Trouble-Free Travel?
Say What?!
By Paula Bonillas
Courtesy of Hearing Health Magazine
 |
|
Kathy
Buckley, comedienne:
"When I ask for a hotel room with accommodations for my hearing loss, I usually get a room with ramps and metal bars. Am I supposed to swing from those or what?!" |
|
I had to laugh when
Kathy shared these thoughts with me. Having recently returned from a trip
to Dallas, I had stayed in a room much like the one she described. I'm
not complaining, you understand; my room at the Stoneleigh Hotel was superb,
replete with captioning; two flashing fire alarms; an amplified, large-digit
telephone; and, of course, the additional bathroom with the ramp and bars.
Yet, I wondered what would happen if several mobility-impaired people
showed up the same night that several hearing-impaired people did.
Nevertheless, we've come a long way since the days when we lugged our
own TTYs and captioning decoders while traveling. Indeed, traveling has
never been easier for people with disabilities. That's not to say, however,
that we have "arrived."
While hotels seem to be coming along nicely, we are in dire need of improvement
in transportation access. Take airports, for example. Stress mounts from
the moment we walk up to the ticket counter and struggle to understand
what gate we're supposed to go to (and how we're supposed to get there).
We then make our way toward the security passageway. Although most
people feel some sense of protection from increased airport security,
for those of us who don't hear well, it's just another hurdle to clear
in the obstacle course to our destination.
Because the battery in my cochlear implant trips metal detection alarms,
I face a dilemma: Should I or should I not remove the battery before entering?
After much trial and error, I started removing the battery and placing
it in the cup near the dreaded passageway. This worked fine until the
time I forgot the spare battery in my pocket. Confusion ensued.
Speaking of confusion, Max Chartrand, Ph.D., one of our staff members
and a fellow implant user, has had a number of unsettling experiences
while traveling. He shares the following escapade:
"In 1989, my wife and I were traveling through Spain. As we deplaned, I got a little ahead of her. All along the way were soldiers with wicked looking guns strapped over their shoulders, suspicious eyes glaring at us. We were marched around, as if to a death camp, guns waving us along. I accidentally took a wrong turn as we wound our way to the passenger holding area. Suddenly, I heard shouting and felt the pounding of heavy feet on the floor behind me: AK-47 guns were pointing at me from every direction!"
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