accessible travel in Rome/Spain

[Guest guest]

I don't have any specific info about Rome but there are two?sites called,

www.accessibleurope.com or www.waeurope.com/ that should help.??We used a few of

these sites to narrow down where we wanted to go and then phoned the hotels to

ask specific questions.? I think that's important to do because everyone has

different needs and requirements and it's better?to sort them out before getting

there!?

We used www.accessiblebarcelona.com to find the hotels there and that's where

the woman (who?is English!) was VERY helpful.? She can arrange everything for

accessible travel in Barcelona (and possibly other cities as well.) including

accomodation,?accessible scooter rental and things like that.? In Barcelona,

stay at the Hotel Central (which is very well situated to everything you'd want

to see in Barcelona) and in Paris, stay at the La Perle Hotel which we loved and

had good facilities.?

Re: hotels and accessible washrooms

I always travel with a super long transfer board. 4'by 10 " . Makes

things work for me.

> >

> > Hi. when you guys stay in a hotel, are you ever worried that the

> toilet will not be accessible enough for you, even tho it is

> suppossed to be handicapped accessible. I am going to be staying in

a

> hotel for 5 nights and I've noticed that sometimes the toilet can

> still be difficult to use even tho It is a handicapped accessible

> room...maybe only a bar on one side, not high enough, etc. Are

there

> any portable foldable raised toilet seats I could bring along to

> raise it up even more, just in case? I dont want to bring a big

bulky

> toilet seat along in the car (no room anyway), but would like to be

> prepared in case there is a problem. Any ideas? Thanks, Robin

> > Disabled Boycott Ben Stiller

> comedy, " TROPIC THUNDER "

> >

> >

> > A friend of mine and I were talking this morning about whether

or

> not

> > it's effective to boycott a movie that's offensive to us,

> especially

> > when the movie is already known to be a satire. Of course

> dialogue

> > about how different " types " of people are portrayed in the

media

> is

> > important, but it occurred to us that a different tactic might

be

> > refreshing and have more impact. What about praising the

> production

> > company for doing such a great job at demonstrating how

prevalent

> > negative stereotypes still are about people with disabilities?

> >

> > Any thoughts on revising tactics?

> >

> > - Alana

> >

> > Groups that advocate for the disabled called on Sunday for a

> national

> > boycott of the Ben Stiller comedy " Tropic Thunder, " citing what

> they

> > say is its negative portrayal of people with intellectual

> > disabilities.

> >

> > " We are asking people not to go to the movie and hope to bring a

> > consciousness to people about using derogatory words about this

> > population, " said Wheeler, spokesman for Special

Olympics,

> one

> > of 22 disability groups nationwide protesting the satire.

> >

> > The film, directed by Stiller, will be released on Wednesday by

> > Viacom Inc's Paramount Pictures and its DreamWorks unit.

> >

> > The groups plan to picket the movie's premiere on Monday

evening

> in

> > Los Angeles's Westwood community.

> >

> > " That will be the start of a nationwide protest, " said

> Wheeler. " We

> > will continue to be vocal about the destructive effect of this

> film. "

> >

> > He said the groups are particularly offended by the film's

> repeated

> > use of the word " retard " regarding a character, Simple Jack,

> played

> > by Stiller in a subplot about an actor.

> >

> > Representatives of the Special Olympics, the Arc of the United

> > States, the National Down Syndrome Congress, the American

> Association

> > of People with Disabilities and other groups met with studio

> > executives last week to discuss the film, but DreamWorks did

not

> make

> > any changes.

> >

> > Berns, executive director the Arc, said in a memo the

> groups

> > presented various ideas to the studio, from requesting an

apology

> to

> > fixing the film before its release, to producing a national

> > educational campaign.

> >

> > Chip Sullivan, a spokesman for DreamWorks said: " We have had

> > productive discussions with representatives of disability

> advocacy

> > organizations and look forward to working with them closely in

> the

> > future. However no changes or cuts to the film will be made...

> >

> > " 'Tropic Thunder' is an R-rated comedy that satirizes Hollywood

> and

> > its excesses, and makes its point by featuring inappropriate

and

> over-

> > the top characters in ridiculous situations. The film is in no

> way

> > meant to disparage or harm the image of individuals with

> > disabilities, " he said.

> >

> > The film also features Downey Jr. as a white actor who

> changes

> > his skin color to play a black soldier.

> >

> > Sullivan said that prior to the meetings, DreamWorks had taken

> down an

> > online promotion, removing references to Simple Jack it felt

> could

> > appear offensive when taken out of context.

> >

> > The film was shown in more than 250 promotional screenings

around

> the

> > country since April.

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >