Blind hiker prepares to thru-hike the Continental Divide Trail

Stretching more than 3100 miles in length, the Continental Divide Trail is one of the longest and most challenging treks in the entire world. Together with the Appalachian Trail and and the Pacific Crest Trail, the CDT makes up the “Triple Crown” of long distance hikes in America. This spring, blind hiker Trevor Thomas will set out to conquer it, starting the journey along the Canadian border and traveling south to the Mexican border.

Thomas, who lost his sight to illness back in 2005, has already backpacked the full length of both the Appalachian Trail (2175 miles) and the Pacific Crest Trail (2650). In the case of the AT, he went completely unassisted and on the PCT he had help only through deep snow and poorly marked areas. When he sets out on the CDT this June, Thomas will be joined by three companions who will assist him through the more challenging sections, although he expects to hike most of the trail just like any sighted hiker would.

As the name implies, the CDT follows the Continental Divide through the Rocky Mountains, passing through five U.S. states in the process. Thomas’ route will take him, and his team, through Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. Along the way, they’ll pass through a variety of sub-mountain ranges including the beautiful San Juans, the Sawatch Range, and the breath taking Grand Tetons. The entire journey is expected to take roughly six months to complete.

You can find out more about their plans at TeamFarSight.org.

National Federation of the Blind claims discrimination by airline kiosk

The National Federation of the Blind issued a press release this morning, with the headline United Airlines Discriminates Against Blind Passengers.

That is obviously the kind of headline that is designed to grab some attention. In it, the federation claims United Airlines is discriminating by making their electronic check-in kiosks inaccessible to blind passengers.

The President of the federation has the following to say:

The airline industry has an unfortunate history of discriminating against blind passengers, and now United Airlines is repeating that history by deploying inaccessible technology that we cannot use. United is engaging in this blatant discrimination even though the technology to make its kiosks accessible is readily available, has been deployed by others, and will involve little cost to the company.

Now, I’m really not sure what to make of this – because it isn’t like the electronic kiosk is the only way to check-in at the airport. One of the arguments made by the NFB is that the lines for checking in with an employee are very long.

Every time I’ve used EasyCheck-In, there have been United employees in close proximity, ready to help me out. Converting the kiosks would require audio feedback, special keyboards and modifications to the screens – all to accomplish something that is possible by requesting a staff member to assist.

I’m not an expert, but I just don’t buy the claim that modifications would involve little cost to the company. ATM’s have been modified for blind users, but the amount of information presented on the screen of a check-in kiosk is quite complex – with things like a seat map and security questions.

The time it would take to have this all presented in audio would most likely make waiting in line much quicker anyway. Also, the risk of making a mistake during this procedure could quickly turn into a real mess, changing flights, canceling segments or removing upgrades. And finally, there is no obligation to use these machines at the airport – as almost every airline in the country offers the ability to check-in online at home, and print your own boarding pass.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m all for helping blind passengers make the experience at the airport just as swift as offered to anyone else, but I can’t help feel that this battle is one that they won’t win. To read the entire press release, click here.

What are your thoughts?

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[Photo from Flickr/Dennis]

People with guide dogs have been denied flights and a hamburger

Guide dogs are nothing new. Most commonly known for helping people who are blind navigate the world around them, they are gaining use in helping people with other types of disabilities. Also called service dogs, some are now being used by war veterans with post traumatic stress disorders. The more service dog use increases, the more likely they will be part of the traveler’s scene. Unfortunately, not everyone who works in the service industry knows the laws and rules that protect service dog owners. This has created a few snafus.

There is a current lawsuit against McDonald’s for a situation that started with the refusal of service. When Luis Carlos Montalván, a former U.S. army captain who was wounded in Iraq, came to a McDonald’s in Brooklyn with his service dog, he was told he could not bring the dog inside. Montalván complained to the company CEO which resulted in a sign installed at the restaurant indicating that service dogs are welcome.

The lawsuit came about after this incident because Montalván claims that when he returned to this McDonald’s after the sign was installed, he was denied service by a different manager. When Montalván later came back with a camera to take a picture of the sign that said he should be able to have service, two employees accosted him.

In another recent guide dog incident, a blind couple and their dog were denied boarding on a Jetstar plane in Australia even though the airline does allow people with service dogs to fly. [Jaunted]

In both of these cases, the problem arose because the people who worked for the organization weren’t aware of the rules of an organization or the law. I would bet they hadn’t come across someone with a service dog before either. As much as a service dog looks like a regular dog, it’s not. Guide dogs are not pets.

