf.org
Travel is a challenge for us because our wee one has many medical issues that demand tons of medical equipment. We have been lucky enough to manage a family trip each year to Ocean City, Maryland to a wonderful hotel that works with our every need. We keep tryin to make every day special and I hope you can see it in her eyes!
Response from Scott:
Welcome. Thank you for sharing such an intimate look at your family life. We can see the light in your daughter's eyes and can safely guess that they joy is flowing both directions!
A friend of mine in Santa Cruz, California celebrates the anniversary of his paralysis every July in a unique way. He, Foster Anderson, and a group of his friends make it possible for him to scuba dive, sea kayak, ride the beach in those SUV wheelchair things, and surf. And then Foster invites a "few friends" for a day on the beach. It's just the opposite of the small family outing but it just magnifies the point that is central to travel with a disability -- we do it as an interdependent effort. And maybe that's part of the secret of the joy -- family, community, shared adventure.
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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Hello, and thank you for the invitation. I'm a military blogger who, together with my co-writer, lobby on behalf of wounded and disabled veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan war (among many other things). The photo I just shared is of disabled veterans from previous wars, in the Veterans Day parade in Houston last year.
I invite everyone to visit our site at euphoricreality.com. You can also tune into our radio show Monday, Wednesday, and Friday night at 11 pm EST. The link is on our site. Have a fantastic day!
Response from Scott
Thank you for the photo. And thanks to disabled vets who have consistently, generation after generation, pushed open the doors of society in employment, sports, travel and so many other ways.
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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Hi Scott - I added my photo of a disabled man on a mobility scooter at the Lincolnshire coast, UK.
Thanks for the invite to the group!
Response from Scott
Thanks, Nick. What has been fun is observing how beach access for people with dsability is being addressed in various parts of the world. I love this tropical getaway in Puerto Rico as a dream design.
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Hi Scott:
I'm finally able to log in and post. Guess you took off that black list:)
As for my introduction to others, I'm a writer with a specialization in accessible travel. I'm the editor of Emerging Horizons (a magazine about accessible travel -- for slow walkers to wheelchair-users ) and the author of Barrier-Free Travel; A Nuts and Bolts Guide for Wheelers and Slow Walkers and There is Room at the Inn; Inns and B&Bs for Wheelers and Slow Walkers. You can find out more about my work at www.EmergingHorizons.com. I also do freelance work for magazines, newspapers and websites and have several regular columns. And in my spare time I blog about accessible travel at www.barrierfreetravels.com.
Candy Harrington
Response from Candy
I don't think I have ever had a conversation or email exchange with Candy on the topic of disability and travel, where she is an expert, that did not leave me with new information and a new perspective. I highly recommend everything she has written. Her book, Barrier-Free Travel: A Nuts and Bolts Guide for Wheelers and Slow Walkers, really is the place to start for a comprehensive look at Inclusive Travel.
Candy mentions that she blogs "in her spare time." Occassionally you will see some cross-talk between us there at her Barrier Free Travels blog. With other obligations like being a board member of "a href="http://www.accessnca.com/anc/index.ph">Access Northern California, where I also serve, she is hardly a person with abounding "free time!"
Welcome, Candy. And thanks for all you do in this field!
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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Hi Scott;
Sorry for taking forever to reply to you... I dont check my Flickr account much, obviously.
I dont have a disability, although I could say Im socially handicapped and not be exaggerating, I think. And the subjects I shoot are all sorts, not specifically related to handicap situations, I try to keep things in variety.
The picture you had me share was from a black and white assignment I did in a two year Photography course in a tech college locally... we were to choose a subject we could document over time and build a pictoral study around a group or subject.
I chose Catholic Social Services home, which is a place handicapped kids get placement while the parents go on vacation or when they apparently 'need a break'. Some kids get left there like dogs at a kennel, unfortunately, and they dont see the parents/foster parents for long periods of time.
At any rate, they tend to live in a large group home with attendants and caregivers for long periods of time. I tried to make a story of their lives but gave more concentration to the lighter side; the outings, trips around the block or to events, bedtime stories, exercise and personal maintainence.
I was awkward at first but got to learn about them and the routines they had to deal with to get around, and to live. I grew close to them all, and got some amazing, haunting, and tender pictures over the course of a couple months. I am proud of the work I did with them... its been some of the most rewarding.
I have since gone through a years-long dry spell where life got in the way and I needed to pay the bills more than try to live from photography, which is a shame; it doesnt take much to get rusty...
Thanks for welcoming the new guy!
Brad
Response from Scott
Welcome Brad. Thank you for the photo and thank you for the candid portrait of an artist.
