Executive Summary

Rachel J. C. Chen, Ph.D.
Recreation and Tourism Management
Dept. of Consumer and Industry Services Management
247 Jessie Harris Building
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN 37996-1900
Email: rchen@utk.edu
Phone: (865) 974-0505; Fax: (865) 974-523

November, 2001

Prepared for the National Center on Accessibility.

Note from the National Center on Accessibility: This executive summary provides examples of the major findings of this research. Contact the National Center on Accessibility (nca@indiana.edu) to order a copy of the full Report. The cost of the report is $15.

Several studies have been written about the trip characteristics of state/national park users. However, very little has been done about the behaviors, perceptions, motivations, and expectations of park visitors with disabilities. During spring (2001), the National Center on Accessibility/National Park Service sponsored a study of national park visitors with disabilities. The purpose of the study was to identify the perceptions of people with disabilities relative to program and physical accessibility in the National Park Service. This study interviewed a minimum total of 50 visitors with disabilities (a minimum of 10 at each park included in the study). The research met the following objectives:

Data was collected in the surrounding communities of the selected five national park units including the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Shenandoah National Park, the Mammoth Cave National Park, and the Hot Spring National Park. All participants in this study were 1) adults (age 18 and older) who use mobility devices (manual chair, power chair, cane, walker, scooter, crutches), personal assistants, service animals, communication devices (TTY), or hearing aids, 2) parents/caregiver of individuals with developmental disabilities, and 3) parents/caregivers of kids with disabilities.

Data was gathered from national park unit visitors during the summer to the fall of 2001. Visitors with disabilities were stopped and asked to participate in the study by providing their names/addresses and the participants were then given a self-administered diary questionnaire and asked to fill out the survey on-site if they had have finished their park visit or mail it back in a postage-paid envelope at the end of their trips. A second copy of the questionnaire with postage-paid envelope was sent to those who had not responded within two weeks after the initial intercept.

In order to have diverse survey participants with many different disabilities represented (mobility, sight, hearing), our trained interviewers also worked with some local disability resource centers to recruit subjects for the study. Working with local disability services related organizations was expected to be an efficient way to manage resources and our interviewers' time. However, some disability services related agencies were reluctant to participate in this study due to confidentiality and various constraints within agencies. Of all 94 participants, our interviewers recruited most (85) of them on-site and 9 were recruited by the disability services related organizations.

Usable surveys were coded and entered into a computer. Cross-tabulations and frequency distributions were calculated using a Statistical Analysis System (SAS) software package. Participants' comments from the open-ended responses were summarized. The results of this project provide useful information for park managers relative the access in their park.

Characteristics of Visitors with Disabilities

One objective of this study was to determine the characteristics, or demographic profiles, of the visitors with disabilities to the selected five national park units. This includes types of disabilities, age, gender, and the uses of various devices and assistances (e.g., wheelchair, walker, personal assistant, scooter, TTY, and service animals, etc.).

Types of Disabilities

Overall, four groups were sought for the national park units based on the categories of disabilities of individuals visiting each park: 1) people with physical disabilities, [e.g., individuals who use mobility devices (wheelchairs, scooters, walkers, canes, crutches)]; 2) people with hearing impairments (e.g., individuals who use the hearing aids); 3) people with visual impairments; and 4) people with developmental disabilities. Some result examples are listed as:

• People with disabilities visiting the Mammoth Cave National Park ranged between the ages of 8 and 83 with a mean age of 39 for all participants (53% were females, and 47% were males); with a mean age of 50 for the visitors (age 18 and above) with physical disabilities; with a mean age of 11 for the visitors (age under 18) with physical disabilities; with a mean age of 83 for the visitors with hearing impairments; and with a mean age of 10 for the people with developmental disabilities.
• People with disabilities visiting the Shenandoah National Park ranged between the ages of 29 and 90 with a mean age of 52 for all participants (47% were females, and 53% were males); with a mean age of 55 for the visitors with physical disabilities; with a mean age of 52 for the visitors with visual impairments; and with a mean age of 15 for the people with developmental disabilities.

Types of Assistances and Devices

• Overall, the three most common assistances/devices used by park visitors with disabilities were manual wheelchairs (26%), canes (25%), and power wheelchairs (25%). The park visitors with disabilities also used personal assistants (22%), walkers (22%), hearing aids (10%), crutches (8%), scooters (9%), communication devices (4%), and service animals (3%).

• The findings discussed in result sections indicate the pilot-test results only. Data collection for the individual selected national park unit needs to be continuing, and additional benefits of this project will be realized following the analysis of these data.
• In this study, specific questions have been broken down into categories of disabilities of park users. For future related studies, researchers need to continue to make sure that only those who use the specific elements are answering each question. For instance, someone with a physical disability would not have use for audio described or captioned video.
• This report summarizes the findings of the perceptions, expectations, participations, motivations, and behaviors of people with disabilities toward their visits at the five national park units. In order to further understand accessibility in the National Park Service, future research may consider collecting these patterns and attitudes from people with and without disabilities of various national park units (national parks, national historical sites, national parkways, and national monuments) at state, regional, and/or national wide levels.

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