We ran a second-year field trip in the UK and had a student who needed to use a wheelchair.
We changed the itinerary a little to enable the student to participate but, perhaps more importantly, we made accessibility and disability part of the fieldtrip itself. For this trip we get students to design their own project around a certain theme. We made one of the themes about disability and access in the area. This was quite timely as one of the locations had put in new pathways/ route-ways and activities that wheelchair users could access and enjoy within that environment. It was interesting for us, as a group, to go around and then explore these spaces and see exactly how accessible they were and assess to what extent the intended outcomes of the initiative had been achieved. It was an interesting exercise both for the student in the wheelchair and their colleagues to view the environment in terms of disability and accessibility. We also explored an event where a huge storm hit the area of this new accessible pathway and covered it with sand so students could discuss the challenges associated with environmental change through the lens of user-group. This trip really was a learning experience for all. The student who used a wheelchair was able to participate in all the activities and the whole group got to consider accessibility issues in the environment.
