Great accessible communities
Seward, Alaska: a great accessible community to visit!
Seward, Alaska has proven to be another great community to visit if you are disabled or are traveling with a disabled person. We have found that there is much to do here with Quincy.
The boat harbor is a wonderful place to stroll around. There is a great bike path that runs the length of the community so we can stroll from one end of town to the other with Quincy at a safe and leisurely pace. The harbor has great shops and a wide boardwalk from which we can watch the boats and enjoy all the sights and sounds.
One of Quincy’s favorite places in Seward is the Alaska SeaLife Center which is an extremely accessible facility. The SeaLife Center has created a unique experience where we are able to watch sea life from underneath the surface of the water. Quincy is completely captivated watching the sea lions, otters and diving birds from their underground tanks. It is something to stand next to a glass tank and have a massive sea lion swim right on by! It also has an area where Quincy can touch sea life, like starfish and sea urchins. The sensory experience at the Alaska SeaLife Center is something delightful for all ages, but even more so for children like Q who depend on sensory input.
In addition to these attractions Seward also has a great community playground for the kids to play, wonderful restaurants that are very welcoming to families like mine, and, if you are the adventurous type you can always climb Mt. Marathon. The view from the top is breathtaking. But, be warned…it is a very challenging climb! We always enjoy gracious hospitality when we visit Seward and that, combined with great accessibility, definitely gives it a place in my rankings of Great Accessible Communities. If you get the opportunity to travel to Alaska, be sure to make Seward one of the places to visit!
Quality of life for the disabled: harsh climate vs. mild
I love spring! Every year when spring rolls around I am reminded just how easy life can be for people who live in a mild climate. We love winter and that’s one of many reasons why we choose to live in Alaska. We have all the necessary equipment and gear to do what we love to do while staying warm and safe all season long. But, the reality is that winter is a lot of work. Driving on icy roads is stressful, keeping your house warm and functioning in sub-zero weather is an effort, keeping children, particularly Quincy, safe and happy in bitter cold is a constant chore, and then there is keeping the driveway clear of snow, the sidewalks free from ice….
Today we are lucky to have studded tires, backup generators, polar fleece, down, Goretex, wind-stopper fabrics, leg capes, blankets, mittens, hats, balaclavas, hand and toe warmers….the list goes on. It’s a far cry from when I was kid, trying to stay warm at the bus stop in moon boots (remember those?), scratchy wool hats and gloves and snowsuits. We stay much warmer and drier with today’s fabrics and gear and therefore we have a whole lot more fun playing outside in the cold.
But spring is different. This morning my kids headed out to catch the bus with just their book bags and jackets…not a full change of outdoor gear and indoor gear, including shoes and boots, as they do in the winter. I didn’t have to plow the driveway for the bus or shovel a path for the wheelchair. Quincy wasn’t bundled up so that only her eyes showed, but instead was happy for the sunshine, the warmer air and the freedom to move her arms around any way she wanted. She was singing and talking as I loaded her on the bus ramp this morning and I know it was because she loves spring too.
Every year at this time it occurs to me how difficult life is for the disabled in Alaska. When Quincy becomes an adult I have to wonder if she wouldn’t be happier, and be able to experience more, if she were living in a place that had a milder climate. Maybe not. Maybe winter is just hard for me as her caregiver and she’s perfectly content. But, since I plan to be her primary caregiver for as long as I am physically capable, I guess this is still important to think about. Every community has it’s advantages and disadvantages and I think it’s worthwhile to at least explore the options.
Missoula, MT…a great community for the disabled
We love to travel to both new and familiar places in the summer. We almost always start our travels with a short visit to Seattle since that is where Quincy’s pediatric neurologist is located and it’s a good time to schedule her annual visit. Seattle is fun for us…it’s a bit like home, since we have family there and lived there a lifetime ago before children and responsibility. But, we keep our time there brief. We’ve found it to be too crowded for our liking and, although it is incredibly accessible, we aren’t often made to feel comfortable there with Quincy.
