Two-wheel accessibility on campus
Getting through the snow that has fallen or over the crack in the sidewalks around campus may be easy for most, but for those in wheelchairs, it isn’t always as simple as it seems.
With snow falling, campus has become a little less accessible for wheelchair users.
Craig Hirschi, a senior in broadcast journalism who uses a wheelchair said, “For the most part [campus] is pretty accessible. Except when it snows, they don’t shovel the walks very well. That’s the hardest thing I deal with. I don’t have any problems unless it snows.”
“I think as a whole the university does a pretty good job of keeping everything accessible and up to date. I know they do work on it. If I have a class on the other side of campus they could move it,” Hirschi said.
Becky Keeley, who does curriculum development in the special education department and uses a wheelchair, said campus has “gotten better since I first came here as a freshman in college. There wasn’t an accessible bathroom in the Merrill Library then.”
Keeley wrote a paper in her English class about the problem and it became a feature story in the Herald Journal and they eventually changed the bathroom to be wheelchair accessible, she said.
Students in wheelchairs may have more trouble getting around, but they still have the same challenges in the classroom.
Hirschi said even though he is in a wheelchair, he isn’t any different from any other student.
“Teachers just see me as a student. In normal life people see me differently – like I need special treatment – but I just want to be treated the same as anyone else,” Hirschi said, “In every class we all have the same challenges academic wise.”
Hirschi can do a lot of things other people in wheelchairs can’t. He sits in a desk in every class and drives himself to school.
“I take my own notes and fall asleep in class just like everyone else,” Hirschi said, “A lot of people think I can’t do everything everyone else can. I go to basketball games and work at the bookstore. I think I can do anything anyone else can do.”
Hirschi’s car is set up with hand controlled gas and brake pedals under the blinker. When getting in his car he takes the wheels off his wheelchair, folds the back down and throws the whole thing in the back seat.
“It’s a lot quicker to drive,” he said.
Hirschi said people should be courteous of people in wheelchairs.
“Ask if there is anything you can do, but don’t be mad if I say no. I like to do things on my own. You never know when I will need help though,” Hirschi said.
“Look at the person inside – treat everyone like you want to be treated. Don’t look at the wheelchair – look at me, look at my eyes – see who I really am,” Hirschi said.
Many people are afraid to ask questions about people with disabilities.
“If you have questions ask. People are always afraid to ask questions. I’m totally upfront about everything if people ask. It educates people and gets them to understand what is going on. It can be a really good thing,” Hirschi said.
Diane Baum, director of the Disability Resource Center (DRC), is working on getting a survey of wheelchair accessible entrances of all the buildings on campus. She is going to put them on a Web site for people to look at before they get to the building and don’t know how to get in, she said.
“I think we’ll have something very useful when we’re done,” Baum said.
Baum has volunteer groups taking pictures of the buildings and doing the surveys to put on the Web site. She said she still has fifteen buildings that need to be surveyed and anyone who would like to help can go to the DRC.
Baum said the Military Science and Lund buildings will never be accessible, however.
Hirschi said he hasn’t had trouble with these buildings because he never has classes in them.
Baum said the DRC can help students accommodate if they are in those buildings or have large distances between their classes.
“If they can’t get there fast enough we can move the class,” Baum said.
Keeley said the DRC is good for promoting awareness. “Students are more willing to talk and don’t hide that they need accommodations.”
“If a student needs help it’s OK to go to the DRC and learn about what is available. It will make your college experience better because you won’t have to worry about the physical aspects,” Keeley said.
Another useful change USU has made is the shuttle busses, which are wheelchair accessible.
“We haven’t always had a bus system – that was a problem when I first started working here,” Baum said, “Now students can live where they want and ride the bus.”
Keeley said, “USU is very accommodating. When I came I didn’t know how to advocate for my own needs, so it took me a while to realize it was OK to ask for things.
“I wanted to be like everyone else, but that makes you fall behind when you need help,” Keeley said.
Keeley said people should realize that underneath everything people in wheelchairs are still people. “We just need a little extra help now and then to help level the playing field. But everyone needs a little help now and then.”
-hollyadams@cc.usu.edu