Around the
Water Cooler

Barcelona to Pittsburgh-WOW!

This month’s column is written by Bob Segalman and is about his memories on the recent ISAAC 2010 Conference in Barcelona, Spain.  The AAC Institute along with SHOUT, the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University will be pleased to welcome you to our organizations’ hometown of Pittsburgh in July 2012. 

ISAAC 2012 will provide a unique opportunity for People Who Use AAC (PWUAAC) and their families to come together to advance the issues that AAC consumers experience worldwide.  Accessibility is just one of many issues we need to increase the world’s awareness.  ISAAC 2012 committees will be offering many helping hands to businesses, organizations, communities and individuals to see that PWUAAC and their families have an accessible-friendly conference.  For updates on the conference planning please signing up at www.isaac2012.org. 

Let’s use our memories of Barcelona to build the next, great ISAAC Congress.  On behalf of ISAAC, USSAAC, and all the ISAAC Chapters around the world…

Pittsburgh-WOW!

Highest communication performance-WOW!

---

 

A Memory of ISAAC 2010 in Barcelona, Spain

By Dr. Segalman

Bob Segalman received a Ph.D. in Social Welfare / Sociology from the University of Wisconsin, 1972 and an honorary Doctor of Science from there in 2006. He retired from the State of California in July 2004 after 30 years of service. Bob is the author of: "Against the Current: My Life with Cerebral Palsy", Full Court Press/Attainment. Available at http://drbobsautobiography.org.

            My experience at the ISAAC 2010 Conference in Barcelona was very positive. We all learned a lot at the ISAAC Conference.  Barcelona is beautiful and the people are welcoming.  It is important that we remember what we learned about access so that we can have better access at future conferences. 

Here are some questions we need to answer when selecting accessible hotels. If we can use the answers to these questions to select accessible hotels in Pittsburgh at the next ISAAC Conference, that will be great. While I came up with these questions because experiences in hotels, I will look at that in positive light, if we can all have a good hotel experience in Pittsburgh.

1. Can the shower knobs be reached from the shower chair?

2. Do the legs on the shower chair protrude so far to prohibit transfer from a wheelchair?

3. Are there sufficient outlets for five pieces of equipment that need to be charged? (wheelchair, ECO, apnea machine, toothbrush, and cell phone)

4. Are there any glass areas in the room that could accidentally be shattered by a power chair?

5. Can the hotel provide a raised toilet seat? A trapeze over the bed (easily rented from a medical supply)? A transfer pole (a $35 item that can be purchased at a trucking supply store. They stay in place by pressure and are used to divide up loads in moving vans.)?

6. Are the magnetic room door keys erasable by the electromagnets in power wheelchairs?

7. In older hotels, is the space between the elevator floor and the building floor wide enough for small wheels to get caught in?

8. Are the tables in the dining room high enough for someone in a power wheelchair to get their knees under?

9. Do the public restrooms have double doors which make it impossible to enter with a power chair without help?

10. Have the hotel and conference staff been taught to communicate directly with the AAC user rather than the PCA?

11. Have the staff been taught that physical disability does not necessarily coincide with a cognitive disability?

12. Is there room on one side of the bed for a power chair?

13. Are there ample wall plugs on the side of the bed where the power chair is?

14. Is the bedspread short enough not to get caught in the wheels of a power chair?

15. Is cleaning staff taught not to put the removable shower head out of reach of the shower chair?

16. Is the inside entryway so narrow that you cannot get close enough to the doorknob without leaning way out from your wheelchair?

17. Is there a second rack in the closet low enough to put hangers on that can be reached from a wheelchair?

18. If people are coming with 220 volt wheelchair chargers, and other electrical equipment does the hotel provide converters or just plug adapters?

19. Are the doors to accessible rooms light enough for easy opening?

20. Are there enough non-smoking accessible rooms?

21. Is the desk in the hotel room high enough for someone in a power wheelchair to get their knees under?

22. Is the mattress firm enough so that the transfer board won’t sink into the mattress during transfer?

23. Are all the doorknobs ADA compliant?

24. Are the sinks and shower knobs ADA compliant?

25. Is there proper drainage for the shower?

26. Can you easily reach the toilet paper without getting off of the toilet?

27. Is the toilet paper roll loose enough so that you can get more than piece of toilet paper at a time without using two hands?

28. Is the toilet paper attached firmly to the roll so that it won’t come flying across the room?

29. Does the clock illuminate in the dark and can it be seen without raising your head in the bed?

30. Are the radio and clock attached such that the knobs cannot be reached by someone in a wheelchair?

31. Does the hotel provide a power strip so that the plugs for electrical equipment can be put at wheelchair height?

32. Do the doors on the elevator open and close slowly enough for someone in a wheelchair to use?

33. When the cleaning staff make the bed, are they instructed to shake out the bed clothes so that personal objects (like a soft neck collar) don’t accidentally get put in the hotel laundry?

34. Is staff always available to bring luggage from the room to checkout?

35. Is the hotel able to call an accessible taxi 24/7? How much lead time do they need for an accessible taxi?

36. Are dining staff available to help people in wheelchairs get food from a buffet?

37. Are there accessible rooms with more than one bed?

38. Is there a concierge available to purchase forgotten items without an exorbitant charge?

39. Can you reach into the room refrigerator from a wheelchair?

40. Are laundry facilities available?

41. Is it possible to open/close the draperies from a wheelchair?  

These are important, but often overlooked, questions. I hope that my experience at the 2010 ISAAC Conference in Barcelona will be as valuable to future participants as it has been to me. I encourage everyone, with or without a disability, to think about access and accommodations whether you are visiting your favorite watering hole or traveling around the world.

---

Your feedback is always valued. AACConsumerNet@aacinstitute.org.

Around the Water Cooler Archives

Return to AAC ConsumerNet