<p>In the past two monthes, I've visited St. Edwards University in Austin and St. John's University in Houston for Speech Contest and Japan Bowl, respectively and both were largely unaccessible. The campuses were riddled with stairs, and some parts of upper floors weren't accessible by elevators. From what I hear of college campus, many seem to have the same "stair obession." Why would colleges be built in a way that was/is clearly unaccessible to the disabled?</p>
<p>Many buildings are old--over 50 years--and that was not a consideration.</p>
<p>Wolfpiper, I know of colleges that have someone whose job it is to make the school as accessible as possible to students with disabilities. For instance, they might find the most convenient housing (newer housing tends to be much more accessible, for instance), make sure classes can be reached and on time, and have people who are there to help if needed. </p>
<p>Are you looking at colleges now? This is a very good question for you to ask of the ones you are interested in. Who is the person who would be responsible for making sure things are accessible? Then, talk to that person, by phone or email.</p>
<p>When you tour campuses, you will probably have an idea of some things that could be more easily accessible, as you did when you were at your contests, and you can discuss your findings with your contact person. I would think that the cooperation and consideration you're given might be factors in whether a school is a good "fit" for you. You can't help if a school was built ages ago, but I guarantee that there are schools out there that already have people in place to help get you where you are going!</p>
<p>We did our first tours of colleges for our daughter back in the late 80's while our son was in a stroller. We had a very good idea at the end of each tour how "accessible" buildings were, and we were grateful there were 3 of us to carry that stroller up all those flights of stairs. Amazingly not one tour guide pointed out a better entrance to any of the buildings. We knew those campuses were not doing a good job about such things.</p>
<p>Wolfpiper, It's a huge book and kind of pricey but the US News & World Report's Ultimate College Guide does have a section for each school in the US that tells what percent of the campus is accessible for disabled students. Might be worth getting a hold of --- in the meantime, I'd be happy to look up any specific schools for you in my volume, just let me know. Of course, as you no doubt know, some people think certain areas are accessible when they clearly are not so you would still need to visit and see for yourself. But, it may help rule out some schools for you before you invest too much time in them. Another thought would be to email the office of disabilities at each school and ask them directly how much of their campus is really accessible. Usually, at least at larger schools, the office of disabilities has at least one person who really IS disabled on staff who can answer your questions from the right perspective.</p>
<p>Wolfpiper:</p>
<p>Colleges do try their best to accommodate their students. As Carolyn says, they have an office of disabilities whose staff looks at issues of housing and transportation, special testing situations, providing various kind of support such as readers for the reading impaired, and so forth. When Brooke Ellison was at Harvard, classes that she wanted to take were held in buildings that were wheelchair accessible and had elevators. She was brought to the Yard from her House (dorm) by a college van.
Access is definitely something you should bring up with admission officers, but don't judge solely on your visits.</p>
<p>We have a friend who is quadriplegic, so access if a very big deal to her. She suffered her injury when she was college age and suddenly had to choose a school with accessibility as a primary consideration. She narrowed it down to UC Davis and Arizona State as being the best in this regard. (This was over 20 years ago, so other schools may have since caught up). She chose UC Davis since it had the better academic reputation of the two. She subsequently went on to a top law school and is now a successful attorney.</p>
<p>I don't know what kind of college experience you are looking for, but the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater has kind of made a speciality out of providing excellent educational opportunities for folks in wheelchairs. I understand they have one of the largest populations of wheelchair bound students in the country. The campus is very accessible, including all dorms. They have a great wheelchair basketball program.</p>
<p>FWIW, my daughter did the entire NYU tour in a wheelchair. She started out on crutches, due to a sprained ankle, but tuckered out. NYU was kind enough to lend us a wheelchair and we could get across the streets and into the buildings. I can't swear every room was accessible, but we got to go everywhere on the tour that everyone else did--classrooms, the library, the auditorium.</p>