There is a whole class of disabilities that are invisible. They aren't captured so easily in photos as mobiity impairments but some would argue, and I would agree, they may be even more difficult to live with day-to-day.
You probably observed the isolation that living in a group home brings. It sounds like you were allowed beyond the surface and into several lives. If you have any other pictures that let us into that journey feel free to share them. Maybe knowing that you have an appreciative audience will be the spark that gets you behind the lens and letting others see with your heart again.
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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Hi!
I am a carer and teacher for people with special needs. That includes wheelchairs (like in the picture I posted here) too, but not very often, in my case. I think one can say that I am sort of specialized in autism and working with supportive methods for communication.
I have grown up with people who are mentally challenged, as my parents run a home for them in the 70's and 80's.
I have learned that with a wheelchair you are (here in switzerland at least) just as handicaped as with a mental disability (and without a wheelchair). I find that difficult to accept. Or am I just impatient?
Cheers
Saskia
Response from Scott
Hi Saskia!
Your impatience is welcome here and shared by many I am sure. Hopefully, by capturing the moment on camera, we give the world a second chance to see what we see and arrive at a sense of justice.
Switzerland is somewhere I have still to visit although the country is something else we have in common in our lives. During part of the time your parents were running a home there I was working in a similar home in New York State (L'Arche, founded by Jean Vanier) with a woman who has since returned to Lausanne.
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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Our dream is real... we have partnered with EMC and Q-Straint for new product enhancements.
Clive Soden wrote about the Quovis recently...
Quovis... More than Just a Dream
Response from Scott
Follow the link above to a remarkable story about vision and technology for mobility.
I had the honor to be the first person in the US to drive the Quovis from a wheelchair. That was thanks to Abe Hopper who redesigned the Quovis and imports it to the US.
The little thing is fun! If you find one in your area Iisay, "Try it. You'll like it!"
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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Greetings all -
I'm Ingrid, I've been exploring on flickr exploring again and found this new group! Very COOL!!!
I happen to be a US Army veteran who had an injury during a training exercise that resulted in damage to my spinal cord in my neck - a condition known as Brown Sequard Syndrome. I consider myself very lucky - I am able to walk if I need and am able to manage my pain if I really behave myself. Actually, I tell people that I am "bi-mobile" - I can walk or wheel depending on what is best for my body.
As a result of my injury I ended up switching my career path from physical therapy to occupational therapy - overall a better fit for me. Over the past 12 years or so since my injury, I've learned to practice what I preach and also to listen to my body. If I do both of these I'm pretty much able to do whatever I put my mind to. I have joined a local WC basketball team - a sport that I never thought I'd play again - it's great to be playing again even if I'm much weaker than I use to be - but I'm playing!
I also have an amazing job helping communities create wonderful play environments that are designed for individuals of ALL ability to play in - I have spend the past four years working with this small non-profit organization in Pittsburgh, PA called the Center for Creative Play - www.cfcp.org and helping three Michigan communities create their own play spaces. It's wonderful to work somewhere that firstly is designed to be universally accessible and secondly where the staff understand how to empower each individual regardless of their "disability"..
Since the purpose of this group seems to be to let everyone know about universally designed places that we can all travel and play at - I'd love to join the mix! I'll post some of the photos from each of the Michigan sites that I referred to above. The Michigan project is over - but you can find out more about it at www.abletoplay.org - the grant created 20 accessible play environments throughout MI (WKKellogg foundation funded - thus the emphasis on MI). As the grant finished this year I was able to do one final MI road trip - 2,500 miles later (one of the indoor projects is in the U.P. - upper pennisula for those not so familar with MI) I had visited 12 or so of the indoor and outdoor play environments that communities built in the past 4 years. It was an amazing trip!!
SO, what do we do for an encore??? Well, we decided to do some work with children's museums around the country - my organization received two grants to give 30 children's museum all expenses paid universal design assessments over the next two years. Again, more travel!!! Yeah!!! Again, as I visit I'll be adding pictures to the mix and be sure to tag them to the group.
Since my job focuses on universal design and play spaces - I'm always looking for some great places to play and glad that you created such a cool group to find more to visit as well as a place to share!
Keep Playing!
Ingrid
Response from Scott
What a blast! A kindred spirit. Nobody else knows what Brown Sequard Syndrome is.
In fact, doing my rehab at University of Washington Hospital, one of the interns was having a hard time diagnosing me on his first visit (probably because my attending, chairman of the med school Neurology department, was there breathing over his shoulder.) Trying to help the guy out I whispered, "Psst, that's the Brown Sequard Syndrome question."
