Disability in the Physical Environment: Chili's Accessible Date Assignment

Accessibility Assignment

Todd Stumbo

Kennesaw State University

September 13, 2012 my wife and I ventured out to celebrate our third anniversary. I always take her to where we first met, a restaurant called Chili’s on North Point Parkway in Alpharetta, GA. As we traveled towards our romantic destination I decided to formulate a plan to research eight dimensions of the physical environment and the interaction they have with human behavior. Those eight components were accessibility, activity, adaptability, privacy, sensory stimulation, sociality, crowding and control.

As defined in our book, accessibility is the ease of use and movement in and through the environment (Hutchinson, 2011). Chili’s only had handicap parking on one side of their building and no handicap accessible door openers for their front doors or secondary doors. In the restaurant it appeared that movement would be fairly easy for someone who was faced with restricted mobility and access to seating wasn’t an issue. In the men’s restroom they had a clean handicap accessible stall and sinks low enough for someone in a wheelchair to use. Chili’s accessibility was appropriate, lacking only in the amount of handicap parking and handicap accessible door openers.

Activity refers to the perceived intensity of ongoing behavior within a particular environment (Hutchinson, 2011). It appeared most of the evening activity was ongoing in the bar area where most people seemed to be making use of “happy hour”. If someone had an anxiety disorder or a related disability that even was mild this atmosphere could cause significant issues. A Chili’s representative did tell me that they allowed service dogs in their restaurants if needed for people with such disorders.

The third component is adaptability. It is defined as the extent to which an environment and its elements can be rearranged or altered to assist new or different patterns of behavior (Hutchinson, 2011). Chili’s, to me, can be quite adaptable. Their tables and chairs can be moved easily to accommodate larger crowds, the lighting can be altered, different events shown on the TV’s depending on the crowd they have attracted and even special food items can be made upon request.

Next is privacy. Privacy refers to the selective control of access to and individual or an individual’s group (Hutchinson, 2011). In my estimation we had plenty of privacy within this restaurant setting. If someone had a disability such as severe Tourette’s syndrome it could be looked at that this restaurant setting does not have enough privacy.

Sensory stimulation is defined as the quality and intensity of stimulation experienced by taste, touch, feeling, hearing and sight (Hutchinson, 2011). Chili’s is a restaurant so clearly the food rouses the taste, smell, touch, sight and even the hearing senses. They also has multiple TV’s, open areas with lots of windows and a variety of people with a variety of culture and languages. They also accommodate people with disabilities that affect their sensory modalities. They have a full menu written in braille for those who request it and they will happily read the menu aloud to the customer if needed. Chili’s also provides services such as text messaging or hand written notes to communicate with the customer who is hard of hearing or deaf.

When it comes to sociality Chili’s definitely can facilitate that. Sociality is defined as a degree to which an environment facilitates or hinders social contact or interaction among people (Hutchinson, 2011). Chili’s is designed for social contact. They have different areas to accommodate many types of crowds. Chili’s has large booths that can seat 6-8 people, tables that can seat 2-4 and a bar area with a variety of seating as well.

Crowding is described as an unfriendly or objectionable experience of being spatially constrained or overcrowded (Hutchinson, 2011). Chili’s is an environment that can become overcrowded and cause problems to people with anxiety disorders, claustrophobia, etc. Overall the people I saw seemed to enjoy themselves.

Last is control. Defined as the extent to which an environment fosters personalization and portraits territorial claims to an area (Hutchinson, 2011). Chili’s does this by having separated tables and booths throughout their restaurant. It allows people to feel in control of the environment right in front of them and not just anyone can come up and interrupt it.