Last Updated on August 7, 2026, 6:29 PM AST by Anthony Morris
The St. Kitts-Nevis Association of Persons with Disabilities, JBE Accessibility Solutions Consulting, in collaboration with the St. Kitts Tourism Authority came together to work on delivering “First Contact Matters: Disability Etiquette and Accessible Passenger Assistance” for employees of the St. Christopher Air & Sea Ports Authority (SCASPA).
All the organisations collaborated together and organised three practical training sessions with the staff at SCASPA. The authorities have shared that approximately 60 security, screening, front-desk and other first-contact personnel participated in the trainings.
The officials explored how they can provide safer, more respectful and more accessible assistance to passengers with disabilities. The participants of the training programme were engaged in practical learning. The officials have shared that the officials asked questions, shared experiences from their work.
The officials participated in several demonstrations in helping people with disabilities. Their training covered how the officers can:
• Provide respectful wheelchair assistance
• Guiding passengers who are blind or have low vision
• Communicating with deaf and hard-of-hearing passengers
• Asking before assisting
• Protecting privacy and personal dignity
• Supporting passengers during security checks, boarding, delays and emergencies
Training focused on guiding a person who is blind was a very important part of the initiative. Experts have shared that initially, some of the participants relied on what they believed was the correct approach. Training helped the staff members learn how to offer an elbow, walk alongside the person, communicate clearly and provide useful information about the surroundings. The practical guidance and demonstrations were delivered by Lorenzo Jackson (Vice President SKNAPD), they quickly
The preliminary feedback was very encouraging:
• 95% strongly agreed that they better understood disability inclusion.
• 95% strongly agreed that they could communicate more respectfully with persons with disabilities.
• 99% strongly agreed that they could better identify barriers in their work areas.
• 97% strongly agreed that the activities were practical.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
