Accommodations

October 2004

Since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990), government buildings, parks and recreational facilities have modified their structures to accommodate persons with disabilities. As such, generally, planning a vacation that includes these federally–funded facilities will alleviate some of the challenges that can be found in privately–owned facilities.

That makes our trip to Mount Rushmore's museum all the more disappointing. The museum offers wonderful displays about the history of the monument, including a great section on how Rushmore has become part of pop culture not only in the US, but also around the world. The museum also has a couple of documentaries outlining the history and engineering of the monument that show every half hour in small, intimate theaters.

The bars on the small seat of the chair made it difficult for larger persons to sit. We requested alternative seating, but were told that there was none. It was the theaters that presented the problem. The good news is that there was plenty of room for wheelchairs and scooters in the back of the showing room. The bad news is that the seating was fixed, with rigid arms and small seats (around 18 inches wide). Persons with some forms of arthritis and persons of size cannot use this seating.

Upon requesting a chair without arms, The Ample Traveler© was informed that no such chair was available, but that some of the seats had arms that lifted. This turned out to be less than helpful. The arms did indeed lift, but the metal structure at the base of the arm remained fixed in place. Lifting the arm did little to relieve the smallness of the seat.

Often accommodations are made in facilities without consulting anyone who is disabled or has experience with disabilities. The Ample Traveler© calls this the "we–can’t–think–of–everything" syndrome. We see this all the time on the road. So–called accessible restrooms that are blocked with storage bins and have doors so small that no wheelchair, scooter, or large person can squeeze through. It is as if the thinking behind the space was that hand rails magically transport people from one place to another, solving all their accessibility problems.

When confronted with the inadequacy of the so–called accommodation, the response is usually "well, we couldn’t think of everything." We consider this response inadequate to say the least. Businesses and organizations that want to accommodate their clientele need only ask said clientele what they need. It is a practice that is done quite frequently in this economy through focus groups, surveys, opinion polls and other means of assessing consumer demand.

Accommodations cannot be done with the mentality that a business or organization is "doing" something "for defective people" who "need help." Accommodations are about making room for everyone. That means that communication must take place. An open atmosphere of exchange must take place in which people with particular needs have avenues to make their needs known and businesses or organizations have avenues with which to respond to those requests reasonably. At the heart of accommodation is a human relationship in which both sides are treated as human beings.

At Rushmore, we took the time to write a letter and leave our business card regarding this problem. At the time of publication, we have yet to receive a response though we requested one specifically to share with our readers.

The form we filled out provided an avenue for communication, but it will only work if someone reads the letter and acts upon it. We hope that Rushmore will respond. We’d like to believe that our national parks and monuments have room for everyone.

If you would like to express your concerns to the National Parks Service regarding Mount Rushmore’s museum theater access, you can contact them via phone, letters or e–mail listed on this page: http://www.nps.gov/moru/pphtml/contact.html

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