Today I had a really cool experience and discovered a branch of rehab that shares a lot of connections with OT. This afternoon I was invited on an outing with a recreation therapist, and two of our brain injured residents. It was a beautiful day so we went to the boardwalk at Seaside Heights.

The major lessons I learned today were about patience and accessibility. I am reminded over and over again how our society is set up for people with a lot of mobility and not for people with physical limitations. For people with physical or mental disabilities, every aspect of life takes a little more planning, problem-solving and patience.

I took one of the patients into an arcade to play some games. Not one game in the place was set up for easy accessibility for a customer that needs to use a wheelchair. Sure, the chairs under the slot machines were able to be moved, but the metal bases were so heavy that even I struggled to move them over so she could reach the game. After the arcade we went for pizza... which should be an easy thing to get at Seaside considering every other shop is a pizzeria. I took a look into a few of them and realized that the tables or isles were much too close together to fit the patients chair through. I finally found one that would fit her comfortably and safely. I have been taught that as therapists, our job is to give our patients all of the options of the norm, but I now see how difficult it can be for disabled people to have these options if the environment doesn't allow for it. Luckily, the environment is a factor that can be changed... although it's not always that simple to tell a business to remove some tables and widen the isles to accommodate handicapped people. We still have a long way to go in terms of disability rights... more than I ever thought.