![]() To provide assurance and help them with preparations before their travels, some brands have developed visual guides that are given to customers or their guardians, ahead of time. If you think about it, navigating airports and travelling in general can already be stressful to non-handicapped persons, so the anxiety of those with hidden disabilities is completely understandable. Most persons with hidden conditions are faced with mental, social or emotional struggles, so their stress and anxieties begin well before they travel. People with visible disabilities normally deal with physical barriers or challenges such as accessibility and transportation. The importance of pre-arrival preparation and visual guidesĬustomer service for people with hidden disabilities begins even before they reach your establishment or their destination. The full list of airlines and airports that have launched the hidden sunflower lanyard initiative can be found here. The sunflower lanyard is used worldwide by airports and other establishments to discreetly let staff know that customers have a condition such as autism, dementia or a visual impairment, without the customer having to locate the staff member. It is harder for travel staff and employees to identify people who suffer from hidden disabilities. The Australian Airports Association (AAA) partnered with Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect) to launch a Hidden Disability Awareness Training Course for its staff.Īspect’s Autism Friendly team, consisting of both autistic and non-autistic staff, co-developed the Hidden Disability training module as part of a comprehensive set of Hidden Disability guidelines available for all Australian Airports.ĭiscreet awareness (the Sunflower lanyard) ![]() In 2022, British Airways officially partnered with Hidden Disabilities Sunflower as part of its initiative for customers and passengers with hidden disabilities.īritish Airways provided training to its staff to understand better what invisible disability is and how to become more confident to approach and support customers. Part of their initiative is providing consultancy, workshops and training to institutions and establishments aiming to extend better service to customers with hidden disabilities. The Rainbow Centre is a training and consultancy group in Singapore that works with persons with disabilities to make the most of their abilities and participate meaningfully in society. Singapore’s Changi Airport partnered with the Rainbow Centre in order to prepare the airport to welcome travellers with hidden disabilities. If your company has long established facilities and practices for people with apparent disabilities, it does not necessarily mean that you are also equipped to accommodate those with hidden disabilities. ![]() Here are some inclusion methods that travel brands can employ so that travellers with hidden disabilities can equally enjoy and navigate their journeys in comfort.Ĭonsult and collaborate with organisations that can provide training In 2014, the Invisible Disabilities Association (IDA) founded the Invisible Disabilities Week in order to raise awareness about hidden conditions that up to 96% of the disabled population suffer from.Īccording to the Open Doors Association’s 2020 Market Study, more than two-thirds of adults with disabilities took at least one trip from 2018-2019, spending $58.7 billion. Biases are also sometimes formed that those who suffer from invisible disabilities are simply angling for special treatment. People with invisible disabilities have long fought to be understood, mostly due to the fact that when a disability is not immediately apparent, there can be a tendency to doubt that it exists. They are typically chronic illnesses and conditions that significantly impair normal daily activities. This blog will talk about persons whose disabilities are not immediately apparent. Disabilities that are immediately seen such as persons in wheelchairs or seeing impaired. There are travel and tour companies dedicated to travellers with disabilities that have been successfully running for years with happy clients.įor the most part however, what the world recognised as disabled persons are those with visible disabilities. It also calls for the elimination of obstacles and barriers to accessibility, including all transportation and facilities.įor decades, persons with visible disabilities have long been welcomed by most travel and tourism brands. The convention calls for member nations to ensure that persons with disabilities have equal access to the physical environment, information, transportation and other facilities and services open or provided to the public. In December 2006, the United Nations officially adopted the Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities ( CRPD).
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