What's your handicap?

Have you ever thought about how hard it is for a handicap person to get around Albright’s campus? You most likely answered “No” to that question. The truth is most students don’t think twice about the accessibility of our campus because it does not affect them personally. Professor Bonnie Hamwi of the education department believes that this is an important issue that should not be ignored. Professor Hamwi took this issue and applied it to her intro to elemtary education class. I spoke to one of Professor Hamwi’s former students about her experiences while taking the class. Ashley Gaynor is a senior special education and theater major. “That one exercise really opened my eyes, I never really thought about whether it was easy or hard for handicapped people,” said Ashley when I asked her what she remembers most about the class. One part of the intro to education class experiment requires the students to take turns riding a wheel chair and maneuvering through campus. The students have a list of places they must attempt to access; Grinrich library, campus center, Masters and Selwyn hall to name a few. “I remember the worst place to get around in was Jake’s Place because of that ramp by the bathroom. It’s like a 180 degree turn,” stated Ashley. Although there are ramps in many places on campus some can be hard to maneuver depending on what type of wheel chair that is used. Professor Hamwi’s class is one of the few ways that students can learn about the accessibility of our campus.

The admissions office does have a tour route designated to accommodate people who are handicap. Albright Ambassadors are responsible for providing prospective students and visitors with a fresh, fun, and personal experience on their college tours. The admissions office mandates that all ambassadors be proficient in giving a handicap campus tour. The normal campus tour takes about an hour and makes stops at all the major landmarks of the college; Grinrich library, Masters Hall, Memorial chapel, and computing and mathematics just to name a few. During the handicap tour the tour guide relays all the same information as in a normal tour and points out all the major landmarks. However, the handicap tour does take a half hour longer than the normal tour. This is due to the extra walking around buildings and the estimated time for elevators and maneuvering up and down ramps. “I had to give a handicap tour a couple weeks ago and it was tough,” said Jared Epler a senior ambassador. Jared has been an ambassador since the spring semester of his freshman year. “Since I don’t normally give the handicap tours I had to bring the manual with me to remember the path, it’s hard because I have to deviate from my normal tour route and walk around everything,” said Jared about his latest tour experience.

Although Albright is not an easily accessible campus there are services that are offered free of charge for students who request them. Students can request to be shuttled by public safety to different locations. Jen Bonnes a sophomore said, “Public safety did use to drive me to my physical therapy three times a week since I couldn’t drive myself.” On top of the shuttle service public safety can also provide an elevator key if the student follows the proper procedures to procure the key.


Want to know what else public safety and other departments on campus do to assist handicapped students? Be sure to listen to the audio podcast version of this post. Also step into someone else’s shoes and check out the mini documentary, “day in the life.”