As part of Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month, we have teamed up with Euan’s Guide to ask our content creators their views on disabled access.
Euan’s Guide is the disabled access review website where disabled people, their families, friends and carers can find and share the accessibility of venues around the UK and beyond. The website shares thousands of experiences and is the go-to tool for many disabled people. Euan’s Guide believe in making the world more accessible one review at a time. Thousands of people use Euan’s Guide every month to find and share disabled access information. Euan’s Guide recently published their Disabled Access Review where 6,000 people gave their views on disabled access. The review found that 91% of disabled people try to find disabled access information before visiting a new place.
My views on disabled access – Christina MacLean.
What do you do beforehand to prepare for an accessible day out with your friends and family?
Travelling can be quite overwhelming and I tend to stress myself out as I struggle with the hustle and bustle. When I moved for college and university, my mum and sister would do a “test journey” with me. This would include them travelling from my flat to university for example so I could get used to the route. This made it a little easier when I had to travel on my own.
What information do you look for from a venue before visiting?
I am a young woman with mixed cerebral palsy and talipes (club foot). I also suffer from chronic migraines and trigeminal neuralgia. I do not require any walking aids but can sometimes be clumsy especially when I am tired. When going to a concert or theatre for example, I will check the layout of the venue online before booking tickets. I can sometimes find stairs difficult especially if they are steep as they may be a tripping hazard. I sometimes also check where the toilets are. I struggled at university when I did not get shown around as I did not know where the toilets were.
How do you feel if you know that someone with similar access requirements has visited the venue before?
Unfortunately, I have not been to a venue that I’ve known another person with cerebral palsy has been to. However, this would make me feel comfortable if I did.
How does this help you to feel more confident or prepared to go out with your friends and family?
I would say I am always apprehensive when going to a venue. It all depends how I feel on the day, what time I have to be there and if I need to travel. My family and friends are patient and understand that I might be feeling stressed. When I am with my friends we may get an uber together to make travelling less of a worry. My family and friends sometimes discuss a plan of what we need to do on the day, for example, get the bus, grab a coffee, go around the shops, have lunch and go to the venue. I find a routine to be extremely helpful and if it is planned out in advance I find going to a venue a bit easier.
What is the most important piece of information for you when you visit a venue for the first time with your friends or family?
I know this sounds a bit silly – but if the floor is level. Some flooring I find difficult to walk on. How steep the stairs are and where the toilets are.
What do you think venues could do to improve your experience as someone with Cerebral Palsy?
When I was at university it would have been helpful to receive a tour of the buildings I needed to attend. This would make me feel comfortable and less worried when starting.
What is the number one thing that you would like people and venues to be aware of about cerebral palsy to help them improve their disabled access and disability awareness?
That not all disabilities are visible and that we may all require different accessibility.
You can find out more about Euan’s Guide, read some access reviews or even write your own review on their website here – Euan’s Guide – Disabled Access Reviews (euansguide.com)
Read more results of the Euan’s Guide Access Survey –https://www.euansguide.com/get-involved/access-survey/