Ooops. Apparently he was being graded and I blew the test. Oh well, I never claimed I'd make a compliant lab animal.
Ingrid, thank you for bringing your sense of life and spirit of play to the group. We very much look forward to seeing photos of your creations, discoveries, and travels.
Originally posted 70 months ago.
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Yes, the little known Brown Sequard Syndrome - took the US ARMY ten weeks to figure it out - of course the neurologist who finally diagnosed it did so without seeing me - he said my case was "text book". TO say the least the next 18 months of my military service involved lots of rehab as well as meeting every new MD and PA who came through Fort Jackson - we played the wonderful game of "guess what I've got?"
I still laugh at some of the encounters - let's just say that there is an MD out there somewhere who will NEVER again stoop in front of a patient while checking their knee reflexes! Actually, the funniest part is that his teacher had seen my case on open rounds that morning and knew how hyper reflexive my legs were and still let the guy stoop down in front of me to check my reflexes - when I gave her "the should I tell him" questioning look - she just gave me a suttle "no" head movement. You've got to love it when they set each other up like this. Anyway, I hope his nose is OK?!
I'd be rich if I had starting charging admission from the start - on the flip side I know of several soldiers who are walking today because their PA got to know my case first. I also have a very good understanding of my injury as a result which has allowed me to be a great advocate for services for myself and others (especially the Disabled Vet's I've come across).
My injury also introduced me to the field of OT and I wouldn't have this amazing job had I not had this injury. So, I'll take my quirky body and keep treking.
I'm off to Copenhagen, Denmark tomorrow to visit my sister and hope to connect with a couple of park designers there who have develop some accessible parks in the city. We will be highlighting their parks as part of web portal on the KaBOOM! website in the near future - KaBOOM! build playgrounds using a community build concept - they have asked us to host their web portal focusing on universal design - we will be highlighting some sort of accessible park or playground each month as part of the project. The goal is to get people to realize that individuals with disabilities are members of their communities and by using the principles of universal designs in their playgrounds they can create some cool playgrounds for everyone! (and they don't have to be more expensive than the typical playground)
Well, time to work - more photos to come!
Response from Scott
Sounds like you are an evangelist in the Livable Community Movement. It's just a half turn of focus to integrate that into an Inclusive Destination Development message.
Originally posted 69 months ago.
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G'day y'all,
My name is Brian and no I don't have any disabilities but don't hold that against me. I ended up here because of an off the cuff smart alec remark I made about one of my photo's of the Great Wall of China. Next thing you know I am contacted by your Group and well... here I am. I am a better man though because of it. The video I received in an email from srains showing a legless man scaling the steps of the tourist section of the wall is absolutely MUST SEE VIDEO.
As for the travel industry. I work in that. I rent cars. I work in Sydney airport. You remember Sydney don't you all? That place that hosted "the best ever games". Well. We don't apologise for that! Nor do we take credit for it either. It just happened like that. It was just a damn great 2 weeks we'll never get back. But one legacy we got from that at our work was a "disabled person friendly counter". The theory was there. A desk that would lower down to meet the level of a person in a wheel chair. But in all seriousness I have never had the need to use it. I have worked there 7 years. If I did get a wheel chair customer I'd come out to meet them. It's the least I could do. The bloody desk takes about 2 minutes to lower. What a crock! One of the toughest, nicest and most head strong (in the good way) customers was a wheelchair customer who didn't want any help because to be honest he was stronger than us any way and didn't need to reach for tools to release the adaptors he needed to work the foot pedals.
Anyways... nice to meet you all. If I make any more smart arse comments aimed at handicapped... you know to put me in my place!
Cheers,
Brian (end of level boss) Costelloe
Response from Scott
Well, mate, it's good to know that I "put you in your place" which, I am now even more convinced, is right here with the lot of us in this group!
Welcome and keep snapping that shutter and sharing your travels with us.
Originally posted 69 months ago.
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www.flickr.com/groups/multiple_sclerosis
Hello Rolling Rains - Travel with Disability group.
My name is Ethan Wilson, and I was invited by Scott Rains to tell you about the Multiple Sclerosis group.
The Multiple Sclerosis group posts picts that resonate strongly within us and that symbolize hope for a personal battle we all engage in everyday of our lives.
This group is not limited to people with Multiple Sclerosis, but anybody who must overcome their own personal challenges and obstacles...whatever they may be.
We invite you to join the Multiple Sclerosis Group and share your personal picts with us as well.
Best Wishes,
Ethan
Response from Rolling Rains:
Bem Vindo Ethan!
