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  Our Park Visitors

When we talk about designing new or altering existing park programs, facilities or services it is critical that we first ask:

"For whom are we designing?"

Visitors to our park and recreation areas represent a wide spectrum of abilities.  Millions of people visit our National Parks each year.  Those visitors represent a diversity of interests, cultures, backgrounds and abilities.  At the beginning of our planning process let's ask:
  • Who are our park visitors?
  • How do they use our program or facility?
  • How do they visit our park?
If we explore these questions, we may have a better understanding of the diverse needs of our park visitors.
Now, focusing primarily on the population of people with disabilities, consider that when the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in 1990, there were 49 million Americans with some form of functional limitation affecting their daily life activity.  According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau reports, there are now 54 million Americans with disabilities.  Reasons for the increase in the population of people with disabilities can be linked to the aging of the "Baby Boomer" generation.  Moreover, increased disability awareness may have had an impact on more people identifying themselves in census recording as having some form of functional limitation.
Consider in comparison the general population of the United States as reported in recent findings by the U.S. Census Bureau:
 
  • By the end of 1994, 20% of the population, about 54 million people, had some level of disability; additionally, 9% of the population or 26 million people had a severe disability.
  • Among the 237 million people in the general population, 1.8 million people used a wheelchair.  Additionally, 5.2 million people used a cane, crutches or walker for ambulation.
  • Of the general population ages 6 and over, 8.8 million had difficulty seeing; 10 million had difficulty hearing.
  • According to the census report, the likelihood of having a disability increases with age.  Among the 95 million people ages 22 to 44, 14% had a disability.  Of the 30 million people ages 45-54, 24% had a disability; and of the 20 million people ages 55 to 64, 36% have a disability.
To view the complete Current Populations Report, see the U.S. Census Bureau Home page, referring to the Americans with Disabilities 1994-1995 link.

 

 
 
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