Obstacles bedevil disabled students

From inaccessible bathrooms to narrow elevators to bumpy, unaligned curbs, students with disabilities face challenges every day on the campus.

"There are buildings that are definitely not up to code," said sophomore letters and sciences major Malka Goldberg, who had to use a wheelchair for four months after being struck with an undiagnosed medical disease last fall. "There are some serious problems in terms of disability access."

Officials in the Department of Facilities Management agree there are many accessibility issues at the university, especially in the older buildings. They insist, however, that the campus is "programmatically accessible," meaning that all programs and classes are disabilities friendly.

"Most buildings were built before accessibility codes were made," Assistant Director of Capital Budgeting in Facilities Management Arshad Mughal said. "We have been targeting older buildings, and currently we are programmatically accessible, but we are committed to go beyond what is legally required."

So far this semester, an elevator has been installed in the main administration building, and others are scheduled to be installed in the architecture and engineering laboratory buildings. Bathroom accessibility projects have been approved for Skinner Hall, and the physics building's lecture halls are set to undergo construction to become wheelchair accessible.

Students with disabilities are still plagued with inconsistencies in building standards, however. The elevator in Tydings Hall only reaches four of its five floors while the elevator in Jimenez Hall opens up to a set of stairs.

Laura Quijano, a graduate student and teaching assistant studying Spanish, said she once had a student in a wheelchair tell her that in order for her to visit her teaching assistants on the fourth floor of Jimenez, her friends had to half-carry her and then her wheelchair up the stairs after exiting the elevator.

"Though there are ways around the situation, it is quite problematic and it makes it unfairly difficult for students in wheelchairs," Quijano said.

Goldberg also said she needed help from friends in order to access bathrooms in Jimenez that were too small for her wheelchair.

Problems with buildings like Jimenez and Tydings mostly stem from their age, Mughal said, as the buildings are several decades old. Jimenez is on the five-year campus plan to be renovated, he said.

"I don't know why they were designed the way they were," said Mughal. "However, I can ensure that when we do major reconstruction treatment [on the buildings] that these problems will be addressed."

Holzapfel Hall is on the list for accessibility project funding, chair of the President's Commission on Disabilities Issues Gay Gullickson said.

Holzapfel has a small elevator shaft that is nearly impossible for people in wheelchairs to access. The problem is similar to that of main administration building's, which also had a narrow elevator up until a few months ago when a new one was installed.

"This is an old campus, especially around the mall ... however, [Holzapfel] is a priority and it is on schedule to be renovated in the next few years," Gullickson said. "I am 100 percent confident on its renovation."

Gullickson said that not all the difficulties that students with disabilities experience has to do with physical accessibility. She said people with disabilities also have to deal with the cultural issues of being an invisible minority whose struggle is not discussed.

Ellen Fabian, director of the rehabilitation training program and associate professor in the education college, agrees with Gullickson. Fabian has spent most of her life counseling of those with disabilities and thinks the university should do more to raise general awareness about the problems facing people with disabilities through classes and programs.

"People with disabilities represent the largest invisible group in the country," Fabian said. "People are not outright discriminatory but are just not aware ... there is a lack of visible concern about people with visible and invisible disabilities."

ndesmarattes@umdbk.com