Besides bringing insight and hope around Mutiple Sclerosis into the world, Ethan has also brought the world a young son named Kaio. Kaio (and mom) fit prominently in a series of pictures at Ethan's Flickr site where myth and reality meld seamlessly as some stunning visual art.
Check it out and watch for Ethan's photos here too!
Originally posted 68 months ago.
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Hi Scott,
It's taken me a little bit of time to get around to introducing myself. Call me Mike - I teach Disability Studies at Temple University and like to take pictures in Philadelphia, Jamaica and the American Midwest. This is an extension of my academic research in cultural geography. Still pretty new to the whole 'traveling with a disability' field, so I am fascinated to read folks' travel accounts here. My frequent travel partner of late has been Carol Marfisi, and she often appears in my pictures. Carol teaches Disability Studies at Temple University and in the Spring will begin teaching at West Chester University.
I look forward to learning from all of you.
Mike D.
We write for the blog called Disability Studies, Temple University (DS,TU) - disstud.blogspot.com
Response from Rolling Rains
If Mike is "still pretty new to the whole 'traveling with a disability' field," then there's no hope for me!
I have been corresponding with Mike, his colleagues, and his students, as well as reading his listserve and the Disabilities Studies blog at Temple University for quite a while. Mike is the cornerstone of a whole segment of this work on travel & inclusion.
disstud.blogspot.com
In another sense, I suppose we are all beginners in this field. With everyone contributing from what they know and experience - and doing so in this public environment that is open to researchers and decision-makers in the travel & hospitality industry - we are building something together for future generations.
Originally posted 67 months ago.
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NJCLL [deleted] says:
Hi Scott & Members
Thank you for the invitation to join the group.
Please accept my apologies for it taking me so long to actually get around to joining. I have posted a few photos of one of our holiday rental properties in the Province of Granada, Andalucia.
I will post some photos of our other property when I have had the chance to update the photos - or should that be when I have taken photos of the progress which we have made since we took the original photos.
We currently promote our accommodations through a number of our private websites as well as through tourism/holiday property related websites. If anyone is interested in exchanging links - please do not hesitate to contact me.
Thank you
Nigel
www.accessibleandalucia.com (to name just one)
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Thanks for the info Nigel. I look forward to more photos.
Posted 67 months ago.
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NJCLL [deleted] says:
Thanks for that.
I have now added some more photos of our accessible accommodations in Andalucia, Spain.
We plan to create more accommodations - so perhaps when we have the plans I will post pictures of the plans and hopefully at a later stage post the pictures of the new accommodations. When, please remember that I am in Spain so manaña is sometime in the future.
All the Best
Nigel
www.accessibleandalucia.com
Response from Rolling Rains
Welcome, Nigel!
We think that this Flickr group is a perfect site for you to let people know about accessible vacation opportunities. The work you have done to serve this market deserves the publicity.
Originally posted 67 months ago.
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Hi from sunny Phuket, Thailand!
I'm a British guy, 47 years old. I worked for 15 years as a rocket scientist (yes seriously!) in the UK and Europe. Then I emigrated to Thailand about 4 years ago.
Early this year I got the opportunity to build an accessible hotel on the paradise island of Phuket. I have always wanted to build a hotel for both able-bodied and not-so-able-bodied guests!
After a lot of hard work we opened for business a few weeks ago. I've uploaded some photos so that you can get an idea of what we offer.
Our hotel is just a few hundred meters from the beach and also from the international airport. So access is really easy.
It's a family hotel, owned by me and my Thai wife. The staff are mostly family members from the Issan region of north-east Thailand. So you can be assured of a real, (non-touristy) stay!!
Simon
www.naiyangparadise.com
Response from Rolling Rains
Wow, our first rocket scientist!
Welcome, Simon and thank you for what you have done by opening your resort. From Phuket you are positioned to have a worldwide impact on our community. (Group members: please share photos and travelogue here when you visit Simon & Wan in Phuket.)
You will find photos here in this group but you will find Simon's story at the Rolling Rains Report today:
www.rollingrains.com/archives/001346.html
Originally posted 67 months ago.
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I have just come back from my family holiday - going through Bangkok, Bali, Kuala Lumpur and Penang. How I wish there are more accessible resorts over there like yours! I feel silly about writing about how inaccessible it is over there.
I will make sure that i visit you next time I go there! And to go further, will I be able to go jet skiing there? Will the water sports be also accessible? I had a look at your swimming pool - there is no hoist - can somebody who is mobility impaired use your pool?
Posted 66 months ago.
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Hi everyone! I am disabled and live in Cote d'Or Burgundy France.
