Environmental Psychology is a relatively new and exciting field within psychology. It places focus upon the dynamic relationship between the environment and the individual, as well as the impact that this has on our mental health and psychological wellbeing.
Disability as understood by the World Health Organization (WHO) relates to the level to which one’s environment allows them to engage in a meaningful manner with it. Already I’m sure that you can think of places in your life, where perhaps you may feel more disabled than others. As a result, you may have stronger emotions towards these different places, and unknowingly may even avoid them or attempt to limit our exposure to them. Already you can start to think about how the relationship that exists between you and your environment is impacted your emotional state, even if only for the small duration where you are engaged with that environment.
Another important aspect that this field has begun to explore is the positive impact that being out in nature has on people, with regards to their mental health and psychological wellbeing. Now people who have disabilities, or who are differently abled, are of no exception to this, as they are at essence people like everyone else with similar needs. As such the benefits of being able to be out in nature are clear.
Though there could be some challenges in achieving this. A lot of spaces are not that accommodating to differently abled people, in general society, let alone in more natural spaces. So perhaps to be able to get out into nature may require a little more for planning than it would for most. However, planning should not deter you from the potential benefits which you could receive from such an outing.
We are starting to see social change with regards to a greater societal awareness of differently abled people and are seeing societal moves towards a more inclusive society. In the same vein we are and will continue to see shifts with regards to accessibility of natural spaces should differently able people visit them. The benefits then are two fold, one through gaining the positives afford by in nature and two that there can be a greater sense of mastery of environments and building towards a more inclusive society.