Reflection Assignment #3

I chose to access The Little Gym, in Gilbert, Arizona located on Gilbert and Warner Road, based on The Americans With Disabilities Act Checklist For Readily Available Barrier Removal. I chose this location because I was there with the 18 month old girl I nanny for and I recognized a few things that could pose problems for people with disabilities to participate in their services. The Little Gym is a gymnastics and karate center that offers courses for parents and their children ranging from 4 months to 12 years old. The little Gym was established in 1976 and there are currently over 300 gyms in 21 countries.
My concern in accessing this facility was the access to goods and services. While all doors were at least 36-inches, the actual gym room was cluttered with equipment that would make it impossible for a person using a wheel chair to reach the ‘circle mat’ where all of the group activities take place, without having an employee move the equipment each time. While I was visiting this facility, there was a two year old boy who had broken his leg. He was using a wheel chair and in order to get through the main gym his mother had to pick him up and carry him, because she was unable to push his wheel chair through the room to the ‘circle mat’. While the staff was more than willing to move the equipment for him, it was unfortunate that he and has mother were forced to rely on “special” treatment as opposed to the facility having a more accessible floor plan. When I spoke with the manager about why the equipment was blocking the accessible path she explained that if the equipment were to be moved to clear the accessible path, it would be placed too close to the wall and could danger the participants. Secondly, there is a viewing window so that parents may watch their children as they are in classes without parent’s involvement. However, these windows are blocked by chairs so that parents may sit and watch their children causing a barrier for persons using a wheel chair or persons using crutches.
I was able to convince them to relocate a few of the chairs so that a person with a physical disability may have full access to view their children in the gym or karate room. My suggestions for creating a more accessible floor plan for the gym room would be to move the ‘main floor mat’ to the center of the room. This would allow you to clear the door ways by placing the other equipment on all sides of the mat. There would still be plenty of space between the mat and the equipment. As well as leaving plenty of space between the mat and the wall, as to avoid a safety concern for the participants. The only down side to moving the mat, is that the equipment for circle activities would be located farther away, requiring the staff members to carry the equipment to the ‘circle mat’.
The parking lot of the facility contained two accessible parking spaces, relevant to the 46 total parking spaces in the parking lot. However, the space closest to the entrance did not allow for 16-foot wide spaces with 98 inches of vertical clearance, so the accessible parking spaces were located across from the main entrance, requiring those using the spaces to cross the parking lot traffic. This seems like a hazard to me, seeing as though many persons using a wheel chair may not be entirely visible to cars while crossing the road. If the median in front of the entrance were to be removed there would be a sufficient amount of space for both of the accessible spaces.
However, The Little Gym did offer a number of “accessible-friendly” at their facility. The rest rooms met all accessible requirements both those persons with physical disabilities and persons who are seeing impaired based on the ADA checklist. All alarms had both flashing lights and audible signals. Additionally, the front doors allowed 18-inches of clear wall space and passed the “fist” test. Lastly, the main lobby contained a 5-foot circle so that a person using a wheel chair may reverse direction.