I am disabled due to a stroke and my husband is my carer. We like to get out and about, have wheelchair will travel.
I have travel around France, Canada and Australia.
coral
Response from Rolling Rains
Bienvenue!
It is wonderful to see your photos. Thanks for sharing them with the community and enlarging our world.
Originally posted 65 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 63 months ago.
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Hello All, I am a depressed guy. I am married to a blind woman. We work on a radio program about disability rights in Berkeley California. Our shows are called Pushing Limits. They can be accessed here: www.kpfa.org/archives/index.php?show=12
I take anti-depressants so my symptoms are minimal, but my life experience attunes me to intellectual and cognitive disabilities. I'm especially interested in dyslexia (motion related blindess as well), autism, depression, and language related cognitive disabilities.
Response from Rolling Rains
Welcome! It is great to learn about the KPFA program. I'll have to listen in.
Maybe we can do some cross-media coverage here? Post photos of the folks you interview -- and encourage them to contribute shots and stories from their travel.
Originally posted 63 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 63 months ago.
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Hello everyone.
Scott thanks for the invitation. Your work is great.
I live in NYC with my children and my son has quad cp. His name is Jordan, he is 15 years old in the 9th grade. He uses a powerchair with head controls. I am interested in inclusive travel and global accessibility since I enjoy traveling and he wants to have an inclusive travel biz one day! I recently started a blog/site called Friendship Project as a parent information resource beginning with my experiences. www.friendshipproject.org. I am the third generation of parenting a special needs child in my family. While my aunt and brother have mental special needs, it has been my experience that timely access to information is vital to everyone.
Lisa
www.friendshipproject.org
Response from Rolling Rains
Welcome, Lisa.
With the launch of your new site it looks like you are taking your own advice to heart to provide timely information.
Thank you for sharing your photos here. Hopefully you and Jordan might pick up some good travel ideas from what others post -- and you will continue to add your own pictures.
Originally posted 63 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 63 months ago.
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Hello - This seems like a very worthwhile group. 4 weeks ago the administrator asked me to submit a photo. Because I live in the Amazon Jungle (it is true), I have VERY limited internet access, so I am finally responding.
I run the first domestic animal rescue rescue in the region, and we have a wonderful program of animal assisted therapy. Disabled children (actually, all disabled people) in Iquitos, Peru have very few services or opportunities. Children have no special schools, and usually receive no education. They are often treated as outcasts, and local folklore often cast them in demon-like roles.
I have seen the joy an animal can bring to one of these children. One family that adopted a dog wrote me a letter to tell me their child with Downs Syndrome (rumored to be the children of a dolphin) smiles more, has formed complete sentences, and has improved motor skills from playing and petting her dog!
Incidentally, the adopted dog was named after a Flickr user that made a donation to my charity!
Nice to be a part of this group!
Sincerely,
Molly Mednikow (amazonactivist on Flickr)
www.amazoncares.org
www.amazoncaresblog.com
Response from Rolling Rains
Bienvenidos, Molly!
We all think it's a pretty worthwhile group too. Your work sounds extraordinary - and uniquely scalable to other rural or economically underdeveloped regions. Please keep adding photos (as Amazon bandwidth allows.)
Thanks for joining.
Originally posted 61 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 61 months ago.
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Hello!
I am a brain injured adult walk slowly with a stick am deaf have geting out difficulies but I love photography so this gets me out in a freinds car or just about local.see my photos
I live in Stroud Gloucestershire England UK
I have enjoyed being in this group I realy thought I had said hello before please forgive me.
Response from Rolling Rains
I have enjoyed your photos and we are so glad to have you introduce yourself here.
Welcome. Please keep the photos coming!
Originally posted 61 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 61 months ago.
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Hi, everyone, I am Terri O from Florida, and I will (eventually) have a site called CitiesForAll that will be an informational site about city access. For now, I have posted several images of a project I pulled off in Santa Fe, NM, with a lot of help. We painted HC spaces and blitzed the high-travel tourist sites in the city. It was a blast and got great press coverage. If any of you want to organize something like this where you live, feel free to 'e' me and I'll give you the particulars. terri@oharecommunications.com
When I'm not advocating in a city for accessible streets, parks, beaches and buildings, I'm creating visual communication programs and campaigns for a variety of clients. I've been at design as a career for over 20 years, so I love advocacy for it's refreshing use of the other side of my brain.
I have CMT, (Charcot-Marie-Tooth) so I walk slow and use a cane (in the form of a hipster Leki hiking stick). I hate to fly, I'm a road-trip-drive-girl, so you won't find me in Brazil or Spain anytime soon, but you will often find me sailing across some remote highway in West Texas crying (i'm happy!), at the stunning wide-open scenery.
