Christina Johnson - Accessible Date

Christina Johnson

Accessible Date

For my physical environment assignment, I wanted to go out with my father, who is disabled, but our schedules could not match up. Instead, I went to visit a friend of mine, Justin. Justin and I are not disabled and could not find a wheelchair or crutches to borrow from someone, so we just made sure to pay close attention to the details around us.

I went to pick up Justin at his apartment for our date and realized that my car is definitely not wheelchair accessible. When I got to his building I noticed his building is not wheelchair accessible either. He lives on the second floor, with no elevator or ramp of some kind. We decided we would go to dinner and see a movie, then find a place for privacy at his apartment complex, since we could not use his apartment.

Justin was in the mood for breakfast, so we went to IHOP, which I knew was wheelchair accessible because I take my father there a lot. Accessibility really was not an issue. They had handicapped reserved parking right by the door, with a wheelchair ramp next to it. If you opened both doors, the wheelchairs had more than enough room to pass through.  They had plenty of wheelchair accessible tables and booths at the restaurant. We were not going to sit at one since neither of us was in a wheelchair and just in case someone in a wheelchair came in and wanted to sit there. Crowding was not an issue either, as the restaurant was mostly empty. I noticed that IHOP had great adaptability, in that if they wanted to or needed to, they could easily change any of the bigger booths to be wheelchair accessible by pushing the chair up to the end of the table, which I had seen done before, but never really paid too much attention to it. IHOP’s ability to adapt to a wheelchair is better than most restaurants. I suppose if you wanted sociability with people other than the ones at your table, you could easily talk to the table next to you. 

After we finished eating, we went to the movies. I got into the habit of leaving my cell phone in the car when going to the movies, so I did not get any pictures inside. They had one row of wheelchair accessible seating, with two chairs on each end, assuming for a companion. There was a lot of activity at the movies, which was to be expected. Since the wheelchairs sit at about the same level the theater seats do, I imagine the traffic would not be so bothersome. We decided to sit in the companion seats to get an idea of the amount of traffic those seats get.  We decided to move if anyone came in needing those seats, but it never happened, so we stayed.  I did notice a possible crowding issue at the end of the movie. If everyone is trying to leave at the same time as someone with a wheelchair is, that could be a problem. I know my father likes to watch the credits to see if there are any extras after, so he’s never experienced this crowding issue. A movie theater is not really a good place for sociability since it’s meant to be a quiet place to watch a movie. We experienced sensory stimulation while watching the movie. We saw Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, which is a cartoon. It had a ton of bright colors and loud noises. I imagine that someone with epilepsy has to be aware of these things when they go to the movies. 

After the movie, we decided to go back to his apartment for privacy. On our way out of the apartment complex earlier we found this gazebo tucked behind his building, so we went back there to sit and enjoy some quiet. We sat and talked for a while about this project and all the things we noticed that we had not noticed before.  

An Auburn University tradition is to throw toilet paper on the trees in the corner downtown when they win a game. Someone poisoned the trees and they had to be cut down, but the tradition still remains as the university hung wires on the corner for the students to roll with toilet paper. As something extra, we walked downtown Auburn to see the madness and if a wheelchair could possibly maneuver through. 

Crowding was a definite issue. There is also only one wheelchair ramp and it was on the other side of the intersection. It would have been very difficult for a wheelchair to get through the crowd and roll through massive amounts of toilet paper on the ground. 

After looking over all the places we went, the movies and IHOP appeared to provide the most comfort for someone in a wheelchair. They were both very accessible and provided a lot of room for a wheelchair to sit comfortably.