rock formations with bright horizon, with a circular body of bright blue water in the middle, and a tall rock formation in the center or the water

Lifetime access pass to national parks and recreational land offers accessible options to Americans with disabilities  

Spring sunshine continues to taunt summer loving Kentuckians with its promise of the radiant afternoon rays that fade into calm evening glow. It’s a great time to begin making summer plans, and for those with a permanent disability, you might consider applying for a free lifetime access pass to all U.S. national parks and recreational lands. 

The pass covers entrance fees and standard amenity fees at all federal recreation sites for the entire car of anyone with a permanent disability (at locations that charge by vehicle) or for the passholder and up to three guests (at locations that charge per person). The pass is valid for day use only (no camping permits) and does not cover expanded amenities, such as guided tours, boat launching or parking. 

The access pass can be acquired for free on-site at nearly any federal recreation site or, with a $10 processing fee, ordered online or by mail. When applying in-person, it is advisable to contact the site ahead of time to ensure the pass availability. Application materials include proof of U.S. citizenship or permanent residency and documentation of permanent disability.  

Accepted documentation includes proof of permanent physical, cognitive or sensory disability in the form of a signed letter from a physician, a document issued by a federal agency (such as the Department of Veterans Affairs or proof of Social Security Disability Income) or a document issued by a state agency (such as a vocational rehabilitation agency).  You can acquire an access pass in-person at any one of Kentucky’s 22 federal recreation sites.  

Sunset horizon with bare rock formations
Half Dome, Yosemite National Park

While the access pass grants entrance into all national recreational sites, it does not come with the accessibility guides needed by many of its users. Searching for accessibility information when planning a trip can be tedious, and not every federal agency makes the information as easily accessible as others. Locations managed by the National Parks Service (NPS) tend to have clear and thorough accessibility information. Read about the history of the NPS and accessibility, the concluding article of the agency’s Disability History series

Kentuckians boast claim to Mammoth Cave, one of the nation’s 63 national parks, though you won’t necessarily benefit from your access pass at this location, since park entry is free to all, and the access pass does not waive guided tour fees. Still, if you are not looking to travel further to places such as the Badlands, Grand Canyon, Yosemite or Zion National Parks (where there are, in fact, entrance fees to be waived by the access pass), look into the accessible activities available at Mammoth Cave, such as the aptly named the “Accessible Tour.”  

Rock formations in Mammoth Cave with a purple backlit glow
Mammoth Cave rock formations

In the Accessible Tour, visitors meet at the entrance of the visitor center and then follow a tour guide by personal vehicle directly to the entrance of the cave, where they descend via elevator into the Snowball Room–a dining area located 267 feet underground, named for the snowball-shaped calcium carbonate formations on the ceiling. There begins a two-hour journey through unique gypsum formations and curious cave writing on a route “expressly created for visitors with mobility devices such as motorized wheelchairs or walkers.” 

The Accessible Tour is not the only accessible portion of Mammoth Cave’s infrastructure. Broken down by category to be applicable to the needs of various disability types (physical/mobility, Deaf/hearing loss, blind/low vision and cognitive/learning), a full accessibility overview of Mammoth Cave can be found here

Other accessible recreational sites of note in Kentucky include Land Between the Lake’s, Abraham Lincoln’s Birthplace and Big South Fork. Of Kentucky’s 22 recreational land sites, the following is a list of each that has a webpage with clear accessibility notes. The name of the location links to the location’s general web page, and the sub-lists describe accessibility notes or link to dedicated accessibility pages. 

Accessible Federal Recreation Sites in Kentucky 

  1. Abraham Lincoln Birthplace (Hodgenville, KY) 
  1. Barren River Lake (Glasgow, KY) 
    • Accessibility information included in dropdown menu about halfway down page  
  2. Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area (Stearns, KY)
  3. Daniel Boone National Forest (main office in Winchester, KY) 
  4. Lake Barkley (Grand Rivers, KY) 
    • No dedicated accessibility page found.
    • Main site states that Canal Campground has accessible restrooms and shower house.
  5.  Land Between the Lakes (Golden Pond, KY) 
  6. Mammoth Cave National Park (Mammoth Cave, KY) 

To share additional information related to the accessibility of federal recreation sites in Kentucky, please email Beth Potter at beth.potter@uky.edu. The above list may be updated accordingly. 

Illustration of lips followed by text: "Can you read my lips?" Here's what you should know before you ask.

“Can You Read My Lips?” Ten Things to Know Before You Ask

Lip reading is a communication technique in which a person who does not have full access to sound closely watches the mouth of a speaker to understand speech. It is a skill which requires practice and, sometimes, formal training.  

