Understanding hikers with I/DD

• Hikers will often find it difficult to understand and develop a plan to hike.   This can make it impossible to prepare them for new experiences, and requires that special care may be required when approaching a new activity like hiking, or even just a new hike.  At the same time, some hikers will be especially reassured by familiar routines.  Building a familiar and favorite hiking routine is one solution. Introducing a new or more difficult trail is much easier when it is embedded in an otherwise familiar and established routine. While hiking planners and partners will rely most heavily on effective teaching practices to build routines, they must also be confident that new trails will not present unexpected challenges. Venturing on an unpredictable  trail - i.e., one that is too long, too steep, has too many obstacles, and so on - can be extremely frustrating to both hikers and hiking partners, and lead them to abandon hiking altogether. Relevant and reliable information about any trail characteristic that impacts the difficulty of a hike is absolutely essential.
• Hikers may often struggle to understand and communicate their feelings and needs. This means that their fear, frustration, and discomfort can end up being expressed in mood and behavior swings that can be difficult to understand and to manage. Hiking partners must carefully monitor the mood and behavior swings of their hikers, and adjust the present hike and future hikes accordingly.  While hiking partners can rely on specific teaching practices to support effective communication, the length and difficulty of the hike is perhaps the most reliable contributor to overall levels of frustration and discomfort. This also the one easiest to assess and control, if hiking planners have access to relevant and reliable information.
• Some hikers may also have some degree of physical impairment. This can include problems in muscle strength/tone, strength, motor coordination, motor planning, and balance.  For some hikers, these difficulties may result in a co-occurring diagnosis of cerebral palsy.  While hiking presents the fewest barriers to achieving greater fitness relative to almost all other indoor or outdoor recreation activities for hikers with some degree of physical impairment, careful planning is absolutely essential.
  • Hikers with poor balance may struggle on any surface that is not even or is not firm.
  • Hikers with poor balance and/or coordination present an increased risk of falling on trails that require stepping over obstacles. Even a small obstacle can trip up some hikers if they do not know what to expect. Other obstacles higher than a step may require an unexpected degree of motor planning to navigate. Hiking planners and partners must be able to identify hikes that may present such obstacles.
  • Hikers with poor balance and/or coordination can always benefit from leaning on the arm of a hiking partner, as long as the trail allows two people to walk comfortably side by side.
  • Any of these difficulties can decrease a hiker’s involvement in many physical activities, and therefore impact their overall fitness and endurance.  Even when the impact in any one area seems relatively insignificant, the cumulative impact across multiple areas or the cumulative impact over time can become very significant.  For example, minor problems with balance and coordination that might not be as evident in typical daily activities may lead a hiker to quickly tire on an uneven trail in soft ground. One of the most common impacts is an increased risk of significant weight gain if not obesity, which will initially limit a new hiker’s endurance. Hiking planners should be prepared to adjust expectations based on the length and difficulty of hikes, and paying special attention to the terrain and potential obstacles as needed.  This might include planning for more frequent breaks on a longer hike, whenever benches and other rest areas are available
• Some hikers may be very sensitive to different physical sensations. These can  include loud sounds, bright lights, changes in hot or cold temperature, and the feel of different materials on their skin.  In general, it is reasonable to expect that these hikers, like most others, will find the sights, sounds, and/or smells of nature to be very enjoyable. Nonetheless, hiking partners and planners should decide how to identify any such sensitivities, and accommodate as needed. While many such concerns can be addressed by choosing the right clothing, especially for an especially hot or cold day, hiking planners may also adjust to conditions by choosing a shaded trail on a sunny day or for a hiker sensitive to bright lights.  Hikers who are sensitive to the cold might appreciate the warmth of a sunny trail on a cold day.
• Some hikers may become especially anxious when they are unsure or uncomfortable. Any the factors described above can be magnified among hikers who tend to become anxious. While all of the strategies described above can help decrease this tendency, it is also reasonable to expect that many of these hikers - like most others - will find the experience of being surrounded by the sights, sounds, and smells of nature to be very soothing.
• Hikers with an I/DD combined with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience specific difficulty understanding and relating to other people.  Some may become anxious in almost any social situation that signals the increased potential for interaction with someone unfamiliar, or even when they are just in a crowded area. For these people, hiking may be especially enjoyable, because such interactions are very unlikely on most trails.  Nonetheless, those planning hikes for hikers who are anxious around people my wish to avoid the most crowded trails, especially on difficult days.
• A small number of hikers may present other behaviors that require special precautions. For example, hikers are likely to encounter dogs and occasionally horses on trails.  Some hikers may tend to bolt unexpectedly from a partner. In these cases, planners and partner should note whether trails pass adjacent to highly trafficked areas, or to landscape features that pose a special hazard (e.g., cliffs or ponds). Hiking planners and partners who know of a particular fear of these animals or a concern about a hiker who may bolt unexpectedly may scan the description or review of trails to note whether these features or animals are likely to be encountered.

Understanding and accommodating for these individual differences is also essential to effective planning, and so some preliminary assessment of the interests and needs of each hiker is essential.  This assessment might only require a brief survey completed by a knowledgeable teacher or caregiver.  This assessment can also help establish a baseline of related activity, and establish reasonable goals at each step in their progression.

This review reveals an important insight: none the the accommodations needed to help hikers begin to hit the trails require any changes to the trails themselves, as long as the trail is relatively easy. This is really important, because trails are expensive to build and maintain.  So what makes a trail easy? And how do you find easy trails? We cover this next!