...I think I better check my maps...right about...now...
Response from Rolling Rains
Nice to see you here!
I think we "met" through news coverage of that brilliant art-in-parking-spaces project that you did in Santa Fe.
I'm looking forward to CitiesForAll.
Originally posted 61 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 61 months ago.
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Hello. I'm from Missouri. I'm a partial quad (broken neck from swimming accident) and I love to travel and photograph nature, landscapes and wildlife (not an easy thing to do from a wheelchair). I have posted some photos from a couple of the recent trips I've taken. I realize it's not photos of people with disabilities, but it's what I do. I'm currently planning several photography trips across the US.
Glad to be a part of the group.
Response from Rolling Rains
Tim, isn't Missouri the "Show Me" state? Well, if that's true and your travels bring you out West, then let me show you some spots you'll love to photograph in California and the Pacific Northwest.
You might want to link up with Loren Worthington over at Rolling F-stop: rollingfstop.blogspot.com/
And thank you for contributing your excellent photographs. Glad that you are a part of this group!
Originally posted 60 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 59 months ago.
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PolloPatagonico [deleted] says:
wow, how many cool people here!
cheers to all.
Posted 60 months ago.
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Hey, Pollo.
I love checking out your photos. I keep trying to get down to your part of the world: An invitation to Ecuador next month, a scheme to cruise past Las Pampas in November, so far no luck getting close enough to visit.
That's all the more reason to keep sharing your photos!
Posted 60 months ago.
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Aloha everyone, I am a recent SCI and currently in my seventh month of hospitalization. I have been diagnosed as a C6 complete quadreplegic and doing well in rehab. It is nice to have Flickr and this group. I traveled quite a bit before my injury and plan to continue. I am currently in the States for medical treatment, will be heading for Hawaii soon for some more independent living training before my return to SE Asia, my home for the past seven years. Best regards to all.
Response from Rolling Rains
Hi Karl,
Congratulations on your success during rehab. It's a tough life transition -- glad you haven't given up on travel.
Your photos are a great addition to the site and your own sites on life in Thailand are the next best thing to traveling there.
Welcome!
Originally posted 59 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 59 months ago.
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Given Scott is out there promoting me lil ol' blog, I better sign in. I have been rolling around this rock for 20+ years. Home is in Phoenix, Arizona.
By day I run a company that manages resorts and hotels in Puerto Penasco, Mexico. By night I'm a photography addict. I started two blogs as a way of trying to justify all the money I spend on photography. Time will tell.
Rolling F-Stop is designed to be a place where rolling photographers (who know about F-stops) could swap some tech tales. It doesnt get much action because there is so little technology to assist photographers who can not grab a camera out of the box and never look back. If someone has adapted a camera, I'd enjoy hearing from them.
www.accessingarizona.com/ gives me a good excuse to wander around Arizona and take photos. I wish I could find other rolling locals in the locations I visit because his or her insight might save me from visiting cool things where I can't see poop, or even get around. Maybe somebody coming to Arizona will use the blog to avoid the duds.
I'm pretty pragmatic about accessibility. I don't care if a place or event is accessible or if they ever modify it. All I want is some straight forward info about a place's accessibility so I can decide if I want to give them my money and or my time. Or maybe I'll write about their piss-poor idea of accessibility and post it, and feel 'more better' than if I had enjoyed the place in the first place.
Response from Rolling Rains
Hey Mr. F-Stop. Glad you rolled on in!
What a great combination - reviews on photo gear and outdoor Arizona. That's a great service.
Originally posted 58 months ago.
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Rolling F-Stop edited this topic 36 months ago.
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Hi,
I'm a German wheelchair user living in London, UK since a couple of month, still exploring the city. I have a blog regarding accessibility. It's called Behindertenparkplatz and I write in German: www.behindertenparkplatz.de
Response from Rolling Rains.
Hi Christiane,
"Wie gehts?" Welcome.
I think there can be a special quality to the photography of somebody who is a "slow traveler" taking the time to savor a sense of place and not just rushing through.
Keep the photos coming.
Scott
Originally posted 57 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 51 months ago.
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Hello! My name is Susan, and I live in St. Cloud, MN. I've been a wheelchair user since 2001 and I have muscular dystrophy. I love to travel and I'm in the process of uploading photos from my recent trip to Hawaii. I'm already thinking of the next place I'd like to visit. This group looks like a good place to get ideas. If anyone has disability travel questions about Hawaii or Minnesota, or the other places I've lived (Sedona & Miami), you can send me a message and maybe I can help
Response from Rolling Rains.