So, from Seattle we often venture East to Montana. I love the hot summers, the ranch lands, and the Rockies. We also have family in Montana and it’s great to reconnect. Missoula is a cool little city…not too busy and has everything anyone would need. Montana, as a state, provides some excellent services, both care and recreational, for the disabled. Last summer we spent time touring a facility in Missoule that provides on and off-site care services and found it to be impressive. And, for recreation you should check out the great adaptive ski program at Whitefish Mountain ski resort. Montana has done a great deal to embrace and accept those with disability and with that comes an accepting attitude from those who live there. If the disabled are incorporated into daily life, you stand next to them at the Fair, you see them at the movies, you share your schools, pools and libraries with them, then the members of the community soon stop “seeing” them, they just function with them. I love that and it’s the type of place that I would like to have Quincy spend her days.
I don’t want people to look at Quincy like she’s the first disabled person they have ever seen, or that she is so wildly different that it makes others uncomfortable. I don’t want people to see her at all, unless they are simply struck by her beauty. Over the years we have visited hundreds of communities and it doesn’t take long to find those that are happy to have us visit. They want us to enjoy what they have to offer without making us feel that our presence is causing discomfort. So, for this family, Missoula makes our list of great, accepting communities for people with disabilities. This summer we hope to discover some new communities to add to our list. Any suggestions?
Why I love Girdwood, Alaska
We are in Girdwood this week, enjoying fabulous Spring skiing. You must understand that Alaskans put up with some pretty extreme conditions all winter just to ski…darkness, subzero temperatures, avalanche danger…so when we finally get the long, sunny, warm days of spring we enjoy every minute of it!
I mention Girdwood often in my posts because we spend almost half our time in this beautiful little ski town. My family loves being here. It’s such a small, quiet community filled with people who know us and accept us with all our limitations. We can do anything we want without being stared at or made to feel different. Girdwood is one of the most accepting places I’ve ever spent my time.
There is probably another reason why this little town has taken hold of my heart. I grew up in rural Alaska, in a small community in the Interior of state called Glennallen. Glennallen is very small, very remote…there were only 20 kids in my graduating class. Everyone knew everyone, we looked out for each other, and even after all these years those of us from Glennallen still share a special bond. When I returned to Alaska as an adult we made our home for several years in Wrangell, a small fishing community located on an island in Southeast Alaska. Wrangell was just like Glennallen…another remote community that took care of it’s own.
My home now is in Wasilla which has grown dramatically in the last ten years to become fairly urban city, at least by Alaskan standards. I enjoy the convience that comes with living in a larger town. After spending the first 30 years of my life without being able to do the simplest things like go to McDonalds or watch a movie in a theater, you can only imagine how much I enjoy living in what I considered a “normal” community. But, as my children get older and my life more hectic I find myself more and more drawn to the quiet intimacy of Girdwood.
Perhaps someday Rob, Quincy and I can figure out a way to make Girdwood our home. Of course, that is no easy task. Quincy’s needs are great and will only be more complex as she becomes an adult. Rob and I do not have the privilige of just picking up and moving to any place we like…we must make sure it will provide the supports that Quincy will need. And, unfortunately for us, the smaller the community the fewer the services for the disabled.
If Girdwood turns out to be a place that I am only a part-time resident, it will be okay. I already consider myself blessed to be a part of such a wonderful place full of wonderful people. If you ever get to Alaska, take the short drive south of Anchorage and check it out for yourself. At first blush you may say, “This is it??” but spend some time walking around and talking to the locals and maybe you will begin to understand how I feel. And, if it’s winter, then rent some skis and burn some runs at Alyeska! It doesn’t get any better than that!!
How well does your community support it’s disabled residents?
As Quincy gets older we face tough questions about what quality of life our community can provide for her outside of the school system. I have expressed my frustration with elements of our school system, but overall it does a good job of allowing Quincy a fun, safe environment for her to interact and develop relationships. The school provides therapy services, social opportunities and overall stimulus that Quincy needs and enjoys.
