Barrier buster.

Byline: Joe Harwood The Register-Guard

Several years ago, leading a tour group of four in London, Jim Peterson spied a sign in a store window advertising five tickets to the evening's Eric Clapton concert at Prince Albert Hall.

Peterson immediately bought the tickets. "I took it as a sign from God that there were five tickets and five of us," he said.

Among Peterson's four developmentally disabled charges was a paraplegic man in a wheelchair.

"We had seats close to the stage, but (the ushers) said we couldn't sit there with the wheelchair because of fire regulations," Peterson said. Theater officials worried that in a fire, the wheelchair-bound man wouldn't be able to evacuate quickly.

"So I told them he could get up and walk if there was a fire," Peterson said. "That was a lie, but it was a great show."

Such are the steps Peterson will take to ensure his travel company's special clients receive equal access to adventure and recreation. In the case of Prince Albert Hall, which is not wheelchair accessible, Peterson said he was determined "to use it just like everybody else."

Peterson's Eugene-based firm, Trips Inc. Special Adventures, takes developmentally disabled adults from across the country to destinations worldwide.

Launched in 1991, when Peterson ran four expeditions and served about 70 people, Trips now takes a total of 700 to 750 disabled vacationers on a total of about 40 adventures each year.

Destinations include Mexico, the Bahamas, Greece, Scotland, France and dozens of domestic stops that include Hawaii, Alaska, Disneyland, Nashville, Florida, Las Vegas, San Francisco and a dude ranch near Tucson.

Customers of Trips come with a variety of disabilities, ranging from autism, Down syndrome and cerebral palsy to blindness, assorted physical handicaps and mental retardation.

Peterson is one of a handful of for-profit entrepreneurs nationwide who specialize in this work. Demand has increased as a growing number of families and other advocates have pushed to bring fun into the lives of special-needs people.

Peterson's company has grown to the point where it now has six full-time paid staff, and uses 200 trip chaperons from around the country.

The chaperoning can be demanding. Some clients live in group homes and need 24-hour care.

And the vacation packages are spendy. An annual four-day Christmas gathering in Portland runs $945; a nine-day Oahu vacation costs $2,645; five days in Disneyland can be had for $1,590; and 10 days in Greece has a $3,395 price tag.

The price includes airfare, lodging, meals and entertainment. The ratio of travelers to chaperons runs 3-to-1 or 4-to-1. That small group supervision - which includes dispensing medications and other personal care - plus the multitude of safety provisions Peterson insists upon, drive the price.

Still, Peterson said demand outstrips the trips he can supply.

It's not uncommon for the 20 to 30 slots available for a summer camping expedition in Central Oregon to be full six months in advance, said Rhonda Reed, travel coordinator for Trips. On those outdoor expeditions, the chaperone to traveler ratio is 1-to-1 or 1-to-2 for safety reasons, Peterson said.

Limited opportunities

Peterson started the business a decade after failing to find adequate vacation opportunities for a disabled foster child in his care.

"I found a lot of camps, but what about going to San Francisco for a baseball game?" he said. "I thought about starting my own travel service, and 10 years later I did."

Peterson's personality drives the Trips paid staff. His philosophy is straightforward: Special needs folks need vacations like the rest of us, and the best way to educate the world about the disabled is to take them out into the world to recreate.

"I want the perception out there that we aren't all that different," he said. "People with developmental disabilities aren't made of glass."

Monica Venice is proof of that. Next week, the 38-year-old Cottage Grove woman with Down syndrome will embark on her fifth Trips vacation - this time on a cruise to the Bahamas.

"She usually does one every year," said Monica's mother, Becky Venice, noting that the journeys give her "very independent" daughter the incentive to work at McDonald's and save for traveling.

"It is so thrilling for her to have the opportunity to do a trip like this without Mom and Dad along," Becky Venice said. "Trips gives her as much freedom to be as independent as she can be."

Monica, who has been to Branson, Mo., Disneyworld, Hawaii and Mexico with Trips, said her most memorable venture thus far is the jaunt to Hawaii when she and her group swam with friendly marine mammals at the Dolphin Quest facility. "I kissed a dolphin," she said, giggling.

Letting go of kids

Some parents and guardians of special needs people tend to be overprotective and dismiss the supervised vacations offered by Trips and other similar firms, Becky Venice said.

"I've tried to talk it up to other parents to let their kids do this, but it's hard for them to put their kids in the hands of strangers," she said.

