Virginia guide advises disabled

Other states are following Virginia's example.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- St. John's Church is Richmond's oldest house of worship, and the site of Patrick Henry's famous "Give me liberty or give me death" speech in 1775.
For some visitors, here's some equally important information: The church's brick paths are level enough for people in wheelchairs to navigate without assistance, and a wheelchair lift is also available.
State guide
Facts about St. John's and other state tourist sites appear in "The Virginia Guide for Persons With Disabilities," which was recently commended by the Society for Accessible Travel and Hospitality, a national advocacy group.
Cheryl and Bill Duke, Caroline County residents who lead The Opening Door, a nonprofit organization for people with disabilities, compiled the 324-page, large-print guide as a result of their experiences finding travel accommodations for their son, Paul, who was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy -- a degenerative muscular disorder -- in 1976, when he was 6.
"In dealing early on with the diagnosis and prognosis, the primary decision we made was that Paul had the disease, and the disease didn't have Paul," Cheryl Duke said. The family wanted to continue vacationing after Paul had to start using a wheelchair when he was 12.
Now in its fifth edition, with a total printing of 30,000 copies, the guide lists hundreds of attractions, lodging and restaurants and is distributed free by the state tourism office. Instead of reviews, it gives basic information that helps those with physical, sensory and cognitive disabilities decide where to go and how to make the most of their visits.
Among other resources
It's among several resources that nonprofit groups as well as commercial publishers have introduced in recent years to help people with disabilities travel, said Stephen J. Mydanick, the Society for Accessible Travel and Hospitality's director of corporate affairs.
"The whole market exploded with the ADA, really," Mydanick said. The federal Americans With Disabilities Act, which went into force in the early 1990s, is designed to prevent discrimination against people with disabilities in the workplace, and promotes access to government services, places of public accommodation and commercial business.
"Virginia has taken the lead in this and other states are following rather rapidly," he said. "Every time another state has heard of what the Dukes or Virginia have done, they're very quick to copy it."
Spending power
Travelers with disabilities spent $13.6 billion on 31.7 million trips in the United States in 2002, according to a study conducted by Harris Interactive for national travel industry groups. The study also found that people with disabilities could spend at least $27 billion per year if airlines, lodging and other tourism-related businesses further target disabled travelers' needs.
"It's a huge group when you take into consideration the aging (baby) boomers ... along with other age groups that do need some form of special access, whether it is for seeing or hearing or some special motorized access to a place," said Martha Steger, spokeswoman for the Virginia Tourism Corp., a state agency.
"If they learn we're a 100-percent accessible destination, we will find them returning again and again," said Steger, who added that returning visitors make up 85 percent of Virginia's overall tourism market.
Paul Duke, 34, now requires a ventilator to breathe and is unable to travel. But years ago, when the family wanted to tour the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown in Charleston, S.C., he was disappointed because he wasn't allowed to drive his motorized wheelchair up the gangplank.
"They offered to hang him on a chair lift and hoist him up the side! And Bill was to lift the chair up the gangplank," his mother said.
"I said, 'Yeah, right, you go pick it up,"' Bill Duke said.
Similar experiences taught Cheryl to thoroughly research their vacation options, telephoning ahead with what she called "Mom's list of 30 questions" to gauge the accessibility of places they wanted to visit, which ran up the family's long-distance phone bills.
Inspiration for guide
The Dukes started working on the Virginia guide after seeing a Canadian paraplegic group's booklet during a trip to Nova Scotia. While there, Paul noticed that he was among many other disabled tourists.
"It opened our eyes how important and what a difference accessibility information can make, and secondly, how accessibility issues improve business. It's a win-win situation," Cheryl Duke said.
Most businesses have been supportive of the guide, the Dukes said, and of making their attractions accessible.
"We certainly know there are people in our audience who would like to visit us and that's very important to them," said Colonial Williamsburg spokeswoman Lorraine Brooks, who added that wheelchair lifts have been added to two main buildings without compromising their historic integrity. "The whole family wants to enjoy the experience together, so it's important that we provide those accommodations."
The Dukes incorporated The Opening Door as a nonprofit group in 1987. They sent out standardized surveys to restaurants and hotels to gather information for their first guide, which was published in 1988. They also visited sites to see how accessible they were for Paul. Later editions have used occupational and physical therapists to gather information.
The Dukes copyrighted and licensed their format, and in 1997 they partnered with the Virginia Tourism Corp. to print and distribute the books. They continue to expand their guide, and have worked with tourism officials in other states, including Minnesota and New Mexico, to develop guides under their format.
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