Special needs

We offer the following information as a service to our registrants who have special needs because of a personal disability.

Assisted registration

If you have a medical condition that makes it difficult to stand in line for more than a minute or two, you may go directly to the Service Desk in the registration room Saturday night, August 13, or Sunday morning to check in. You may do so even if you haven't pre-registered on line and plan to register on site.

Scooters, "rollators" or adaptive equipment

The conference team has no experience with any local firms. Each of the three listed alphabetically below offers delivery to a downtown hotel, and courteously answers the phone. We neither endorse nor recommend, but list them as a service to attendees. Any arrangements you make are between you and the firm. There may well be many other firms who provide services better suited to your needs.

Emerald Medical Service (800) 220-5911
http://www.emeraldmedicalservice.com/

Lenox Medical (866) 474-4356
http://www.lenoxmedicalsupply.com/rentals.html

Scoot Around (888) 441-7575
http://www.scootaround.com/

Experienced conference attendees have advised us that the cost of renting a "rollator" for the week may come close to or exceed the price of buying a new one. Depending on your transportation arrangements for your return home, you may want to consider buying rather than renting.

If you need more specialized equipment or more personalized service, you might try another, smaller firm in Gaithersburg, Md., which might be able to deliver what you need.

JESSA Medical Supplies (888) 495-3772
http://www.jessamedical.com/

The address for delivery is the Grand Hyatt Hotel, 1000 H St., NW, Washington, DC, 2001-4520. The hotel is between 10th and 11th streets and on the south side of H Street.

The Fit Club

The hotel's swimming pool and equipment rooms (fee required) are on the second floor of the health club. Access inside the health club involves approximately 18 steps. There is elevator access; however, it involves going to the business offices in the building complex but outside the health club, and you must be accompanied by a staff member with a key.

Locker rooms are on the first floor of the club. The route to the elevators and back takes you through lots of air-conditioning at cooler temperatures than the Fit Club itself. If you are sensitive to cold or temperature changes, please be sure to pack appropriate clothing. Lockers are easily reached, and the showers looked great.

The sooner you know the times you will need to be escorted, the less likely you will have to wait for an escort. If there is only one Fit Club employee on duty, then a member of the security staff needs to be called; it may take up to half an hour. Please contact the Fit Club’s general manager, Ronald Roulhac, after you check in with a "heads up" as soon as you have some idea. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (202) 624-8075.

The main number for the Fit Club is (202) 637-4747. If you are someone who prefers more spontaneity, then please do be patient if necessary – the Fit Club cannot be left unattended for many reasons, guest safety included.

Please note that the first guest in a room each day will be charged the $10 fee. If you are sharing a room with room-mates who also use the Fit Club, you will need to work out how to share the fee among you. The hotel will not be able to split the fee among your individual bills.

Metro access to the hotel

It is possible to walk from the Metro Center station to the Grand Hyatt without going outside. Look for the 11th Street – Arena exit. The inside route includes escalators and ramps, but not elevators. Please be aware that escalators may not be working, resulting in passengers having to climb escalator steps. The route also involves opening doors that do not have automatic door openers. If non-working escalators, working escalators, or opening doors are problems, then the option is to take the exit route with elevator access to the street. Follow the signs in the Metro station with the universal access symbol to get to the elevator. Sidewalks and curbs en route to the hotel are accessible.

Three-foot aisles

As required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 3-foot aisles will ensure that wheelchairs can pass freely.

Preferential seating

The first row will be reserved for people with medically related special needs that require first-row seating. If you are someone who needs such seating, please make sure that you have sent an email to the ADA coordinator so we can plan our seating arrangements most effectively. (Please see FAQ text below for a reminder of the procedure we needed to follow to meet logistical and financial constraints.)

At registration you may request a ribbon for your badge that identifies you as someone who needs first-row seating. Please do not send emails about preferential seating after August 1, 2011. If your name is not on the list as having pre-arranged preferential seating, you will need to see Jonina Duker, the ADA Coordinator in person at the conference.

We do have attendees who read lips; please allow them access to first-row seats directly in front of the speakers.

Hearing-Assist Devices

Hearing-assist devices were pre-assigned to those who contacted us per our procedure listed below. Additional devices cannot be ordered at this late date.

If you contacted us

If, as we required, you contacted us with a request for an accommodation due to disability or health issue by sending an email by May 1, 2011, or by entering the information during on-line registration, you have been sent an email response. (Please see FAQ text below for a reminder of the procedure we needed to follow to meet logistical and financial constraints.)

If you contacted ADA Coordinator after May 1, you should have received a response already as well. All emails have been answered. and if you sent an email but did not get a response, please resend it and include in the subject line "DC 2011." Emails from unknown email addresses, with subject lines that did not reference the conference, may not have been opened.

Unexpected problem?

At least one of the co-chairs or the ADA coordinator will be available during program hours in the conference office in the Cherry Blossom room, Independence Level, 5B.

Q&A

From the DC2011 Web site http://dc2011.org/index.php/faq/general-faq#ADA

Q. Will the conference be ADA compliant?

A. The 31st IAJGS conference is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. We will comply, mindful of ADA's provisions about financial constraints being one factor in determining a reasonable accommodation under ADA. We will follow a process of making reasonable accommodations as requested under ADA.

If you have special needs associated with a disability, you should send email early to the conference hosts. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to make your request. Be specific. You will receive a prompt acknowledgment of your request followed by a statement regarding the conference's plan for accommodation. We will do our best to make requested accommodations – the earlier the request, the likelier we will be able to fulfill it. All requests must be received by May 1, 2011.

The venue, the Grand Hyatt Washington, is ADA compliant. The hotel has a limited number (22) of guest rooms that are especially designed for guests with disabilities, so please make your reservations early, to ensure that you get one of these rooms if you need it. You should first make a reservation on the conference hotel reservation site and follow up with a phone call to the hotel at 202-624-8054 to specify that handicapped accommodations are needed. The conference area has an accessible elevator, and all meeting rooms will be set up in accordance with ADA specifications, including but not limited to 3-feet-wide aisles enabling wheelchair access.