Access North Carolina

04/29/2025

I appreciate the Exceptional Children's Assistance Center - ECAC giving me the opportunity to present about ACCESS North Carolina and accessible tourism for a Tool Tume Tuesday segment today! I want everybody with a disability or an accessibility need to be able to positively experience any part of our state that they want to visit! I hope everyone who came today learned something new that they did not know exists in North Carolina! 🙂

[Image depicts a Zoom screenshot with a Relay Conference Captioning panel, a PowerPoint slide titled "Where in North Carolina Do You Want to Visit?", and Zoom video panels.]

04/23/2025

On Tuesday, April 29th, the Exceptional Children's Assistance Center - ECAC will host a Tool Time Tuesday session focused on ACCESS North Carolina! Read the description and register here if you are interested in joining us to learn more:

Check Out Our April Lineup for Tool Time Tuesdays!



Our Tool Time Segments are 30 minutes or less and will feature a resource or a tool that you can add to your toolbox to help you advocate for your child and make informed decisions. Every Tuesday at noon, ECAC staff and/or community partners will select a tool or resource to talk about, and explain how you can use it and where you can find it.

Tool Time Tuesdays can be accessed via Zoom.

Tuesdays at Noon

April 29th

ACCESS North Carolina Travel Guide

Do you and your family love to travel? Do you have a family member who has accessibility needs to consider when traveling? Do you ever have trouble finding accessible places to visit in North Carolina? Come learn about the ACCESS North Carolina travel guide and find out how you can stay updated on accessible tourism opportunities in our state.

Presented by: Phillip Woodward, Systems Change Manager, Council on Developmental Disabilities (NCCDD)

Click here to register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/9117430117154/WN_bEHHAIduSjqWmnG32SMutA #/registration

Thank you very much for joining us and sharing this announcement! 🙂

4/1/25: Meet ECAC's Military Outreach Coordinator - As the Military Outreach coordinator with ECAC, I help military families navigate special education for public and DoDea systems. We will discuss MiC3, MCEC, S2S, purple star schools, how to navigate special education with DoDea, public schools and...

03/28/2025

This week I received the following e-mail about a concert with ASL interpretation in Raleigh on April 5th:

Subject: upcoming concert with reserved section for ASL interpreter users

The NC Division for Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Regional Center are doing a concert on April 5th at Meymandi Concert Hall titled: Tales of Enchantment.
It features Bartok’s Mythic Parable told through music and spoken-word with 170-voice Chorale, orchestra, soloists, and Assistive Sign Langauge narrator.
We have reserved a section of seats near the ASL narrator.
To purchase those tickets , use the password of "ASL" to access the reserved seating section- by online.
This password will work online when purchasing through Ticketmaster, but is not needed if purchasing in person at the Box Office.

Look Forward to seeing you all there!

Christine Kastner
she/her/hers
Executive Director
North Carolina Master Chorale
PO Box 562 ǀ Raleigh, NC 27602
(919) 301-8022 Office
(910) 624-6023 Mobile
www.ncmasterchorale.org

Please feel free to share! Thank you! 🙂🎼🤟

Founded in 1942, the North Carolina Master Chorale is committed to bringing the very finest in choral music performance to Triangle audiences.

03/02/2025

March is Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, and many colleges have their spring break in March! If you are a person with a disability or a family member of a person with a disability, where in North Carolina do you like to travel this month?? 🙂🍀⛰️🏙🏖

01/24/2025

During a trip to Carolina Beach earlier this month, I walked across the Boardwalk and saw an AccessRec beach access mat extending part of the way across the sand. The organization Ocean Cure maintains it, and they have told me they take the mat apart before hurricanes and other off-season storms come, but it's nice to know that beachgoers with disabilities can get onto the sand during the winter! 🙂🏖🩵

[The image depict the beach access mat looking toward the water, a close-up photo of the light blue mat, and the beach access mat looking toward the Courtyard Marriott Hotel.]

10/30/2024

Wellness Wednesday: Spending time outside and appreciating nature's beauty can be good for everyone's health. Share a fall foliage photo from North Carolina and be sure to describe it for people with vision loss! 😃🍁🍂📷

[Image depicts a tree casting a wide umbrella of bright red leaves in a shopping center in Raleigh under a partly cloudy sky. The red leaves make a striking contrast to the light blue sky.]

