Tag Archives: disabilities

Adaptive Golf

Whether you want to learn the game or hone your skills, there is a golf program for everyone! Many solutions exist for whatever stops you from enjoying the game of golf, from carts to clubs to accessories and specialty devices.

Adaptive golf carts now have swivel and extending seats and armrests to play while seated as well as elevating lifts that allow paraplegics and others with limited leg strength to play from a standing position.
Adaptive golf clubs can have special grips for those with missing fingers, deformed hands, osteoarthritis or loss of strength. Some are specialized for seated or standing golfers. Some club shafts are bent for seated individuals.
Gloves and grip aids include prosthetic golf grip devices, elastic gripping devices and more.
Accessories include tee setters and ball retrieval systems to reduce bending. One device even stabilizes your balance.

Search for a golf program for those with disabilities in your area to get tailored instruction from golf instructors certified to teach. For more information, check out national associations like the National Alliance for Accessible Golf, the Disabled Sports USA, and/or the United States Golf Assoc.

The Adaptive Golf Foundation of America has scrambles, classics, opens, championships and tournaments across the country throughout the year.

Universal design

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Universal Design makes things safer, easier and more convenient for everyone.
Universal Design involves designing products and spaces so that they can be used by the widest range of people possible. Universal Design evolved from Accessible Design, a design process that addresses the needs of people with disabilities. Universal Design goes further by recognizing that there is a wide spectrum of human abilities. Everyone, even the most able-bodied person, passes through childhood, periods of temporary illness, injury and old age. By designing for this human diversity, we can create things that will be easier for all people to use.

Who Does Universal Design Benefit?
Everyone.
Universal Design takes into account the full range of human diversity, including physical, perceptual and cognitive abilities, as well as different body sizes and shapes. By designing for this diversity, we can create things that are more functional and more user-friendly for everyone. For instance, curb cuts at sidewalks were initially designed for people who use wheelchairs, but they are now also used by pedestrians with strollers or rolling luggage. Curb cuts have added functionality to sidewalks that we can all benefit from.

What can be Universally Designed?
Everything.

Universal Design can apply to anything that can be designed, including products like door handles, kitchen utensils and smartphones.
Universal Design can be applied to architecture and the built environment, including public and commercial buildings, as well as residential buildings and family homes.
Universal Design can also be applied to the community at large through urban planning and public transportation.

Universal Design vs. the Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a piece of legislation that protects the civil rights of people with disabilities by ensuring that they are not unfairly denied access to job opportunities, goods or services due to their disability. The ADA includes the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design, which outlines accessibility requirements for buildings and facilities. There is a great deal of overlap between what is required under the ADA and what would be suggested by Universal Design, but there are also differences. The ADA outlines the bare minimum necessary in order to curb discrimination against people with disabilities, while Universal Design strives to meet the best practices for design, which are always evolving and improving as we continue to learn more about how to best meet people’s different needs. The ADA focuses solely on the civil rights of people with disabilities, while Universal Design is designed with everyone in mind. The ADA does not apply to single family residences, while Universal Design can and should.

Below are some examples of universal designs:

Low Force Flooring Materials
There is actually a reason that short, stiff carpets and hard surface floors are found in most public buildings. If you use a wheelchair, you know how difficult it can be to push through even slightly plush carpet. Wheelchairs, handcarts, strollers – they are all easier to operate on hard surfaces.

Seamless Room Transitions
Room thresholds are most common in transitions between areas of carpeting and hard surfaces, and those lips can be not only difficult, but painful to maneuver over. Sticking to a consistent flooring style and removing those thresholds can make a huge impact on ease of maneuvering an interior.

Access for Pools
An hour of freely moving around in the water gives people with severe arthritis, muscle atrophy, and more a way to recover and live a significantly more pain-free life. This is why an increasing number of public pools have accessible chairs on metal arms by the side of the pool.

Lever Handles Instead of Knobs
Knobs, while being visually more appealing, require quite a bit more arm and wrist torque to move the bolt. Lever handles require both less force and overall motion.

Close Captioning/Large Print
Tablets, eReaders, smartphones, and more have shortcuts to increase font size easily – another great example of subtle universal design. This is the same principle behind why Netflix, YouTube and others alike now have captioning built in. Disability or not, these features can make life easier.

Great Career Options For Those With DisAbilities

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In today’s highly-competitive workforce, finding a quality job can be a challenge. For individuals with disAbilities, the competition is even more extreme, but there are some positive changes on the horizon. Career opportunities are greater than they have ever been for individuals with disAbilities. This is largely credited to the ADA, which helps accommodate people with disAbilities and works to prevent discrimination within the workforce.

Here are a few great options for those with disAbilities to claim a spot on the workforce.