What are the laws anyway? In the U.S. the Department of Justice outlines them quite clearly. In essence, a person with a service dog cannot be denied service. Period–except from what I can tell from reading the guidelines, if the dog is barking during a movie or if it acts up somewhere. Since service dogs are taught not to bark or act up, such behavior would be unlikely.

If you do see a service dog, don’t pet it when its harness is on. That means it’s “working” with an important job to do.

Planeterra Foundation gives sight to the blind in Tibet

Tibet is one of the most visually stunning places on Earth, but many Tibetans can’t see it.

Blindness is a serious problem in the developing world. Poverty and lack of rural health care means that millions of people around the world go blind because of easily curable maladies such as cataracts.

One of the organizations fighting to stop curable blindness is the Planeterra Foundation, which recently announced a fund raiser and a video contest. For the past two years Planeterra has set up eye clinics in rural Tibetan villages and performed hundreds of surgeries.

“Tibet has one of the highest rates of blindness in the world. Most of this blindness is due to cataracts, a disease associated with aging but also prevalent among children and the working class. Many are unable to reach a hospital because of poverty and lack of transportation. With scattered populations spread across great distances, surgical eye camps are the most efficient way to treat the high rate of disease,” said Planeterra director Richard Edwards.

Such clinics are very cost effective. A donation of $50 pays for cataract surgery, so if you’ve enjoyed the beauty of the Himalayas, this is a good way to give back.

If you’re handy with a video camera, check out the “Her Sight Is Worth It.” video contest sponsored by Planeterra‘s partner Seva Canada. Young, aspiring filmmakers will create a short videos about vision impairment and gender, with the grand prize winner getting a new MacBook. Three winning videos will be screened at the World Community Film Festival and be honored by having sight restored to one girl and one woman in their name.

Planeterra believes in responsible travel and through its parent company Gap Adventures runs “Voluntours” where travelers can help out in schools in Zambia, study sea turtles in Costa Rica, or assisting street children in Peru. All Voluntours include several days of sightseeing too. Planeterra and Gap Travel are co-winners of the 2009 Responsible Travel and Tourism Forum (RTTF) Leadership Award presented by Baxter Travel Media and Air Canada.

Having trekked around a lot of different countries, I’ve seen many, many people stuck in sightless poverty because they can’t afford such a cheap and simple operation. Luckily Planeterra and Seva Canada aren’t the only folks out there tackling the problem. A number of agencies are fighting blindness. When I went to the Kumbh Mela festival in Allahabad, India, in 2001, there was one guru who had set up a free eye clinic and performed hundreds of cataract surgeries. It must have felt like a miracle for the patients to have their sight restored at Hinduism’s holiest festival.

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Flight attendant afraid of dogs, wants blind woman to move

Guide dogs that people who are blind use in order to have mobility and independence are not like any other dogs. First, they know how to take up very little space if needed. They also don’t bark. They don’t bite. They don’t run around. They stay close to the person they work for, ever ready to guide and help. Unfortunately one woman found a flight attendant on Delta who didn’t know this. The attendant wanted the blind woman moved out of the bulk head seat because she didn’t want to sit next to the dog. She was afraid of the dog.

According to the report in the Consumerist, the woman with the guide dog has flown thirty times with this particular guide dog and always requests bulkhead in order to have room for the dog to sit at her feet. According to the rules established by the Americans with Disabilities Act, a guide dog is like a wheelchair so accommodations need to be made.

Sometimes requesting bulkhead works. Sometimes airlines are not helpful. Snafus happen, and then the snafus are worked out. In this case, the snafu was the flight attendant who also was sitting in a bulkhead seat. Because she is afraid of dogs, she wanted the woman moved to a regular coach seat.

See the problem? Have you ever had a hard time figuring out where you might even place your feet while sitting in a regular coach seat. Now imagine a Labrador, German Shepherd or Standard poodle at your feet. Maybe a foot rest for all three seats in the row if the other passengers AND the guide dog didn’t mind?

In the case of this woman, this guide dog and this flight attendant, a Complaint Resolution Officer was called in to help solve the problem. The resolution was that the flight attendant got a dose of dog therapy. The three shared the bulkhead with the flight attendant complaining all the while anytime it seemed that a hair on the dog was coming closer.

What I don’t understand is why the flight attendant didn’t move? Unless there were only heavy people, drunks and children on board, other pet peeves of travelers.

I have a friend with a guide dog who I have taken shopping. Most of the time I don’t even know that the dog is around and she sits at my friend’s feet in my car in transit. I have a Toyota Corolla.