Opportunities For People With

Intellectual Disabilites

Nonprofits in Santa Barbara are striving to increase accessibility to people with intellectual disabilities and normalize their experience in the outdoors.

Photo courtesy of New Directions Travel

New Directions Travel

Access to the outdoors for people with intellectual disabilities has been an overlooked problem in the United States. However, nonprofits in the Santa Barbara County area are executing missions to increase travel and outdoor recreation opportunities for the disabled community around California.

According to Travis Dorsch, author of the Therapeutic Recreation Journal’s article ‘The Effect of an Outdoor Recreation Program on Individuals With Disabilities and their Family Members: A Case Study,’ participation in outdoor recreation can improve quality of life, relationships, and feelings of self-confidence among intellectual disabled individuals.

In Goleta, New Directions Travel has sought to address inclusion in travel and adventures for intellectually disabled people. The non-profit organization provides leisure and educational travel opportunities for adults who have mild to moderate intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, including brain impairments, cerebral palsy, down syndrome, and autism.

New Directions Travel has a two fold mission, according to Program Director Danna Mead. The group’s first priority is allowing the intellectually disabled population to experience the same joy of travel as the general population. The second underlying goal is to show the public that including disabled people can and should be normalized.

“We feel this population deserves the same quality traveling experiences as the general population gets," Mead said. "But the other side of it is for the public to see that this group deserves to travel like everyone else and stay in nice places.”

The nonprofit offers a variety of trips, including all-inclusives to Hawaii, Disneyland, a Dude Ranch, and (pre-Covid) international trips.

Many clients, who Mead refers to as “travelers,” have struggled against an ableist society. The New Directions trips give them a chance to change their routine and have equal access to life experiences.

“These trips are beneficial for the same reasons as the general population, but for this population in particular, their lives are very routine,” Mead said. “This is enabling them to get out of their normal routine, experience new things. It gives them new confidence being in a new situation.

Mead has worked at New Directions Travel for over 22 years, saying that the position merged her love of travel and interest in working with people with disabilities.

“It really does change their lives, and I know this because I've had parents and siblings say it changed their lives, Mead said. “And I believe it because traveling changed my life. For us to be able to make that possible for people who wouldn’t be able to do that, I feel so fortunate.”