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Lucas “LazyLegz” Patuelli

Escuelas cerradas para mayoría de sordos del país

By Craig Grimes

Nicaragua:

“La mayoría de sordos del país sigue sin ir a la escuela. Según datos de la Asociación Nacional de Sordos de Nicaragua (Ansnic) sólo un poco más del 20.8 por ciento de los que carecen de capacidad auditiva asiste a clases.

Es decir que de las 12 mil personas que no oyen en Nicaragua, sólo 2,500 logra estudiar. “La mayoría no va la escuela porque el colegio les queda largo de sus comunidades y porque no hay suficientes instructores del lenguaje de señas”, explica Sandra López, de Ansnic y de la Asociación de Intérpretes del Lenguaje de Señas de Nicaragua.”

Mas

Fuente: El Nuevo Diario

Posted in Blind, Deaf, Education, En Castellano, Discrimination, Central America, Media, News, Nicaragua | No Comments

Play&Tour Routes for People with Disabilities

By Craig Grimes

On the 27th May 2008 I blogged about Play&Tour and their new audio guides in Barcelona and beyond. Whilst in Barcelona I met with the company and discussed how we could move the project forward for people with disabilities. We have agreed to create a map with various routes without barriers for wheelchair users and clearly mark them on their PDF maps. As well as this we will also show the locations of establishments that have facilities for people with disabilities along each route.

In the near future we will also be testing routes with the Catalan Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired to establish whether the audio guide may be useful for people with visual impairments. We are also looking at the possibility of creating a Universal GPS Guide for Barcelona that can be used by people with physical disabilities, blind, deaf and the wider general public. More details to come about this project later in the year or early 2009.

However, until this is available you can still download the general Barcelona audio guide for MP3 players, iPods and mobile phones here.

Posted in Spain, Guided Tours, Blind, Deaf, Technology, News, Universal Design, Media, Barcelona, Travel | No Comments

Manual de Accesibilidad para Hoteles

By Craig Grimes

PAUP, plan de accesibilidad de paradores

PAUP, plan de accesibilidad de Paradores

El Plan de Accesibilidad Universal de Paradores (PAUP), es una estrategia empresarial incluida en el Plan Estratégico 2004-2008 y que persigue la mayor adaptación posible de nuestros productos y servicios para todos nuestros clientes, como apuesta innovadora y de futuro del compromiso de responsabilidad social corporativa de la Red.

Una de las principales medidas desarrolladas en materia de accesibilidad ha sido la redacción de un Manual de Accesibilidad Universal, hecho a medida de las instalaciones hoteleras y que pretende ser una herramienta práctica y útil que proporcione soluciones en accesibilidad con comodidad y seguridad en cada uno de los Paradores, así como en cualquier otro establecimiento del sector.

El manual ya está siendo utilizado por los establecimientos de la Red y resume en 23 fichas técnicas todas las exigencias legales planteadas en esta materia por las comunidades autónomas. Además, en este documento se tienen en cuenta factores como la seguridad, el confort, la funcionalidad y la accesibilidad compatible con el carácter histórico y monumental de buena parte de los Paradores.

En el marco del PAUP también se ha creado la ‘Guía de Buenas Prácticas en Accesibilidad Universal de Paradores’, destinada a todo el personal de la Red y en el que se recopilan una serie de recomendaciones y orientaciones prácticas para cada uno de los departamentos del Parador, con el fin de brindar la mejor atención y servicio posibles.

Asimismo, también se ha desarrollado el proyecto denominado ‘Control de la Iluminación en Habitación Accesible’ y que consiste en el desarrollo e implantación de un sistema que permite el control automatizado del entorno de la habitación por parte del cliente, operando conjuntamente de forma convencional y de forma móvil.

