Introduction
Because travel should be accessible to all, the Petit Futé provides you, through this guide, with the information you need to make your trip a success, whether it's a simple day trip to one of France's major cities, a weekend at the beach or an extended stay in the mountains, for example. More and more solutions are being developed to enable disabled people to travel. Whatever the disability, whether motor, mental, visual or auditory, adapted services are available to disabled travelers so that they have access to transportation, accommodation, restaurants, and natural, cultural or sports activities. This chapter highlights associations, service providers, labels, and also existing operators to help you in your steps and facilitate the organization of your trip.
Warning to the reader
In this edition, for simplicity, we have chosen the adjectives "adapted" and "accessible". These two words are equivalent in common usage. We can summarize by saying that a place is accessible because it is adapted!
Handicaps, how to choose your providers
Motor disability
Here is a series of questions on which you must obtain very concrete answers in order to choose the right service providers, knowing that motor disorders are very diverse: movement in a wheelchair, electric or manual, with canes, crutches, movement without orthoses or prostheses but requiring an adaptation of the environment.
Does the operator ask me the right questions about my disability (degree of mobility, equipment, transfer needs, care, toileting, etc.)?
If you are in a wheelchair (manual or electric), were you asked about its weight, length, width (to evaluate doorways)? If you can maneuver it alone, take a few steps, go up and down a few steps alone, drive a rental car with/without specific equipment? Be sure to check with the operator if your dry cell or lithium battery is accepted on the plane. The rules differ from one company to another. Has the operator taken into account chair/bed transfers, chair/WC transfers, accessibility features that you cannot make concessions on? Does the operator offer you adapted transportation from your home to the departure point of your stay? Is the operator able to provide you with precise information on your place of stay (accessibility of the room, restaurant, swimming pool, beach, garden) and/or on the modes of transport during your stay (adapted cars, buses)? Finally, do they care if you are used to traveling, what your particular expectations are or how regularly you need medical care? Each disability has its own particularities, so don't hesitate to make them known. This is the guarantee of an adequate service.
Mental disability
In addition to the "organized adapted vacations" approval, two bodies have defined quality charters: the National Council for Adapted Leisure and Tourism (CNLTA) and the Collective of Adapted Tourism Organizations (COTA). Most associations or specialized tour operators
are members of either one or the other.
Is the stay organized in levels of autonomy? What is the number of supervisors ? What training have the supervisors received? How is the medical follow-up planned ? Is a medical questionnaire provided ? Are specific diets (if necessary) planned? Is there a protocol in case of necessary evacuation and repatriation? What activities are planned during the stay? Is an assessment planned at the end of the stay?
Hearing impairment
Deaf and hard of hearing people, there are currently few service providers in this field adapted to your needs! Let's hope that the situation will change in the coming years.
Is the trip accompanied by LSF interpreters? Are your contacts competent in LSF? Are you provided with written documentation on the trip and during the trip? Are the reception areas equipped with a magnetic loop, information and visual alarms?
During your stay, will the staff of the reception or visit areas be specialized? Will the group be homogeneous (profoundly deaf, deafened, hearing impaired) or heterogeneous (all types of hearing impairment)?
Visual disability
Same remark as before: very few providers are equipped, and there is still work to be done here too. Are the attendants specialized in your disability? Will you be accompanied from your home? Are the places where you will be staying presented in detail (topography, obstacles, landmarks)? Will you receive documentation in Braille, if necessary? Or in adapted characters? Are the tours guided by a person? Are audio guides provided? During your stay, will the staff at the reception or tour sites be specialized? What are the conditions for your guide dog? Will the carrier be notified of your dog's presence (if you are traveling by plane with your dog in the cabin)?