Nice day out for a disabled person.

Archeron

Hello all,
Just wondering if I may ask your advice please.
My mum is disabled, and has been bed-ridden for about 2 years. She has recently taken delivery of a new wheelchair (bless the health board!!) and this has brightened her up no end, as she no longer feels like her bedroom is the extent of her world!!
I want to start getting her out and about again now that she has the equipment she needs, and I was wondering if anyone could recommend some good places to take her for day trips? She lives in Meath, so the Meath, Dublin, Kildare, East coast area would be good.
I've thought about bringing her to Newgrange and other sites like that, but I dont epect they would really be accesible to her.
Any advice would be most welcome.
many thanks

Hagar

Grafton St. Just plant her at a coffee shop and let the world go by.
No more pleasant way to spend a couple of hours.
Or a little trip to the Pier in Dun Laoghaire is always nice.

snorlax

this site has list of heritage sites you could visit, and Newgrange appears to be accessible but i'd say ring them first before venturing out http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/HistoricSites/East/BrunaBoinneVistorCentreNewgrangeandKnowth/

ps glad to see see your mom got a wheelchair, how long did it take you to get it?

FranknFurter

Archeron wrote:

Hello all,
Just wondering if I may ask your advice please.
My mum is disabled, and has been bed-ridden for about 2 years. She has recently taken delivery of a new wheelchair (bless the health board!!) and this has brightened her up no end, as she no longer feels like her bedroom is the extent of her world!!
I want to start getting her out and about again now that she has the equipment she needs, and I was wondering if anyone could recommend some good places to take her for day trips? She lives in Meath, so the Meath, Dublin, Kildare, East coast area would be good.
I've thought about bringing her to Newgrange and other sites like that, but I dont epect they would really be accesible to her.
Any advice would be most welcome.
many thanks

Why not just ask her where she would like to go? Im sure shes been on the planet long enough to have an idea of where she would like to visit. Then, you both can look into how accessible each place is and she can choose.

(I'm sorry if I come across as being slightly irritated by your post, its just the way you say it makes you sound like some ultra-xtian do-gooder from hell, maybe a read of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Living 2nd paragraph in particular might help explain why it kinda grated on my nerve, I truly dont *mean* to be in any way offensive as Im sure you dont either).

b

Archeron

FranknFurter wrote:

Why not just ask her where she would like to go? Im sure shes been on the planet long enough to have an idea of where she would like to visit. Then, you both can look into how accessible each place is and she can choose.

(I'm sorry if I come across as being slightly irritated by your post, its just the way you say it makes you sound like some ultra-xtian do-gooder from hell, maybe a read of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Living 2nd paragraph in particular might help explain why it kinda grated on my nerve, I truly dont *mean* to be in any way offensive as Im sure you dont either).

b

I understand where you are coming from, but she has been sick for nearly 20 years now in total, and has been totally out of touch with the outside world for all this time. (her walking difficulty is about 8 years now, but she was bed ridden with a virus for many years previous to that) I have asked her of her own interests, but she isnt quite sure what she would like to do. The fact that she has the option of going out now is somewhat of a surprise to her, and she has asked me to suggest places we could go. I just thought I would try to find out what types of places would be accesible to her, as I wouldnt like to spend a few hours bringing her somewhere only to find its inaccesible to her as this would be a big disappoinment. I do ensure to have the utmost respect for her at all times, as I do for everyone in society. Apologies if I do come across as an uber-dogooder, but I have no experience or knowledge of people with disabilities other than my mum, or places with disabled access (or what I should be looking for in terms of access), so this is all relatively new to me, hence the reason I posted in this forum, as people here have been extremely helpful with advice in the past.
Snorlax, we done quite well. She got an occupational therapist out to her about 3 weeks ago, and the wheelchair was delivered this week. She also has a home nurse coming out every two weeks to help her get used to moving around more which is brilliant! She isnt 100% unable to walk, but it causes a lot of pain to do so, so they are trying to get her moving around as much as possible to try and get some of her ability back. I know a lot of people give out about the health boards, but they've been really good to her over the past while.
Thanks for the suggestions anyway.

Archeron

snorlax wrote:

this site has list of heritage sites you could visit, and Newgrange appears to be accessible but i'd say ring them first before venturing out http://www.heritageireland.ie/en/HistoricSites/East/BrunaBoinneVistorCentreNewgrangeandKnowth/

ps glad to see see your mom got a wheelchair, how long did it take you to get it?

Brilliant, thanks for that Snorlax.

snorlax

maybe it would be nice to take her somewhere she went a lot when she was younger, eg using old photos or something as a guide?

Simple things people often appreciate like being able to access the local supermarket/ pub and say hello to people. Even a picnic if it's a fine day in a local park. only problem is your going to have to ring before hand to see which places are accessible or not. newer places are better for that. Maybe a local museam/ art gallery as they're normally quite good for people with disabilities/ wide aisles etc. Anyhow I wish you all the best.
check http://www.irishtourist.com/general_information/disabled_visitor_information.shtml
for a list of some major places that are wheelchair friendly
also this may be of use http://www.meathtourist.com/directory/places_to_visit/heritage_sites/