Hi Susan!
I always felt like Garrison Keilor's "Lake Wobegon" and "Ralph's Pretty Good Grocery" were just around the corner every time I would drive into St. Cloud from Collegeville (St. John's University). Maybe it was the old sign for "Krepsbach's" along the road into town that set off the expectation.
We are loving your photos. Glad to know that you made it home before Aloha Airlines said "Sayonara!"
Scott
Originally posted 51 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 51 months ago.
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My friend was in a car accident with a moose and now is in a wheelchair. I've travelled with her and seen as well as heard about the frustration and difficulty finding truly accessible hotels - either the bed is not the right height, the shower has a lip, the doors too narrow or located to make it impossible to move...So I'd like to drop in and check out some of the info people are sharing here. I'm so glad you've started this!
Response from Rolling Rains
And I'm so glad you joined, Val!
Some of the photographers who contribute here were just in the right place at the right time with a gift of perception. Many have lots of personal experience with disability to share from.
You might also take a look at the www.Rollingrains.com for more that may interest you and your friend.
BTW, I don't know too many places where moose and cars meet with ny regularity so I'm guessing you are in Alaska. I will be cruising Glacier Bay on a wheelchair accessible yacht (Sea Wolf) out of Gustavus through Waypoint Charter Services. I'll upload some photos.
Originally posted 49 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 49 months ago.
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Hi, I am living in Toronto, Canada. Not a huge photographer, yet. Still working on it.
When not doing geeky I.T. things to pay the bills, I like to backpack the world alone in my blue chair. I wrote a book about my travels and experiences.
I met Scott online, some months ago when trying to spread the word about my book, and now am participating in his efforts to expand inclusive tourism through out the world.
www.bluechairbook.com
N. America's Disabled Adventurer.
Response from Rolling Rains.
Walt,
Excellent to see you here!
Keep up the travel -- and the stories. Some day we will need to get a photo of each of us in our blue wheelchairs at some exotic location!
Originally posted 49 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 44 months ago.
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Hi,
I'm a recent incomplete para, 7 months since injury, and I am really keen to travel in the future, hoping to pick up some tips and inspiration here. Looks like a great group.
Response from Rolling Rains.
Bal-Al,
It is a great group. The stories that the photos tell are amazing!
Originally posted 49 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 44 months ago.
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Hello, new here too but not new to flickr. Had no idea that there was a flickr group for this until I read the most recent Rolling Rains Report and saw the link. I am an Assistive Technology Trainer working for the state in a program training government employees about disability awareness, advocacy and assistive technology. Universal design and accommodates are big issues for me personally. I have an adult son with multiple disabilites that make travel "interesting". Recently I took him on a vacation to Chicago. It was challenging at the airports, on shuttle buses, and trains. I say "challenging" even though I prepared as far ahead as possible and knew what assistance to request.
Without use of the handicap-accessible parking places and wheelchair assistance we could not have made this trip. My son has increasing difficulty with large motor skills and walking safely without falls. To look at him people are not aware of his needs so I have to assertively and pro-actively request help. I am happy to report that our experience in Illinois was very excellent with public accomodations and transportation - far, far more progressive and natural, positive responses than we encounter in our home state of Arizona.
I will post some photos of our recent trip. When someone looks at them they will not necessarily notice why our travels are such a big deal to us. But a very tired and happy son makes me happy too from a successful vacation. We look forward to another short vacation this summer to Colorado and I have high hopes.
Thanks for starting this group, Scott. I've received your newsletter for over 3 1/2 years now and have seen wonderful progress!
Response from Rolling Rains.
Cobalt,
I am constantly amazed at the improvements around the world. Oddly, they are not consistent of predictable. With such a strong legal framework and an early lead promoting inclusion one might assume that the US was farther along than it is.
It is good to hear about your positive experience in Chicago. I just spoke at the Universal Access in Airports organized by the Open Doors Organization and held near O'Hare. It was clear that there are some very talented, dedicated, and influential airport and airline professionals doing diligence to serve our community.
Originally posted 48 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 44 months ago.
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hi all!
i have 2 accounts on flickr..
i had one added but not this one.
my other was an exhaustive persuit of documenting disabled sports in canada.
i tell you.. Canada sure seems to be in the dark ages when it goes to that!
accesibiliy is fairly good all across canada.. accept (im sorry to say) much of Quebec.
Its very infortunate too because if you want to see a huge chunk of culture in Canada? that's where you will find it!
the buildings and streets in historical areas have not really gone to the efforts to cator to accesibility issues.
i'm a photo journalist /event photographer in Canada's capital region.
