Making the World More Accessible: Disability Challenges & Solutions | Part 2

What does accessibility actually look like from the perspective of someone who lives with a disability every day?

In Part 2 of his series on navigating life's challenges with a disability, Barrett shares firsthand experiences with hotels, accessible bathrooms, travel, and public spaces that may be labeled “accessible” but don't always work well for the people who need them.

Rather than stopping with the problems, Barrett discusses potential solutions—including businesses listening directly to people with disabilities, asking for feedback, and using that feedback to create better experiences.

His larger message is that better accessibility doesn't only help people with disabilities. Thoughtful design can make life easier for everyone.

Transcript

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So tell us how we're going to do for you. I got it from here. Welcome back to another episode of Van Swaggy Life Podcast. This is part two of how people with this filming can deal with the challenges of this world part two. So let's talk about today's episode. The challenges that people will face in our world today. Now, I'm in the US, so I'm just gonna go by what I've seen in my 23 years' lifetime at a time. So from what I've seen by watching YouTube and reading uh books on social media and other events I went to, I go back to this over and over again, but a lot of people do not take disability people serious. I know for me, sometimes I have to act like I'm way older than my age to earn interest or being with people and respect. And it shouldn't be that way. I should be able to act like my nor normal age in my normal style, but obviously I can't because then I don't get don't get taken serious and it makes it a lot harder when I need help with something uh tell somebody on how d do something. But also from what I've seen from going to advances, not a lot of people accommodate people with disabilities very well. Yes, they like bio tells example. Yes, they um say that, you know, the bathroom is a wheelchair user accessible, but if you're a blind person on a wheelchair user and you can barely get your chair in the bathroom or not get your chair in the bathroom at all, then it's no it's no good to you. I wish that they had something for uh like people that are there thinking I don't like using that phrase. But I wish they had something for people that came here on like on the door saying that somebody locked on the door like you know, having a light that flashes, let them know somebody at the door or get rid of those roofs under the bed 'cause what the issue is with a lot of hotels, they have the a box under the bed and for somebody that uses the ma main hair lift you can't get the person on b on on the bed safely. It can't be done very d dangerously and not saved all and they can easily get falling, get hurt. Trust me, I I I can speak from experience. I can't say how many times I got bruised up by the main order lips. I'm glad that I'm able to sleep in my chair when I'm uh going to a hotel room, but also for people that want to do that, they should have the option uh advertised the option of you know, taking the box out that is under like under the better test of it, however they do it. Because if hotels listen to people with dis disabilities, that's number one problem. And really I feel like for the hotels that can remove that box, I think they need to advertise that on their website. Now I could be wrong by the time this is being you know out there, but I have seen the websites that I visited to in the hotel that they don't advertise it. You don't know unless you ask. But if they advertise it, then I think they would have more customers. I really do because, you know, it's like oh yeah, we can stay here 'cause I can get in the b in the bed safely and sleep nice. I just wish it, you know, as an accessible bathroom as another issue that I see other people face. Not just me. They call it a a accessible bathroom all because it's gonna handle right beside the tongue. We can managers at one. That should not be the case. Or they say it's an accessible bathroom, but there's a lip that you have to walk over. And I know by watching YouTube videos and using my smart, I know um people that are blind or critically visually impaired when they have to start over into like the show or bathtub that's an easy ball basket, as well as people that can walk that have several policy asks myself. But I can't walk, so I don't have to deal with that. And another thing is traveling with airplanes. I'm gonna talk about this on a on a feature podcast, but the airplane should be more accommodating for people in wheelchairs and people that have trouble walking long distances. I won't go too much in detail because um I'm gonna break down how much I might drastic do other people with especially with wheelchairs and put their equipment and library online every time they fly. And trust me, the numbers are very small but very dramatic. And I'll share some of my experiences. So I kind of touched on this earlier. But what are some solutions we can come up with to improve the stigma and solutions that we deal with today? One of my solutions is having guidelines on what accessible rooms are hotels, but also encouraging people with disabilities and other business owners. Like encouraging both sides to want to do a survey, not just not just a hotels, but like okay, what do you think we can do to improve on the scenario? And I know as people sometimes you might be thinking, uh, the survey is gonna take away my time. Honestly, why I like doing surveys and not just not just like, you know, boring ones like McDonald's or Amazon, for example. How are you thinking satisfied with your delivery? It's like, what can we do to be more included in in terms of the disability aspect as well as the what can we do to make it better? And it's our job as as the disability community to at least surveys and be honest and share new idea uh share new ideas or share how satisfied we are with m you know, the place, what they might can do as a as an ideal, you know, to build their hotel and obviously more and more businesses and more and more creators and consumers need to listen to their, you know, feedback and take it to heart and really be responsive. Because the more responsive you are, the more I would be willing to give you feedback, but I'm sure other people would be as well. And I don't have all the solutions, nobody does, but I encourage you with this. If we come together instead of instead of as a divide a dividing world, if we come together and make figure out ideas to make the world more accessible and more cohesive than not only when other people with discipline uh have a better life, but you will find that as an example, cutout curves are uh perfect for strollers and people that have to carry walkers. Then you'll find it will be more beneficial, not just people with disabilities, but with people without disabilities as well. I really hope you take my recommendations to art. I would like to hear your thoughts. You can email me at B A R E T S dot S W A G G Y L I F at Gmail.com. Thank you, and I really hope you enjoyed today's episode.