10/08/2024

The destruction that Hurricane Helene left in Western North Carolina is unimaginable! Anything we can all do to help the region and its people will help it return to prosperity. Right now is not a good time to go to Western North Carolina as a visitor because of the relief efforts and the damaged and destroyed roads. But donate money to the North Carolina Disaster Relief Fund or to reputable organizations and donate relief supplies to coordinated donation drives. Donate blood, too, if you are able. Foster a displaced animal from an animal shelter if you are able to. And buy local by supporting any small businesses in Western North Carolina that are able to operate right now! 🙏🌀🌬🌧🌊🏞⛰️

[Image depicts a circle featuring a photo of the North Carolina mountains at sunset with a white outline of North Carolina in the middle and wrapped text saying, "Prayers for Western North Carolina NC Strong."]

09/12/2024

If you are interested in reading about accessible recreation for people with disabilities, please check out the Summer 2024 issue of The Binnacle, a publication of, by, and for people with disabilities: http://deesdesktop.com/binnacle/! You can access either a flipping page ebook or a PDF version of this issue. Please share because the more people who know about and read The Binnacle, the better! Many thanks to all of the publication's contributors and supporters! 🙂

We are a lifestyle and resource newsletter where disability is centered and celebrated as diversity.

08/16/2024

Fabulous Friday Post: On Monday evening, I visited Franklinton Park north of Raleigh and was pleasantly surprised to discover an accessible playground with an accessible pathway, rubber mat surfaces, bucket swings, a picnic shelter level with the walkway, and (most !) a Fanklinton Communication Board with icons to point to emojis or images related to play! Enjoy these five images depicting the playground features that I mention here. 🙂🌳

07/25/2024

Today I learned that the Town of Holden Beach along the coast between Wilmington and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina has beach access mats! I am waiting for pictures, but I wanted to go ahead and share this information from the Assistant Town Manager in the Parks and Recreation Department:

We do . . . have mats in place at several of our beach access points and have received very positive feedback from users. I would especially recommend the new access at the pier (441 Ocean Boulevard West) or the site at 114 Ocean Boulevard East because these also have mat bump outs.

I will share pictures when I have them, but I wanted people to know that Holden Beach has these mats. Holden Beach is unable to offer beach wheelchairs to use, but a place called Beach Fun Rentals offers beach wheelchairs for rent.

If you visit Holden Beach and use the beach access mats, please share pictures! Thank you very much! 🙂🏖🌊🌞

07/25/2024

The Ackland Art Museum in Chapel Hill now offers free EnChroma glasses for visitors who are red-green colorblind to use during their visit! See these details below:

Call for Colorblind Volunteers: Launch of EnChroma Glasses
Wednesday, August 21, 1 p.m. Participation by application.

Are you colorblind or do you know someone who is?

The Ackland Art Museum at UNC-Chapel Hill has partnered with EnChroma to help visitors who are colorblind better experience color at our museum. If you’re red-green colorblind, or have a family member, coworker, or friend who is, we are looking for people who are red-green colorblind to come to the Ackland Art Museum on Wednesday, August 21 at 1:00 p.m. to try special EnChroma glasses. These glasses enable colorblind people to see an expanded range of clear, vibrant color. All participants who are chosen to take part in this event will get to keep a pair of EnChroma glasses.

To be considered, please click here to fill out a volunteer background form. For question #3 “Media Opportunity,” add that you’re volunteering to try the glasses at the Ackland Art Museum. The form may take about 10-20 minutes to complete. The survey includes questions about your age, your location, your vision and the type of colorblindness you have, and your experience with colorblindness. Click the link above to view all survey questions.

You must be willing to speak with reporters about your experience with colorblindness and how colors appear to you. You'll then try the EnChroma glasses and describe what you experience. It will require about an hour of your time. EnChroma will contact those selected well in advance to share more information.

🙂😎🎨🖼

07/22/2024

Many thanks to my friend Stacy Marx for sharing this Mecklenburg County Park & Recreation Facebook post today during the ADA's 34th anniversary week:

♿ The Mobi-mat is a new accessible amenity we just added at Ramsey Creek Beach. This feature improves beach access for our visitors who use wheelchairs. This is one of many ways we are fostering a sense of belonging in our community. Happy Park and Recreation Month!

📍Ramsey Creek Beach: 18441 Nantz Rd, Cornelius

🙂🏖👨‍🦼👩‍🦽

[Image depicts a grayish mat going across the sand from a concrete edge toward a lake on a partly cloudy day.]