I use a chair moreso to get around faster... or sometimes just to carry my gear so i dont have to lug it around.
I'd personally like to thank scott for all his efforts to unite the able community around the globle and create strong networks and awareness for the masses.. to encourage and inform them to go out and see the world!
i'm hoping to be an active participant in this communitee.
I've tried really hard in Canada.. but i too... need to get out and tour around while i still can!!!!
feel free to add me here and or on facebook using my name.
if theres events and activities etc... that you care to share with me .. please let me know!
i have a lot to offer those in need of visual representation.
photography .design.. and web
cheers all!
Response from Rolling Rains.
Steve,
Your photos are wonderful and your generosity with your work legendary.
I know that you are working on finalizing some invitations to shoot in Thailand and Central America. When they come through I hope you will share a sample of your work here!
Originally posted 44 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 44 months ago.
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Hullo everyone,
I was glad to be welcomed to this inspiring group when my photo:
www.flickr.com/photos/orchone/248314924/
was noticed.
I spent two years fighting around my local area to get wheelchair access onto beaches of and near Edinburgh, and the simple need of it in itself recognised as important to travellers, tourists and locals on wheels. I have to confess that when I failed, I couldn't face any more of the authorities nonsense and the disappointment of all the organisations and groups who were lined up desperate to help.
I took time out, but re-emerged for a city break which I incorporated into an amatuer access blog:
wheelinatfringe.livejournal.com/
I almost feel ready for another bash at persuading those who are new to the council that disabled access to beaches doesn't just mean carparks and loos and a platform to look at the beach we can't get to: we'd love to get across the sands and go for a swim too!
Bye for now,
Mo
Response from Rolling Rains
Hi Mo,
Thank you for joining.
Sorry for the slow response. I have just spent 30 days researching accessibility of tourism in South Africa. It's a mixed situation but it is definitely possible to do some outstanding safaris if you use a wheelchair - powered or manual!
We will be very eager to hear reports of your progress with beaches. Keep us updated.
Scott
Originally posted 40 months ago.
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srains edited this topic 39 months ago.
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Hi folks-
Thank you for allowing me to join the group.
My name is J. Brandon. I volunteer on communications projects for a non-profit organization called Disabled Explorers. We are based in Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
We use individual, independent backcountry four-wheel-drive travel as a way to help disabled people improve their lives. We believe that, with some experience, a little training, and some carefully chosen equipment, people with limited mobility can safely and confidently enjoy adventure travel in remote places. And that this can greatly enhance the quality of their lives and those of their families.
Our organization was founded by my good friend, Lance Blair, who is a left-leg amputee and a Registered Nurse in a trauma ward. Lance also spends most of his free time exploring remote backcountry. That's how he came to create Disabled Explorers.
We have built a custom four-wheel-drive wheelchair van. We recently returned from a week-long shakedown trip in remote areas of Baja, Mexico. The van performed extremely well and we are ready to start using it in our outreach programs.
I've added a few photos to the group pool, and will share more as I document our adventures.
If you would like to learn more about Disabled Explorers, please see our website at:
www.disabledexplorers.org
thanks,
-J.
Posted 29 months ago.
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Hello,
We are Rehabilitation International:
Rehabilitation International (RI) is a global network of experts, professionals and advocates working together to empower persons with disabilities and provide sustainable solutions for a more inclusive and accessible society. Founded in 1922, RI has been a key player in the disability field and developed the International Symbol of Access -- which has now become the most widely recognized symbol for disability worldwide.
We are looking forward to participating in this group and sharing photographs from our work and our membership.
Thanks!
Posted 29 months ago.
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hi there im nicola and my daughter jessy is the most special most insparational person in my life,we live in wales u.k.my daughter was born with rubella and has left her with cerbral palsey and severe learning difficulties,shes soo brave and strong and beautiful i love to show her off in photos xx
Posted 27 months ago.
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hello all
my name is Gilli and I live in Hobart Tasmania. I have Multiple Sclerosis, my stage is that walking is a big problem. I have recently got myself a mobility scooter and a van to transport it in. I am originally English [known as a 10 pound pom :]
I am a photographer, working on a web site for disabled people thinking about traveling to Tasmania. Was inspired to do this I was told by people running a tourist centre that they were receiving complaints about the lack of good places for dsabled folk to stay.
I am [in my spare time :) ] fundraising for MS Research. Campaign called Kiss Goodbye to MS.
Check my flickr sight and see my photos.
Posted 3 months ago.
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