In an essay, “Seeing at the Speed of Sound,” Rachel Kolb describes lip reading as “a skill of trying to grasp with one sense the information that was intended for another,” calling it “inherently tenuous.” View the visual adaptation of the essay here

Not every d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing person is able to and willing to read lips, but if you find yourself in conversation with a person who is reading yours, here are ten things you should know: 

  1. Only about 40% of sounds in the English language can be read on the lips. Lip reading is a communication technique that works best when combined with residual hearing or another communication tool such as cued speech or assistive hearing devices. On its own, lip reading does not give full language access–even to the world’s best lip readers. 
  1. The following sounds are visually indistinguishable from each other, meaning a lip reader cannot tell the difference by sight alone: 
  • B and P
  • M, N, and NG 
  • W and R 
  • TH and T 
  • CH and J 
  1. Lip readers rely heavily on context. A native English speaker anticipates common word pairings, filling in missed words and non-lip readable speech. 
  • For example, although “barks” and “parks” may look the same on the lips, if the conversation is about a dog, a lip reader might assume that the dog does not park; the dog barks, and likewise, the dog’s tail is wagging, not ragging. And still, the larger context matters, because what if we are talking about the dog park? 
  • Anticipated word groups are another form of context. When you run into someone you know, even if a lip reader does not catch every lip movement, if one word from “how are you?” is read on the lips, it may be possible to fill in the blanks with situational context.  
  1. Don’t try to emphasize your mouth movements. Individuals who lip read will likely have learned to do so by observing natural speech. You are likely to make lip reading more difficult by deviating from your natural speech patterns. 
  1. Likewise, keep to a natural pace–don’t slow your speech, and don’t rush your speech. Consider asking the person you are speaking to if your pace is okay. 
  1. Lip reading is easier and more accurate in well-lit rooms, without background noise, and with the speaker close to and facing toward the person who is lip reading. Be mindful that lip reading may be more difficult on a small screen, such as in a Zoom call. 
  1. Beards and mustaches hinder lip reading, sometimes rendering it impossible. If you keep facial hair, work to identify other communication methods you can use with a person who reads lips. A good place to start is by offering pen and paper. The communication preferences are highly individualized, so do not assume that one d/Deaf or hard-of-hearing person’s preference will be the same as another. 
  1. Lip reading is tiring. It requires great mental energy to piece together fragments and context to follow a conversation. Never assume a person is willing to lip read, even if they have done so in the past. If you have regular contact with a person who relies on lip reading, check in with them. Ask if they need breaks, if there is a different communication method they would prefer, and if there is anything you can do to make yourself easier to understand. 
  1. In important and jargon-intensive settings such as medical appointments and legal proceedings, a more reliable communication system must be arranged, personalized to the individual’s needs (unless the person reading lips has explicitly stated they do not want alternative arrangements). A person with a fragmented understanding of what they have been told cannot give medical or legal consent. 
  1. d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals–especially those who use sign language as a primary communication method–accommodate the world around them by reading lips. You should work to avoid expressing frustration if someone does not understand you or needs you to repeat yourself multiple times. Do not take the effort and the concentration required to read your lips for granted. If you communicate often with a person who prefers to sign, consider learning sign language so that your conversations are not limited to the 40% of sounds that can be seen on your lips.  

Sources 

Hearing Link: How to Lip Read

CDC: Parent’s Guide to Hearing Loss

Six people in a group

The Intersection of Genetics and the Disability Rights Movement

HDI’s Medical Outreach Director, Stephanie Meredith, and colleagues, Dr. Kara Ayers Associate Director of the University of Cincinnati UCEDD; Dr. John Constantino, Director of the Washington University in St. Louis Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center, Dr. Igna Van den Veyver a leading Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialist from Baylor College of Medicine; Katie Stoll, Executive Director of the Genetic Support Foundation; and Dr. Marsha Michie, an anthropologist from Case Western Reserve University presented on the intersection of disability and genetics at the annual American Society of Human Genetics meeting in Houston, TX on Friday, October 18. This presentation was made possible by ASHG, in collaboration with the Association of University Centers and NICHD.
Approximately 300 medical professionals attended this session that discussed the value of technology, the need to remember the patients at the other end of tests, and the prioritization of our collective humanity. “Nothing About Us Without Us!”, was a core message of this presentation that identified tools and strategies to provide a forum for the voices of people with disabilities and their families, in conversations about genetics and medical practice. The meaningful dialogue focused on how to intentionally include the perspectives of people with genetic conditions (and their families) when creating guidelines and public policy–and to make that happen by acknowledging the painful history of stigmatization and abuse endured by people with disabilities throughout history and then building relationships with the medical community and putting humanity first. Continue reading