LEG PMLA RS tla, Tot SURE TG IN BCI EMBL SSL RIAN DROME NASA LIES OO ESL WILLPOWER, TIME NEEDED TRAVEL OPPORTUNITIES for the disabled are as many and as varied as for anyone else. It simply takes the willpower, the time, the money and some careful planning to pull it off. “Any degree of disabled person can travel. The secret is people have to be really honest about their disability and level of help they need. Just like any good trip, you have to plan ahead,"’ said Ann Finlay, a community occupational therapist for the North Shore Health Department and a private consultant. Approximately 20 people at- tended a workshop Saturday orga- nized by Finlay through North Shore Continuing Education. Guest speakers included travel tepresentatives, medical profes- sionals and experienced disabled travellers. To highlight the scope of possibilities, Dr. Roy Jeffries related a story about two elderly disabled people who live in an ex- tended care hospital. One went to New Zealand and the other went to Scouland. They wanted to see their home countries before they died. “They did it and returned feel- ing better than when they left,’ she said. According to Finlay, some sec- tors of the travel industry repre- senting both carriers and trip brokers have made concerted ef- forts to break down some of the traditional obstacles facing disabl- ed travellers, Newly designed cruiseships and aircraft incorporating features designed to maximize mobility, custom-designed get-away vans with wheelchair lifts, travel dis- ‘Fisherman's Cabin, Dollarton’ counts for the travelling attendants of the disabled are but a few of the progressive responses. “My feelings are at this point, the airlines have made more of an effort to accommodate the disabl- ed travelfer,’’ Finlay said. She points to new aircraft pro- duced by Beeing designed with features including more accessible washrooms, narrow boarding wheelchairs and seating with arm rests that lift up on seats making possible sliding transfers from wheelchair to seat. “Hf the right physical conditions are there, then it may be possible for a wheelchair traveller to travel without an attendant,"’ she said. ‘Airlines have also made available more attendant help and there is generally more awareness of the needs of the disabled in the airlines."’ Tying it all together, IATA (In- ternational Air Transportation Association) has, coded in its bookings format, listings which categorize degrees of disability for individual travellers. An enthusiastic traveller herself, Finlay has, over the course of her own wanderings, collected specialized travel information for the disabled from all over the world, She emphasizes there are ways to narriscn 20x24 29 - Wednesday, November 18, 1987 - North Shore News Dera aes © ot Ee legal costs PAGE 42 SEE i Ae NEWS photo Tom Burloy DISABLED TRAVELLER Sylvia Bendrodt, left, Stan George and occupational therapist Ann Finlay browse through some of the wealth of information Finlay has available on travel for the disabled. Finlay held a - workshop Saturday afternoon at Carson Graham Secondary School. get around the medical and logistical problems with some solid pre-trip planning. “For example people can travel See Travel Page 30 “VANCOUVER — THE SEASONS” You are invited to attend an exhibition of new works by GEORGE W. BATES November 18th to 24th, 1987 at 2932 Granville Street 7 MDT alae OSE E PE T Vancouver, 3.C. 732-521 7 reas