“Credentials are important,” said John McGovern, Principal-in-Charge, Accessibility Consulting. “The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) imposes some requirements regarding existing parks and facilities, as well as policies and programs. To ensure our local government clients are well served, we hold the credentials that help us help those local governments.”
WT Group’s Accessibility Consulting team boasts a number of of specialized credentials, ensuring exceptional service for our clients. McGovern highlighted that only two states, Texas and California, have professional access credentials. Tanya Scheibe, Principal of Standards, holds the Texas credential (Registered Accessibility Specialist), and Shelley Zuniga, Senior Project Manager, holds the California credential (Certified Access Specialist). Zuniga also holds the Certified ADA Coordinator credential, which is also held by Tatum Storey, Principal of Operations, who also holds an MSW (Master of Social Work).
Given the team’s extensive work within the parks and recreation industry, they also maintain credentials specific to parks and recreation. Project Manager Aaron Hirthe and Accessibility Specialist Brett Gordon are Certified Park and Recreation Professionals (CPRP), with Hirthe additionally certified as a Certified Playground Safety Inspector (CPSI). Accessibility Specialist Daniel Bregman is a Certified Park and Recreation Executive (CPRE). The team includes three Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialists (CTRS): Laurel Heizelman, Brett Gordon (recently), and new team member Miranda Candia, who joined WT Group this month. McGovern himself is a licensed attorney specializing in accessibility law.
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The CTRS certification qualifies professionals to provide therapeutic recreation services. Broadly, therapeutic recreation is the study of how recreation and leisure activities can be meaningful for individuals with disabilities. In the Accessibly world, when we set out to promote access to recreation and leisure opportunities, we often find ourselves providing this additional context to help clients see more ways to comply with the ADA.
My bachelor’s degree was not in therapeutic recreation. Instead, it was largely personal experiences that powered the start of my career in the accessibility field. As I grew to understand that more formal education would complement these experiences, I decided to pursue a master’s program that would allow me to sit for the CTRS credential. John and the team have been very encouraging during this process and I look forward to using my final master’s project to benefit our practice area.
As an Accessibility Specialist, my primary responsibilities include access audits and reporting. In addition to these tasks, I believe our leadership does a good job of utilizing our strengths and interests. For example, through continued conversations with my supervisor, I was afforded the opportunity to serve as a member of our survey team, drafting survey questions and analyzing survey results. The ADA requires community engagement and one of the ways we do that is through surveys of people with disabilities in that community. And, as a career development consideration, I am acting as a Project Manager for a municipal ADA project in Connecticut.
I would say it is the time we get to engage with the community that is especially rewarding. Hearing from individuals with disabilities in the various settings we serve can be a powerful reminder of how all of our tasks tie into the goal of improving access.
