(Place on page 326, in place of recent delete section)
Traveling can be a challenge. Hotels that claim to have ADA accessible rooms aren't always as promised. Often the bathrooms are inaccessible, with toilets and showers difficult to use. Even simple things like a mirror ,too high to look into for shaving or grooming, may seem trivial to most people but important to yours truly.
Easily the most frequent challenge I still encounter in my travels is an inaccessible bed. They must be a certain height to adhere to ADA regulations. I have found beds and mattresses that are "ADA acceptable" but just because they meet certain measurements doesn't mean they are functional.
I've had hotels that needed to lower the bed or remove the mattress altogether. We once journeyed to Pittsburgh to see the Phillies play, and we booked an "ADA approved" room for the weekend, only to find it really wasn't. Since the maintenance workers at the hotel could n't successfully lower my bed, I ended up sleeping in my wheelchair that weekend. Not a good thing.
The same thing happened outside of Coopertown, New York after visiting the Baseball Hall of Fame. It makes one only consider day trips and discourages booking overnight trips.
So, accessibility doesn't always mean ramps and cut-curbs. There are still challenges in the world, even 30 years after the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed.
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