What’s important to know about traveling with a disability? - Kim Eberhardt Muir, MS

If you can, have an idea, or have a dry run, I call them.  We do airport trips a lot of times for patients, and I’m talking about the airport, you can travel in many ways, but airport seems to be the one I get the most questions about.  If you can kind of put your mind at ease, and see what it would be like from the terminal, all the way up to where you’re going to get on the plane.  I say right from the ticket counter, all the way up.  As far as bathrooms—knowing about your bowel and bladder before you go on that flight, and how long it’s going to be, and preparing accordingly.  Are you going to make a 4-6 hour flight, and what is your bladder care schedule with that?  Knowing about things like sitting for too long a time, how you’re going to do your pressure reliefs when you’re on that airplane.  Those are great things to talk to your therapist about, and also in support groups.  Traveling by car or train, very similar things–thinking about your skin, thinking about the distance of the trip, how long before you’ll have a break using an accessible restroom if that’s going to be available.  Those are all things to think about.