Lindsey Huling's Blog

ADA Scavenger Hunt

Friday, October 8th, 2010 | Assignments for TLEP 4830

After observing many of the different ADA adaption’s made on campus I finally came up with a list for ten positive and ten negative aspects on campus. For many of my positive discoveries I used the BGSU Disability Services Student Handbook that I found on the BGSU website. The handbook lays out a great deal of accommodations that the university has for people with disabilities. It also has contact lists for the correct administrators to get in touch with if you have a disability.

Positive Aspects of ADA on BGSU Campus:

• Renovations are currently being made to many areas on campus, allowing better handicap assessable areas. An example would be the sidewalks along Ridge Road near Eppler and Olscamp, they have been newly paved making smoother and easier for wheelchairs to ride upon.
• All buildings have electronic doors to open up so that those with disabilities can open the doors easier.
• In all of the newer buildings, such as the union, there are a lot of open areas with large hallways making it easier for those with disabilities to get around.
• The Jerome Library has a whole service dedicated to helping those with disabilities. Since they know that some people with have trouble retrieving books, articles or other documents, handicapped students are able to request their information and have it be available within 24 hours.
• Founders’ residence hall has what I believe to be one of the best ramps for disabled students. It is easy to get into their hall as well as get into their dining facility.
• Although our recreation center on campus is not the best, I do think it is wonderful that our pool has the equipment necessary to get someone in the pool who has a disability.
• BGSU has four different scholarships alone, to give out to students with disabilities.
• BGSU provides, free of charge, rental of tape recorders and video cameras for those with disabilities who may need the help during class.
• BGSU provides exam accommodations for those with disabilities; these accommodations include extended time, oral tests, modifications, reader services, scribe services, etc.
• For those students who are hard of hearing, the university provides them with one of three services, an interpreter, or one of two computer programs; Typewell Meaning-for-Meaning Translation, or, Computer Assisted Real-Time Captioning (CART).

Negative Aspects of ADA on BGSU Campus:

• Some buildings, such as the Kreisher Sundial, make it very difficult for those with handicaps to get into their facility. The only way to directly get into the Sundial is by stairs, if you have a wheelchair or any other disability you must go through the dorms, take an elevator to the second level then find your way to the eating facility. The other problem with this is that in order to use the elevators you must have a PED to the building.
• Since some halls are very old, many of the door ways are very small and it can be a tight squeeze for someone to use the bathroom even when they have no disability. Since these rooms are so small I would think it would be very difficult for those with disabilities to use the restroom in older halls.
• While I am unsure of how many students with disabilities live on campus and have a car, I have noticed that in the on campus parking lot (Lot 12), there are no handicap spots available. Even if there are currently no students who would utilize the spaces, I believe they should have the option.
• As far as I know, BGSU campus busses do not accommodate to those with wheelchairs and other disabilities. While wheelchair accessible busses are expensive I feel those students have just as much of a right to take the bus around town or around campus, especially on a cold day when it is hard to maneuver the wheelchair through the snow.
• Many of the doors on campus, as in Eppler, tend to be very heavy, with people who have trouble using their hands; it could be very difficult for them to open the door.
• The classroom we use for this class is very tight. The desks are always smashed together and there is little room to roam around. If you were in a wheel chair it would be hard to get around our room and there is only one table for those with disabilities to sit at. In many rooms that I have classes in, there are only desks, no tables for those with wheel chairs to sit at.
• In many large lecture halls the only way you can sit at tables is if you walk up or down steps. This poses a problem for many students with disabilities because if you are in a room where you must walk down steps, that means you are far away from the lecture and will most likely have trouble seeing and hearing the professor.
• My roommate has told me many times that when she uses the elevators in the music building that they get stuck continuously, to the point where she no longer uses them. If someone with a disability had to use these elevators each day it would not only be annoying to get stuck, but is could cause them to be late or even miss a class.
• After reading the article in class about student recreation centers on college campuses not being well suited for those with disabilities, it got me thinking about our own recreation center. I definitely do not think the SRC is well equipped for those with disabilities because for general machine and free weight usage, there is little room for people with disabilities.
• Of the resident halls that I have lived in, during a fire alarm there is only the noise going off, not a flashing light. For those students who are deaf I feel it would cause a major problem for them to not know when to get out of the building during a drill or a real fire.