Mother's Day and accessibility Part II

Attending events at venues like a stadium makes me more conscious of how much more work remains to be done to make large scale events and venues accessible. I’m very fortunate to be able to walk, but it is still a challenge to navigate a stadium setting. While the venue was ADA compliant, I think the vast majority of stadiums could be more thoughtful in their approach. On Sunday, when the game concluded, one of the staff impatiently told me that I needed to exit quickly because the game was over. 

The reality is that I couldn’t exit quickly because there were places with no rails.  Even with rails I’m not as fast as the average person and never will be. What’s more, I need someone to walk with me for safety reasons. I’m not talking about stadium staff, I'm referencing someone at the event who accompanied me. 

    

Some venues have a really good understanding of my needs and have dedicated ushers to walk you to your seat before the show and help you out after the crowd has cleared.  I always leave myself a lot of lead time at large scale events because I know they will be difficult to navigate.

Aside from the physical challenges, it is important that I am organized for an outing of this scale (whether that means having my tickets easily accessible on my phone or remembering to bring medication that I will need to take during the event.)  This is not easy for someone who didn't start using an iPhone until years after my accident; I was one of the few remaining BlackBerry users at the time of my accident in 2016.

It's frustrating to encounter employees at a large venue treating people with disabilities with less respect than other patrons. It didn’t happen this weekend, but I’ve even experienced an usher telling me “ You shouldn’t even be here.” 

    

Disability or not— TBI or not— I deserve to enjoy a baseball game with my kids on Mother’s Day.