<p>I am posting this for a friend, whose daughter, a current junior in high school, has some physical disabilities that require wheelchair access for dorms and classrooms, and some classroom supported adaptive technologies. </p>
<p>If this was your daughter, where would you start your college search? Daughter is very bright (aren't they all! but she does have great grades and some good ECs), doesn't have a problem with being far from home, and is more concerned with finding campuses that are welcoming to disabled students and have good accessibility records than finding her 'perfect match' school.</p>
<p>Any campuses stand out to any of you as being great for the wheelchair bound student? Any suggestions for how they can find their way through the hype of each campus to see what it is really like for a student like this on campus?</p>
<p>Now as to practical matters: Your friend might want to consider a campus that is on flat land. If it has a bus system you need to make sure that the buses are wheelchair accessible. Ice and snow can make it difficult to get around in a wheelchair so your friend might want to take that into consideration. If there are no buses and the campus is very big see if there is paratransit available for students with mobility problems. Are there lots of busy streets running through the campus? Do students ride their bikes on the sidewalks making it difficult for people in wheelchairs (please don't use the phrase "wheelchair bound) to get around? Also look into the disability center at the campus. Visit the campus and talk to students with disabilities to see what their experience has been both in getting around the campus and receiving services from the student disability center. See if most of the buildings are physically accessible. Do they have elevators? Find out how many wheelchair accessible dorm rooms they have. Are most of the bathrooms on campus accessible to students in wheelchairs?</p>
<p>The snow and ice issue is why I wouldn't recommend another school. I had to push around a wheelchair in that stuff at KSU and it was not fun. WSU has underground pathways so it would keep anyone out of the elements.</p>
<p>Contact the Office of Disability Accommodations at each school where she is interested. They can assist her in knowing the accessibility of buildings and what might be done to meet her needs.</p>
<p>Also remember that campuses under Section 504/ADA must provide program accessibility. Based on the age of the buildings, and whether any recent significant renovations have been done, may not have to provide phyiscal accessibility to any particular building.</p>
<p>My D (not disabled) attended Arizona State U.They are well known as being disabled-friendly..if thats the right term..they fit the bill with no weather worries,flat terrain.We saw many many wheelchair users,and blind students with canes /seeing eye dogs on campus over the years.They have an Honors College which the girl could look into to accommodate her academic needs.One of D's friends was an RA in the Honors dorm with a section of his floor having suites to accommodate disabled students needs.</p>
<p>I just couldn't stay away, could I? ;) It sounds like I have pretty much the same issues as your friend's D (I use a walker, not a wheelchair, but they require more or less the same accomdations.). There's a website that lists the ten most disabled friendly colleges (<a href="http://www.newmobility.com/review_article.cfm?id=122&action=browse%5B/url%5D">http://www.newmobility.com/review_article.cfm?id=122&action=browse</a>) which I have found really helpful. Just a few quick suggestion/insights: 1) Call the disability office planning a tour and talk to them. This can give you pretty good insight. For example, University of Washington was horribly unhelpful both on the phone and at the campus. 2) Schedule an appointment to talk with the disability services office at each campus. If the campus is welcoming, the disability office will be a great help and just generally informative.</p>
<p>If you PM me (you can also PM me your friend's e-mail if that would work better, I'd be more than happy to discuss this more in-depth. (This way, I could finally start paying back the CC community from which I've taken oh so very much ;) )</p>
<p>Like most of the others who have commented, I urge you to contact the disability services office at the various colleges. My experience is limited to helping one disabled student, but I noticed that the level of assistance varies at different colleges. Overall, though, I suggest:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Look at the disablities literature provided by the college and on the website. Colleges that are committed to helping disabled students put it in writing and make specific promises. </p></li>
<li><p>Ask if a current disabled student could be assigned as a contact or resource.</p></li>
<li><p>Depending on the nature of the student's disability, visit the college and take a test run. If the student is in a wheelchair, pretend you are going to class and see if the handicapped access is really accessible. For blind students, check out how congested the campus is and whether there are braille or oral guideposts available. </p></li>
<li><p>It's my impression that large private or large public colleges have more accessible campuses and programs for the disabled but I'm sure many colleges are committed to helping the disabled. Large colleges may seem overwhelming at first but they are more likely to have students with similar disabilities. It can be comforting to know others in the same situation who can offer support and advice.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I wonder if the Center for Independent Living in Berkeley could direct you to relevant material or websites. I've gone to them on a couple of occasions looking for information related more to LD than the physical challenges they are geared to dealing with, and they have been more than helpful in referring me to the right agencies and people to answer my questions.</p>