Janine Nilsen found Trips when she started looking for an organization for her son, Eric, to travel with after he graduated from Cottage Grove High School. Eric Nilsen, 29, has Down syndrome, and now works in the high school cafeteria.

"It's important for parents of kids with special needs to let them travel," Janine Nelson said. "These kids need real experiences to grow."

Nilsen said the tour groups are a chance for her son to be an ambassador for the special needs community. "To show the world they are not monsters," she said.

Nilsen recounts a vacation Eric took to Hawaii, and he and his group stopped at an Oahu bar. "A group of Japanese businessmen walked in, looked at them and were taken aback," she said. "Eric walked up to them and said 'Hi' and that melted the ice instantly."

Venice maintains she wasn't nervous when Monica took her first vacation without parents. She's known Peterson for almost 30 years, dating back to when both were volunteers for Special Olympics.

"He is such a natural with the population," Venice said. "He just connects with these guys and they love him."

Peterson, who has a master's degree in special education, said the vacations his company offers are the only chance for many disabled people to break their sometimes regimented routines.

"Traveling improves their confidence," he said. "They are adults, so let's get them out there to see the world."

Details, details, details

Operating out of a two-story house on West Sixth Avenue in Eugene, the Trips staff plans the minute details of each adventure.

Aside from plane tickets, there are hotel room assignments, special diets and accommodations, instructions for medications, traveler profiles and the lining up of chaperons.

Reed, the travel coordinator and a licensed travel agent, puts it all together, Peterson said.

"We had a trip to Orlando (Fla.) once where we had people coming from 16 different airports," Reed said. "That was stressful."

Peterson insists that all staff members, even the office manager, take at least one trip "so they understand how important their jobs are."

Reed for example, has made several trips to Scotland and France. Tour leaders are also given flexibility to veer off the planned schedule to accommodate different interests.

"We set the itinerary, but they aren't canned trips," Peterson said. "We want people to experience everything."

Reed last June traveled with a group to Paris, and had to make some minor schedule changes. "They liked the Louvre so much they wanted to go back, so we did," she said. "If they don't like museums, I have to find something different for them to enjoy."

Peterson relies on paid group leaders and a network of 200 chaperons to keep his travelers safe. Chaperons, from a variety of backgrounds, are a mix of paid staff and volunteers. For the unpaid, Trips covers the costs, such as airfare, lodging and meals.

A special education teacher in Maryland makes a point of volunteering for one trip a year, Peterson said, while a Wyoming woman travels with Trips as many as 10 times a year.

"The only way it works is if I've got good chaperons," Peterson said, adding that all are thoroughly vetted, including background checks and interviews to screen their disposition and attitude.

Adam Gratch, a program supervisor for the Arc of Multnomah County, has chaperoned seven trips and is slated to head to Nashville in March.

"It's an incredible opportunity," he said. "You get to meet new friends and have new experiences."

Gratch said he appreciates Trips because the firm takes disabled folks to places they would never see on their own.

"They make connections that last well after the trip has ended," Gratch said. "There's a lot of learning that goes on."

Peterson said four couples who met on the trips have married.

Screening clients

Not all folks with developmental disabilities are fit for travel. Peterson requires each to submit a profile, and makes sure a person's social skills will fit with any given group. Formerly a director for a group home for the developmentally disabled, Peterson scrutinizes each profile for any disqualifying issues.

"Our biggest concern is safety. We're not coming at this from a travel agency perspective," he said. "If there are medical concerns that we can't handle, we'll have to say no, maybe another trip at another time."

The business has flattened out since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks - mirroring the national travel atmosphere - but remains profitable, Peterson said. "This is something that will not make you rich," he added.

Those who know Peterson said he operates Trips out of a deep affection for the disabled. "He loves the population," Venice said. "And his enthusiasm and demeanor rubs off on those people he hires."

Peterson said he loves the clients and their sheer joy in a recreational setting.

"If I had the chance to do it for another group, I wouldn't," he said. "These guys don't complain about the weather. They are simply grateful."

Trips Inc. Special Adventures

Business: Travel agency that caters exclusively to developmentally disabled adults. Conducts roughly 40 trips a year and serves as many as 750 clients a year.

Owner: Jim Peterson

Employees: Six paid staff plus a volunteer chaperon force of 200

Founded: 1991

Headquarters: Eugene

Revenues: Not disclosed

Internet: www.tripsinc.com

CAPTION(S):

Trips Inc. travelers and staff members visited Paris last June to see the Eiffel Tower, Euro Disney and the Louvre.