Oklahoma AgrAbility Newsletter
July/August 2003 • Volume 2 • Issue 4
Summer is Here!
View PDF
NOTE: Mention or display of a trademark, proprietary product or firm in text or figures does not constitute an endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Oklahoma State University, Langston University or the National AgrAbility Project and does not imply approval to the exclusion of other suitable products or firms.
In This Issue
Assistive Technology in Leisure
Contact Information for Accessible Recreation
Summer is here!
As summer arrived, so did our new AgrAbility Project Specialist, Carla Wilhite. Carla comes to us from the Colorado AgrAbility Project where she had been for about three years. Carla is a native Oklahoman and is glad to be back. She is a registered and licensed Occupational Therapist with experience in physical rehabilitation and work-site assessment. We are very excited to have her as a part of our team. She will be conducting on-farm assessments, training health professionals, as well as various other tasks. If you have questions or would like to welcome Carla back home to Oklahoma, please give her a call.
During the month of July, get out and celebrate National Recreation and Parks Month. You may also look for events related to National Therapeutic Recreation Week, which runs from July 6-12. This newsletter highlights the importance of leisure and recreation in everyone’s life as well as heat awareness. Go out and play, but be safe and drink plenty of water.
Enjoy the season,
Rachael Kircher, AgrAbility Project Coordinator
Accessible Oklahoma
In Oklahoma, accessible spaces are continually being added, improved, or remodeled to let all people enjoy the abundant sights, smells, colors, and sounds of the state’s natural beauty and to have enjoyable recreational experiences. Fishing is available at over 70 lakes listed by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife as having some accessibility improvements such as easy-access or covered fishing docks, asphalt ramps, shoreline berms, and accessible bathrooms. Accessibility of parking areas and paths leading to the piers and platforms vary by site. The Department advises leisure seekers with disabilities that all outdoor facilities are exposed to the wear and tear of weather, so there is always some degree of physical risk and variability of site conditions. It is always a good idea to check with local officials before visiting the site to see if it will meet one’s access needs. However, this assurance alone does not guarantee the site will be accessible on the day of a visit.
In addition, the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) provides special license and permits for non-ambulatory hunters. Though laws change, current regulations allow the issuing of a permit to a crossbow hunter with a permanent disability who cannot draw a longbow or to a person hunting from a motorized vehicle for someone who cannot walk. All hunters must successfully complete a hunter education course.Information requests about accommodations for hunter safety classes should be channeled through the ODWC.
For others who want to enjoy access to forests and fields to view wildlife or scenery, the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department is working to improve trails around the state in urban and rural areas. According to Eve Atkinson of the Recreation Trails Program Staff, many communities are working on projects to increase accessibility to trails. Grants are available to organizations and communities who are seeking ways to improve access to parks, trails, and fishing through this program.
The Ouachita National Forest has several short interpretive trails that are fully accessible making it possible for more people to enjoy the outdoors and the public lands managed by the Forest Service. Information on trails can be obtained from the District Offices or on the web; however, the website is not optimum for visually-impaired users.
For those who enjoy extreme sports and adventure, the National Sports Center for the Disabled based in Winter Park, Colorado offers summer and winter sports adventures such as white water rafting and snow skiing.
Persons wishing to travel across country or abroad may want to consult travel agents or disability travel organizations that specialize in planning trips for people with mobility limitations. Air travel offers unique challenges to people with disabilities. Check with individual airlines about accessibility needs. Many airlines will assist with gate transfers, priority storage of wheelchairs, and public communication devises.
Oklahoma Park Resources
Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation
PO Box 53465
Oklahoma City, OK 73152
405-521-3856
Oklahoma Parks, Resorts, and Golf
1-800-654-8240
Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department
15 N. Robinson, Suite 100
Oklahoma City, OK 73102
405-521-2409
Ouachita National Forest
Kiamichi Ranger District
P.O. Box 577
Talihina, OK 74571
918-567-2326
www.fs.fed.us/oonf/ouachita.htm
Assistive Technology in Leisure
Making time for leisure activity, play, and recreation is an important component of healthy living. Leisure pursuits fulfill social, psychological, spiritual, emotional, and physical needs. In the past, people with disabilities were excluded from access to leisure and recreational opportunities. The impact of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) has improved access to public spaces, including many recreational facilities. Also, individuals with disabilities, health professionals, and others are constantly developing novel ways of participating in every imaginable sport, leisure, play, and recreation activity.