El primer paso decisivo para el desarrollo del PAUP ha sido la realización de un estudio que ha permitido identificar el grado de accesibilidad de cada parador. Con este análisis y ya en una segunda fase, que se está implantando en muchos establecimientos, se pueden solucionar muchos de los obstáculos que se han ido detectando, ya que el objetivo de la Red es conseguir un nivel mínimo homogéneo en materia de accesibilidad en todos los establecimientos.

La oferta gastronómica también se ha visto modificada gracias al PAUP, ya que ahora todos los Paradores incluyen una oferta específica para colectivos con necesidades dietéticas especiales, como celíacos, hipertensos, diabéticos, niños o bebés, entre otros.

En este enlace puede acceder al Manual de Accesibilidad Universal para Hoteles.

Fuente: Paradores de Turismo

Posted in Blind, Deaf, Architecture, En Castellano, Spain, Universal Design, Accommodation, Travel | No Comments

Deaf Guide Training Course - Evaluation

By Craig Grimes

Above: Brain Storm Board after the course.

After the course finished, Geo, Jes and I sat down together to discuss what went well and what could be improved for another Deaf Guide Training Course. During the course we made the decision to cut it down from 6 to 5 days as some of the participants were unable to attend on a Saturday. In our discusions after the course we decided that we would again use a 5 day format if we were to undertake another course. This would include 4 days of worshops and then the final day of touring.

We also structured the course slightly better, to teach a little more methodically with an obvious progression in the subject matter, grammar and vocabulary as well as introducing the basic concepts of inclusive tourism for deaf people, being a good tour guide and the use of resources to develop routes. We also had a brainstorm to decide which of the games that we used we liked and also invented some new ones for the next course.

Another thing that we noticed was that the group bonded very well, if we were to run another course we would want to do it as a residential to further create lasting friendships and a good working environment.

All in all we were very pleased with the way that we taught the course although we were able to see where we could improve. The overall outcome was incredible, not only could the Deaf Nicaraguan group give a tour in ASL, but I also learnt so much as a non-sign language user that by the end of the week I could communicate much better with my deaf friends.

I’d very much like to thank both Jes and Geo for their help, patience and frienship throughout the course. Without them none of this would have been possible.

Below: PDF file of the new Deaf Guide Trainig Course Program and a thank you photo for Geo and Jes.

Deaf Guide Training Course - Revised Program

Posted in Guided Tours, Deaf, AccessibleNicaragua, Central America, Nicaragua, Travel | No Comments

Deaf Guide Training Course - Teaching Summary

By Craig Grimes

Above: Some of the gang from the Deaf Guide Training Course on the after course party.

My initial idea was to write about the course every day, but that turned out just to be too much as it was so intense and tiring! So here’s a summary of the teaching part of the course.

Without going into too much detail and boring everyone, we undertook the course by teaching the alphabet and numbers and then going into ASL grammar and useful vocabulary relating to guided tours such as different buildings, practising dates, the weather, modes of transport, etc. We incorporated lots of games in the course including ASL Bingo and role playing in order to help the participants practise what they were learning and also to allow them to get to know each other better. Frequent breaks were a neccesity as was a change of scenary one morning where we played games in a cafe in Matagalpa and visited the Cathedral.

We also combined all 4 languages; ASL, ISN, English and Spanish as a teaching method, this was something I was a little concerened about, but actually worked very well. Geo wrote a word in English on the white board, then I translated it into Spanish, after which the sudents would show us the sign for the word in ISN and then Geo would teach them the ASL equivalent. This not only taught the students the sign in ASL, but they could also relate their own sign in ISN to the word to help them remember the ASL.

The participants reacted well to the teaching part of the course and we couldn’t get them to stop working even during their breaks (it seems as though it was us that needed the breaks more than the participants!). On the final day of teaching we gave them different tour routes in Matagalpa with all of the information that they required in Spanish. They then had to translate the main meanings of the phrases into English and look up the ASL sign on ASLPro or ask Geo or Jes to help them. Where there wasn’t a particular sign we would help them practise finger spelling the word in English.