At the GA Aquarium w/ the kids

By: Gisenard Flambert

  

                

     

Visiting the Georgia Aquarium is something I have wanted to do since I moved here to Georgia 7 years ago. Although I was unable to find someone with a disability to take to the Aquarium, I did imagine what it would be like taking a child who is unable to walk and in a wheelchair. I did visit the facility with my childhood friend and her two children. I actually went to their home on a Saturday and just getting them ready to go to the Aquarium was a job within itself.

I automatically noticed the Accessibility at the Aquarium once we arrived to the parking deck. There were parking spaces for people with disability. There were elevators to take yourself and child to the different shows they were showing. There are carpets that indicate the handicap sign in front of some of the exhibits. I assumed that people would not use the space just in case a person in a wheelchair would want to see the exhibit, but that was not the case. People were standing right on the sign which would make it difficult for a person in a wheelchair or scooter to see. I did notice that the touch pool exhibit was accessible for people in wheelchairs and there was a parent with her child that was in a wheelchair receiving one on one attention from the staff. I thought that was great because the child was able to experience touching the star fishes. When I went into the bathroom I was a bit upset to see how small it was and I thought about how difficult it would be to take your child into the stall that is available for handicap. My friend even noticed and mentioned how small the handicap stall was when her kids had to use the restroom. The Georgia Aquarium builders really didn’t thin it through when it came to building bigger bathrooms with accessibility for the disabled.

The Activity level at the Aquarium was pretty intense due to the all the different amount people that were there for the overall experience. People were at the gift shop, eating lunch and just going over to see the different exhibits. There were also shows such as the Dolphin Tale show and the 3D movie for people to attend to at certain times, which the kids and I really enjoyed.

             

       

The Crowding level at the Aquarium was high because at times people were basically walking and bumping into each other at the exhibits.It was mainly the adults that had difficulty getting through to see the exhibits. My friend’s children were able to go through the crowd to get to the front of the exhibit which made me a bit jealous of them, because I was not able to do what they could to get in the front with them. I would say the comfort level for a parent with a child in a wheelchair would not be good. People would probably bump into the child and the parent would always have to look out and make sure nobody gets injured by the wheelchair. The aquarium is not a place where a person would be able to have any type of privacy because it is filled with people constantly talking. As far as the Sociality level, there is plenty of that at the aquarium. There are so many people at the aquarium that come from different parts of the states to visit and when there is so much diversity in a place, people tend to want to strike a conversations about their background and most importantly their children. Sensory Stimulation was not a problem at all for us. The kids were able to touch different sea animals, the smell would get pretty intense depending on which exhibit we were observing. We decided to go to a local wing place for dinner and our sensory stimulation continued there, because by then we were able to take in the great smells that were coming from the kitchen of the restaurant.

Prior to taking this course I never really tried to imagine what a parent with a child in a wheelchair would have to go through if they decide to attend an event or go to a place such as the aquarium. Having to worry about my friend’s two kids comfort level was already intense for me, because as an adult we have to make sure that the children’s experience is a good one. My overall experience was great. The majority of the time my friend’s kids were trying to calm me down because I was just a bit too excited to be at the aquarium. I was a big kid for one day.