Traveling with Annie; showcasing experiences from the perspective of a wheelchair user

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

Our Account Executive Trish Browning traveled to New York a couple weeks ago, and when she returned, she brought back a story that is worth sharing, and the hope is that we can better work together to assist people in our community.

This story is about an amazing Guyanese family who lives in New York City. They have banded together to create a solution to an issue that some may not even realize as an issue, unless you are living with it personally, or have experienced it. Lakshmee Lachhman-Persad, the founder of Accessible Travel NYC is a digital marketer with over 20 years of experience in the tourism industry. She lives in New York City with her husband Neil, her children Ryan and Diya, her mother Pearly, and her sister Annie.

One thing that this family can admit to love doing is traveling; who doesn’t right? What makes it challenging for the family to travel is the fact that Annie was born with sever dystonic cerebral palsy, and this makes it difficult for her to travel long distances. Although she was born with a disability, Annie is outgoing and absolutely loves exploring, learning about new places, and meeting new people. What most intrigued and excited me about this young woman is the fact that despite her disabilities, she (along with the help of her family) has found a way to live a fulfilling life.

Annie has acted as a Consultant for NYU Disability Studies at NYU Tandon, teaching students about living with disabilities; she has participated in user-feedback on technology design for a virtual-reality art platform designed by NYU students. Her love for technology has prompted her to volunteer with Mouse Design League students to design a prototype of technology to make her life easier, and she occasionally co-teaches art at public schools to younger children. It just goes to show that we create our own limits in life, just as much as we create our own successes.

It wasn’t until I learned about Annie and her family that my awareness was heightened about the many challenges people with disabilities face when wanting to travel or even get around a city. The Americans with Disability Act is supposed to guarantee that travellers with disabilities receive equal treatment under the law; unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out that way in real life, especially in foreign countries where accessibility regulations vary widely. Travellers with disabilities frequently face inadequate facilities, prejudice, misinformation, general hassles and higher prices than other travellers.

Although Annie’s family is unable to currently travel the world like they would like to, what they decided to do was powerful; they brought the world of travel to New York, and decided to spend at least one Saturday together a month, exploring a cultural institution, neighbourhood, or other attraction followed by a family dinner. Lakshmee, being the one with tourism experience, took the reigns and began to plan their adventures. What she realized quickly was that most of the accessibility information required to plan the family day was difficult to find, sometimes buried in the website footer, and in some cases not even available online. Lakshmee did some more research and discovered that families like her own were scarcely included in tourism marketing for New York City. This really troubled her; how many other families out there were having the same issues she was. She knew right there and then that she would have to become part of the solution.

Disabled travel, also known as accessible travel, is on the rise, and finally the travel industry is waking up to the special needs of travellers with disabilities by providing more services and greater accommodations. Lakshmee, with the help of Annie, have established Accessible Travel NYC, a way for families who have members with disabilities, experience an extraordinary day in the city. They use narrative as way to empower families who want to get out there and see New York, especially if they thought that it was not possible. The site puts accessible information at the forefront and allows families to chart out a day without having to do a ton of research online. When you click on www.AccessibleTravelNYC.com, you are provided with: New York Experiences, Accommodations, Restaurants, and Transportation, all that is created with a disabled person in mind.

I want to thank Trish Browning for bringing this topic to the forefront, and I want to say thank you as well to Lakshmee, Annie, and the rest of the family for showing the world that you can create your life the way that you want to; it just takes: a little creativity, a lot of love, and a dedication to the community.