what-when-how
In Depth Tutorials and Information
Such a technical approach to a particular field presents a power tool for medical
professionals, but it is still only a tool. Only when it is used by physicians in a
particular case or applied by administrators in a larger sense does it really become
helpful [1].
14.3 TransportationfortheDisabled[2]
Cognition is deined as the process of thought. herefore, a cognitive disability
would be the inability to accurately process individual thoughts and ideas. A cog-
nitive disabled person is one who is “significantly limited in at least two of the
following areas: self-care, communication, home living, social/interpersonal skills,
self-direction, and use of community resources, functional academic skills, work,
leisure, health and safety” [2]. Some of the causes of cognitive disabilities include
Down's syndrome, cerebral palsy, autism, and certain genetic disorders. his sec-
tion addresses the need for “sociotechnical environments” to assist individuals with
cognitive handicaps using public transit.
In large urban cities, public transportation is a necessity. he citizens of these
cities depend on buses, subway trains, and trolleys to get to work, to shop, and
to travel to distant destinations. Because of the large congestion, many people in
these larger cities opt not to purchase personal vehicles, and depend solely on the
city transit system. he same is true of people with disabilities who choose to live
independently.
In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed to eliminate
discrimination in, among other matters, transportation. Because of the complexity
of some transportation routes and difficulty in access for disabled citizens, supple-
ment vehicles have been integrated into most public transit systems to accommodate
disabled travelers. hese vehicles are necessary for both the physically handicapped
and people with cognitive disabilities who cannot understand the more compli-
cated transit systems. Although these vehicles make the public transportation
more inclusive, the need for advanced reservations and lengthy wait time can be a
hindrance.
Mentally handicapped travelers who would prefer to use nonspecialized transit
are limited by their disability. Cognitively disabled individuals have trouble navi-
gating some systems because of the difficulty in reading and understanding maps,
as well as the confusion of following schedules. Certain improvements were identi-
ied to help these individuals in their attempts to use public transportation.
In 2001, a survey was conducted in 19 major cities around the United States.
During this survey, various transportation operators were asked to categorize the
communication practices of the transportation system for travelers with disabilities.
he Transportation Research Board (TRB) survey helped to identify where the
transit systems fell short in their communication with their cognitively disabled
customers. he most common problems can be found in Figure 14.2.