People participate in leisure pursuits for many reasons, but the most common reasons are for socializing, to improve exercise and fitness, and for recreation (either individually or with a group). Using leisure for socialization includes quilting with a church group, playing a musical instrument, or enjoying a cookout. Participating in leisure for exercise and fitness is usually for health benefits: cardio-vascular conditioning for sports, increasing muscle tone and strength, or losing a little extra weight. Also, leisure can include recreational pursuits such as playing card and board games, bowling, archery, hunting/fishing, and extreme activities such as water and snow skiing.
Numerous types of assistive and adaptive devices exist to facilitate the participation of a person with a health challenge or disability in doing recreation activities. The right technology device can enhance a person’s quality of life experience, promote personal growth and development, increase self-confidence, and provide opportunity to go into the community for recreation simply because the device enables performance and participation.
Examples of utilizing an adapted device to improve participation in leisure activities include:
- A one-handed knitting or sewing aid for a person with one-sided paralysis from a stroke or a hand or arm amputation.
- Arm-powered bicycles for a cyclist with extreme leg weakness or paralysis.
- Sit skis for someone with paraplegia.
- Softballs with a noise making device for a player or players with a visual impairment or games with Braille markers.
- Trigger aids for target shooters or hunters with weak hand strength.
- Camera, gun and/or binocular mounts for someone using a wheelchair.
- Bowling ramps for an individual with poor balance or uses a wheelchair.
Travel Tips
A potential traveler may want to:
- Talk to a physician about health and physical concerns, prescriptions, and immunizations needed for traveling.
- Talk to the travel agent about the accommodations required based on physical needs (such as special assistance at the airport).
- Wheelchair users should have a maintenance check on the chair.
- Check with car rental agencies about the availability of vehicles with hand controls (if needed), and remember to carry a placard indicating disability. Some countries or states may require a location specific temporary placard and should be obtained before leaving for the destination.
Source: Moss Rehabilitation Resource Net, www.mossresourcenet.org/
Contact Information for Accessible Recreation
Access to Recreation
8 Sandra Court
Newbury Park, CA 91320
1-800-634-4351
Fishing Has No Boundaries, Inc.
P.O. Box 175
Hayward, WI 54843
1-800-243-3462
National Center on Accessibility
2805 East 10th St. Suite 190
Bloomington, IN 47408-2698
812-856-4422
National Sports Center for the Disabled
P.O. Box 1290
Winter Park, CO 80482
970-726-1540
North American Riding Association for the Handicapped
P.O. Box 33150
Denver, CO 33150
1-800-369-RIDE(7433)
Access Able
Out in the Heat
If you have to be out in the heat:
- Limit your outdoor activity to morning or late evening.
- Cut down on exercise. If you must exercise, drink two to four glasses of cool, nonalcoholic fluids each hour.
- Try to rest in shady areas.
- Protect yourself from the sun by wearing a wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses, and by putting on sunscreen of SPF 15 or higher.
Source: National Center for Environmental Health, http://www.ced.gov/nceh
Heat Exhaustion
Heat exhaustion is one of the milder heat-related illnesses you may encounter during hot summer months. Others include heat stroke, heat rash, and sunburn. People most prone to heat exhaustion are elderly, those with high blood pressure, and people working or exercising in a hot environment.
Some warning signs of heat exhaustion include: heavy sweating, paleness, muscle cramps, tiredness, weakness, dizziness, headache, nausea or vomiting, and fainting. If the symptoms are severe or the victim has a heart problem, seek medical attention immediately, otherwise help cool the victim off. Give them cool non-alcoholic beverages, rest, cool shower or sponge bath, move to an air conditioned space, and/or put on lightweight clothing.
Heat Index Chart
For More Weather Information
Farmwork is easier, goes more quickly, and is safer when the weather cooperates. A new web site, Oklahoma AgWeather (http://agweather.mesonet.org), can help you in deciding when to schedule tasks, so you can work with the weather, rather than against it. On this site you’ll find weather data from the Oklahoma Mesonet system with over 110 weather towers across the state. The data is updated on their internet site every 15 minutes and includes exotic measurements, such as soil moisture and soil temperature, along with the more commonly available weather parameters, such as air temperature and rainfall. You will also find zoomable, animated displays of National Weather Service (NWS) NEXRAD radars for Oklahoma and surrounding regions. There is also a 60-hour NWS forecast, broken down into 3-hour segments, so you can find out exactly what the weather will be like throughout the day.
This newsletter was supported in part by USDA-CSREES grant award number 2002-41590-01370.