Home Again and Packing!

I had to take a bit of a hiatus from blogging-- things have been in a whirlwind!! Back again and getting ready to move. First things first, I promised a retrospective on our travel adventure. 

Just to create a picture: family of five with three kids ages 8,7 and 5, one service dog, a wheelchair and (thank you, hold your applause) only ONE checked bag and one ACTUAL carryon size bag each! We show up at the ticket counter. Sane people see us and run to get in the security line ahead of us. Business travelers groan. To get a sense of what we are up against, my daughter with a disability is, in addition to having cerebral palsy, autistic, very sensory defensive and tends to have seizures under stress. So we had all that going for us. 

At the ticket counter, the agent changed our seats for the first leg of the flight: the bulkhead is the only place to sit with a dog. People may try to convince you otherwise, and leave this to the gate agent, but the easiest place to do this is the ticket counter at check in.  He could have changed all of our seats but did not. More on that later. 

TSA was fantastic. Having been sent to secondary and practically strip searched when traveling on business, I was expecting the worst. But they were so kind and patient with my daughter. They opened up a second line for the family and put us all through together. We had ensure, baby bottles, gel valium and syringes. No problem. And the dog was great. Seriously, I think TSA agents should have service dogs. For the agents. We had service tags on the dog and a letter from our doctor but did not need any of it. Once they were sure we did not have a scud missile hidden in her chair, we were home free. 

We checked the wheelchair at the gate. Good safety tip, make sure any detachable pieces (like, for example, the seat cushion) are connected to the chair. (Can you guess?)

In Denver, we ran into a few snags. Flights were delayed in and out. So we were late in, and had a flight delayed by four hours. The gate changed of course and so we had to get help finding transport to the new gate. (check the whellchair through?  Note to self, never check it through, have it at all flight changes.) So there we are, and my daughter gets food poisoning (why do these things happen to her and not the rest of us??) from juice that I brought her to take her meds. At this point I went to the gate agent and explained: my child with epilepsy is ill, and sleep deprived and may begin having seizures, I need a quiet place to lay her down for a rest until the flight comes. It helped that I was calm, but obviously on the edge. They brought us a cot, blankets, and took the dog out for a walk. WOW! That is the kind of help we needed. Frontier Airlines is my new favorite!

The rest of the trip went without a hitch, except for the seat cushion, which showed up quickly. And for the second leg we had a second row seat, which we made work, but is no good with a dog. I was too stressed to argue. Next time, I will argue. 

 In fact, we had such a great time that we decided to relocate to South Dakota. So if my writing is a little sporadic for the next month, you know why!! 

I'm looking forward to doing a comparison between California and South Dakota as far as living with a child with a disability goes. Everyone says we should not move out of California because of the Lanterman Act, but so far, I'm not convinced. California, land of my birth, is not my favorite place lately. All that glitters in the Golden State is not gold. Besides, life on a farm is great for kids. And, we are going to get a horse. Hippotherapy at last! 

More later. Thanks for following!

Gina 

Access, It's an attitude!

We took the family out to see Night at the Museum 2 at our favorite local theatre. Why is it our favorite? Accessibility of course. It has wheelchair seating in the first row and unlike a competing franchise, lots of chairs for companions or families. We can all sit together! And they have nice ramps at all the regular entrances. In fact, no stairs. A great separate restroom so we don't even have to jockey past all the regular stalls to get to the "big one" at the end. Even the snack area has low counters and is wide and easy to navigate. 

More importantly, the staff there are always a pleasure. They are helpful without being obtrusive or indulgent. They always greet all three of my children without singling any of them out. Most refreshing to me, this theatre employs a number of people with disabilities, so my children feel at home-- this place reflects our lived experience.  And my daughter who has a disability interacts with folks who are doing work that demands a great deal of interaction with the public. I believe this is part of the reason the whole staff there is so much more skilled than the public at large at interacting with our family. They have peers and colleagues with disabilities and varying abilities; interacting with us is a normal part of their lives.

Access is so much more than a ramp, it is an attitude of normalcy, an experience of being welcomed and fitting in. I am so glad to have places like this, and as my children experience more inclusion at school, I look forward to a future where most places are like this. Thank you again to the many generations before us who worked on ADA and IDEA. 

Robert's Park a Model of universal design

Every week I try to post info about a local outing that is friendly to families like ours that have typical and disabled kids. 

Robert's Regional Park in Oakland, California is worth a field trip, even if you are out of the immediate area. Rosemary Cameron of EBRP told me about the new play structure at Robert's while we were discussing accessibility issues during a frustrating visit to Black Diamond mines (not accessible, once you get out of your car in the handicapped space in the parking lot.)

But I went over to Robert's this morning on a reconnaissance visit on her recommendation and as I stood at the top with my daughter's service dog, I got choked up. Seriously, I was embarrassed to have tears in my eyes. But there it was. 

If you, like we, have been to so many places and had to sit with your disabled child on the sidelines and watch others run off to play, you might too. 

The structure is built on the hill and there is a long graded approach to the area. The whole thing has deep rubber mats below and full ramp access to the top. Accessible slides and a modified climbing wall. All the signs have Braille and inscribed alphabet signs and can be read by touch. There is even a cradle swing for big kids. If you want to spend the day, there are picnic grounds. The pool is accessible as well, according to Rosemary, though it was closed while I was there. 

All I can say is thank you EBRP! This park is a model for the nation. If you want to play, you should go. If you want to see how all parks should be built, you should go. If you are a superintendent or a board member, please go. Landscape architect? Go. Park Board member? 

Well, you get my point. 

That's where we are getting ready to go, right now.