Working From Home
From jobs as writers, salespersons or teachers through online courses, people with disAbilities have a wide variety of options available when it comes to working from home. There are also excellent opportunities for teaching gigs outside the home, as most schools are very wheelchair-friendly.
Working in Finance
Accounting and financial jobs are viable career paths for those that need mobility help as office buildings have become more and more accessible throughout the years. Ernest & Young was listed as number one on Diversity Inc.’s “Top 10 Companies for People With DisAbilities” list. Also on the list was the Hardfort Financial Services Group.
Working with Computers
Another great option for a career is one involving computers. This Internet and electronic age is booming. With more demand for people that are technologically savvy comes more prospects for job seekers. IBM is not only another one of the top employers for candidates with disAbilities but also a leader in computer technology. Computer systems analysts and software developers usually require a bachelor’s degree in computer sciences or a similar field, but technical vocation jobs are available for those without related degrees and require less schooling.
Legal Careers
The legal world is another field that is accommodating for mobility assistance. Being a lawyer for those who share your disAbilities may even be your niche. There are many other options for a legal career such as being a legal secretary, paralegal or legal assistant, all of which require certification but do not necessarily require a degree.
Government Jobs
Lastly, the government is a great employer for people with disAbilities. Since the 1980s, federal employment has remained at 7 percent.

Where to Find your Career
The easiest place to start looking today is on online job boards. While there are many job boards to choose from, GettingHired.com accommodates people with disabilities by providing special search filters.

No matter where you start your search, it’s important to get out there and jump into the job hunt, knowing that the ADA, and yourself, can demand the necessary accommodations for equal opportunity in the workforce.

Is Your Business Accessible and Safe?

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More awareness has been focused on making buildings accessible and safe for those with disAbilities. With the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, businesses must provide everyone equal access around their property. However, despite these regulations there are still businesses that have failed to meet federal guidelines. For those failing to comply, fines and penalties can be severe and can potentially lead to the closure of the business if changes are not made in a timely manner. According to the ADA, businesses are required to make reasonable accommodations allowing everyone to enjoy the goods and services provided by the business. In order to comply, several areas must be addressed.

Entryways
Wheelchair users find many businesses almost impossible to enter. If the only access to a building is steps or stairs, the ADA requires that a wheelchair-accessible ramp be provided to allow easy access to the building.

Auxiliary Communication Assistance
For those individuals who are blind or need other assistance with communication, the ADA also requires businesses to make the appropriate accommodations for them as well. Signage outside offices, bathrooms and other areas is required to have words in Braille, and employees who have communication disabilities are also required to have access to closed-captioning and sign-language interpretation if needed.

Bathrooms
For years bathrooms in almost all businesses were obstacles that many found to be nearly insurmountable challenges. However, with the passage of the ADA, using a bathroom has become much easier for both customers and employees with a disability. According to ADA regulations, all bathrooms should have at least one stall that is designed for people with a disability. The door to the stall is required to be wide enough for a mobility device to easily go through, and the stall large enough to have room for the individual and another person if necessary to assist. Hand rails are also required for safety and comfort, and the sinks are to be low enough for a person using a wheelchair to easily reach and use.

Parking
All states require businesses to provide parking spaces that are designated exclusively for drivers with a disability. The parking spaces should be clearly marked and located as close to the business as possible, and are usually near a wheelchair-accessible ramp. The penalties for parking in a handicapped parking space can be severe, often resulting in a fine of $500 and the vehicle being towed away at the owner’s expense.

Aisles
While the least-regulated aspect of most businesses, aisles still fall under ADA rules and must be in compliance with federal regulations. Under ADA rules, aisles in retail businesses or others as well must be free of any barriers that would prohibit a person in a wheelchair from gaining access to that area. However, it’s recommended by most experts that in addition to being barrier-free, all aisles be clear of clutter and be made wide enough for shoppers using a mobility device to easily navigate. While not required by law, doing so is seen as an act of courtesy and respect for employees and customers.

Fines and Penalties
To ensure your business is in compliance with ADA laws, it’s a good idea to have a safety audit. Hiring an expert to conduct a safety and accessibility audit is the best way to ensure your business is in full compliance and is in no way violating ADA regulations. Under Title III of the ADA, the maximum penalty for a first violation of ADA rules is set at $75,000. For a second violation, the fine goes up to $150,000. If the Department of Justice finds evidence of repeated violations, the fines can accrue significantly and can greatly affect businesses that are operating with profit margins that have little or no room for error. The federal government is currently very aggressive with its ADA enforcement, with healthcare businesses currently being targeted for investigation due to the DOJ’s Barrier-Free Health Care Initiative.

While much has been done to make the world an easier place for people of all abilities to live and work, it is clear there is still much work left to be done. However, with continued ADA enforcement equal access is getting easier by the day.

The Pros and Cons of Public Transportation

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The Pros of Public Transportation
Public transport is becoming increasingly accessible for passengers with disabilities and many buses and trains are now equipped with wheelchair access. There has also been an increase in public transport routes, which for many people may open up new opportunities to use public transport.

Many passengers with disabilities are entitled to public transport subsidies and fare reductions. This can make public transport an excellent option for those who are traveling on a budget or do not have access to their own vehicle.

Bus and train rides can also be very enjoyable experiences for many special needs children who are fascinated by watching the world zoom by outside of the window.

The Cons of Public Transportation
Public transport can mean long waiting times and unexpected delays. It can often also become crowded and noisy, which can make life difficult for children and adults with special needs. For those who require a wheelchair, space can also be a challenge. Whilst public transport can be a great solution for those who happen to be on the right bus route or train line, unfortunately, not everyone is so lucky.