If I find that our school system lacks for all the supports Quincy needs, our community has even less to offer. It’s unfortunate for us that the smaller, more rural a community the less opportunity available for the disabled (and perhaps the elderly). Even if we look at our sister community of Anchorage, just 40 miles south, we find agencies providing a variety of respite, day hab, job training, and recreational opportunities for their residents.
I have spent many hours discussing this with my friends who live here and we even went so far as to seek out funding possibilities to support a project that would provide much of what is lacking in Wasilla. But the reality is that it would probably be easier for all of us to move than to try to get a project of that magnitude off the ground. Particularly now, with the economy as it is and non-profits statewide and nationwide struggling to sustain funding sources and keep their doors open.
I’m not sure what we will do when Quincy ages out of the school system. Luckily, we have some time to think about it and perhaps during that time things will change for the better. It’s frustrating when you begin to realize that the place you call home no longer meets your needs. Families like mine must balance so many things…career opportunities, educational opportunities for all their children, and support networks for the disabled members of their family. The reality is that worked for us when our children were babies, toddlers and even teenagers may not be sufficient for them as adults.
Adaptive skiing Alaska
It’s time to start what I expect will be one of many posts about an activity that has brought great joy and fun to my family…adaptive alpine skiing. Every day I check the webcams at Alyeska ski resort and count down the days until Nov. 26…opening weekend!! Alaskans are unique…we live in a place of brutal winters and yet we simply love winter. And, what’s more, we love to play outside in the winter. Rob has been a downhill skier since he was a kid and I’ve learned to love it once I started living with him, so our children didn’t stand a chance. Unfortunately, when we realized that Quincy would probably never develop the ability to walk we thought we would have to give up skiing. But, lucky for us Alaska happens to have one of the finest on-mountain adaptive ski programs in the country. Challenge Alaska ski school changed our lives. We were able to use the facility to learn about the equipment and skills necessary to take Quincy skiing. We’ve been part of the Challenge family for at least seven years…first as clients and eventually on our own. We purchased Quincy her own bi-ski and spent hours on the mountain being trained on how to safely use it. Rob has earned his Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA) Level I Adaptive certificate and will soon be Level II. On the mountain we have complete freedom…this little family of mine can ski all day long without any one’s help or assistance. Of course, my other children learned to ski about the same time they learned to walk and they have incredible talent. Both of my children are members of the local ski team and spend their weekends honing their racing and free skiing skills. So, every weekend once the mountain opens you know where to find us…tearing up the slopes at Alyeska. Rob, Quincy and I aren’t hard to spot…we are the ones with the bi-ski and the huge smiles on our faces!!
Handicap accessible Girdwood, Alaska
One thing I want to accomplish in this blog is to draw attention to the communities that we visit with Quincy that are welcoming and accessible. It’s amazing the different vibe you get every time you travel to a new place. It’s not just about the physical accessibility of a community for those in wheelchairs but more about the attitude of the folks who live there. Girdwood is one of those exceptional places. This little community in South Central Alaska isn’t really all that accessible for those who must be in a wheelchair, but the lack of ramps and sidewalks is made up for by the total acceptance of everyone living there for my daughter. People don’t blink twice when we enter our favorite restaurant, Chair 5, they just move their chairs make room for us to pass. No one stares. No one seems to think there is anything unusual about my litle family making our way through the weather to go to the park or the store or anywhere. The children don’t stare, the parents don’t mind…we do not offend or frighten, we aren’t even a curiosity. We are simply a family. It’s one of the few places I have taken Quincy where we are treated as a completely normal family. So, Girdwood has become our haven. We have a small getaway there and spend as much time as we can. We ski and bike and hike and rest and play and we do it every single day without ever being reminded that we are different. Amazing people in an amazing town…anyone with a child like Quincy must try to visit Girdwood someday. It will be worth your effort.
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