THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, MAY 3, 2012
stairs on campus. It is a $40,000 project. Rodriguez said the money is coming from the University alone with no help from the state or federal levels.
Jim Modig, the Design and Construction Management campus administrator said the signs will direct campus visitors to the easiest way to enter buildings in wheelchairs. For example, the signs would direct people to go to the back of Strong Hall where they would find an elevator to reach their desired floor. He said many students are not aware of this
route.
Because campus buildings were constructed during different decades with different accessibility requirements, the University has had to be creative when coming up with solutions to assist students in need.
Just days after school ends this week, construction will begin to convert Strong Hall room 30 into a designated testing room. A quiet testing room is one of the most common accommodations given to students. Rodriguez said in the fall semester 700 requests
for testing accommodations were made through the Academic Achievement & Access Center. For each request, the center must find a quiet room and a proctor for the exam.
The new testing room will be the first designated room on campus for students who need accommodations. Rodriguez said the room will make scheduling exams simpler for everyone involved. The renovations will be completed in time for classes in the fall.
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Preston Brown, a sophomore from Wichita, is partially blind. He said because of the technologies made available to him, he has no reason to learn braille and that he does not see his disability as holding him back from anything.
the ADA review also found that the University is not providing enough technological support to students with disabilities.
Students like Preston Brown, a sophomore from Wichita, who has limited vision, and Wismar, rely heavily on available technologies to stay on track and independent in classes.
Brown was diagnosed as a child with retinitis pigmentosa or RP. It causes him to have tunnel vision with added night blindness. He said he has almost zero peripheral vision. When Brown was 14, he was diagnosed with an astigmatism, which causes the optics in his eyes to have trouble focusing. It also causes his eyes to
twitch up and down.
Brown never learned to read braille. He said his teachers continually tried to teach him braille, but his rebellious spirit would come out and he would say no.
"They would always pull me out of P.E. or recess or another subject, so then I would have more homework and that would make me bitter," Brown said.
He said modern technology makes it so he does not have to know how to read braille to do anything.
Brown uses his laptop for just about everything. It reads everything on the screen and what he types. He also has a scanner that will scan papers into the computer for it to read to him.
to bring a handheld recorder to classes. He is also given extra time in a room to himself for tests because he is given a reader and scribe for tests because he cannot clearly see the test.
Wismer is in a similar situation. Because her progressive hearing loss has become much worse in the two years, she has had to make more of a major transition in and outside of the classroom.
The University also allows him
The Children's Miracle Network provided her first pair of hearing aids two years ago on her 20th birthday.
She went to Wichita to visit an audiologist to be fitted for her hearing aids. Her cousin, a sign language translator accompanied her.
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Lauren Wismer, a junior from Kansas City, Kan., has progressive hearing loss. She uses hearing aids and was just paired with her service dog, Apollo. The pair is new to the University this semester and is learning to take the transition in stride.
The audiologist put the hearing aids on her in a quiet room, but said they needed to go outside to make sure she was not frightened by the sounds from the world around her. This is when Wismer heard her flip-flops for the first time.
The first words she heard were her cousin saying, "Lauren, can you hear me?"
Lauren said her first pair of hearing aids only amplified the sounds, but now she needs a new pair because her hearing loss has become too great for her current pair. This time around she is working with her insurance company to be fitted with a pair that will change high frequency sounds to lower frequencies that she can hear more easily.
The technology does not come cheap, but it helps her keep up in the classroom with the help of her
The University is still looking for the right person to hire to oversee the technologies involved with ADA accessibility. Rodriguez said the campus facilities could and should be better. But he said to do so the University must find the finances to hire an individual to focus on making sure those technologies are available across campus and not limited to a specific library or classroom.
The ADA review committee recently met and discussed the campus animals in buildings policy. The committee found that "owner-accompanied assistance dogs, either certified by the
"I was just confused," Wismer said. "I was looking around, trying to figure out what it was, where it was coming from."
Both Wismer and Brown said they are able to remain independent because of the technologies available to them at the University. However, both agreed the availability could be more consistent.
University provided sign language translator and two note takers.
agency that trained the dog or individually trained to perform specific services for an individual with a disability" are permitted.
"My teacher's don't know that I speak, or at least I don't think they do." Wismer said.
Last week, Wismer was introduced to her first service dog, Apollo. His job is to help keep Wismer safe from things she cannot hear. Wismer cannot hear the electric busses on campus because they are too quiet.
Both Wismer and Brown have service dogs.
She also may not hear the fire alarm going off at night if she does not have hear hearing aids in. Apollo is trained to jump on her bed and wake her up and make sure that she leaves the building when the alarm goes off.
"Sometimes he'll groan." Brown said. "Usually when I think the material is boring, too."
Brown has been with his Seeing Eye dog, O'Riley for the past three years. They share a rebellious spirit.
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Elizabeth Boresow, a senior from Kansas City, Kan., was diagnosed with autism as a child. After attending speech classes to gain confidence around others in elementary, middle and high school, Boresow has become a key member of the University of Kansas music therapy program. She plans to work with other people with disabilities as a therapist.
rown, Wismer, Boresow and Li all understand making a campus like KU accessible is a slow process. Rodriguez
agrees.
He said that Boresow is an example of how the Disability Services office is a key advocate and resource for students with disabilities."
She came to the University because of the music therapy program. She said the transition from high school to college took time.
"My dad and I would practice the drive and walking around campus," Boresow said.
She said she also visited friends who were a year older and lived in Lewis so she could practice being away from home and being around more people.
Though many people told her living in a dorm would be a bad choice for her because she does not like being around large groups of people, she has lived in Lewis for four years now.
"You've got a small community in your floor with people to check in on and make sure you're doing OK," Boresow said.
Boresow can best manage her autism with a lot of practice with things that can be expected. She has extremely sensitive hearing and when a loud unexpected sound like a fire alarm happens, she is debilitated for the day.
But other loud sounds like those she experienced playing in the marching band she can handle because she knows they are coming. She also wears earplugs while she plays.
"It was cool to play those songs that you've always heard," Boresow said.
The University excuses Boresow from classes on days when there is a fire alarm or drill. When construction was done on Murphy Hall, the fire alarm was constantly set off. Boresow's music classes are all in Murphy. She would begin the day then the alarm would be set off and she would miss the rest of her classes.
She spoke with her disability coordinator who arranged for the fire marshal to examine the alarms and remedy the situation.
The University granted her a course substitution so she could take an exercise science class rather than anatomy. She said it is just how her brain works. She cannot remember as many pictures and memorize them as you need to in anatomy.
Boresow was also offered a note taker and extended time on tests, but she did not see that as a way to help her progress in her independence.
"In real life, you're not going to have someone next to you taking notes while you're working with someone," Boresow said.
Independence is important to her. She does not rely on someone to get her to class, but she said other people can be very helpful.
"I think independence is more about setting up a system that you can function in not that its only you in the system," Boresow said.
The ADA review was aimed at helping students remain independent by identifying their individual needs. In the fall, much of the oversight that was done in Disability Services will transition to Jamie Simpson's office. She will then contact the correct University groups to remedy any problems that students have.
Rodriguez said the additions and modifications will end up benefitting the entire campus community, not just the disabled. The construction projects and hirings are expensive, and in a limited government budget, the process is moving slow. However, Rodriguez and the AbleHawks are optimistic about the future of accessibility at the University.
"There are a lot of areas on this campus that pose a lot of unique and significant challenges, but I think we are moving in the right direction that we want to go to be a truly inclusive campus," Rodriguez said.
— Luke Ranker contributed to this story, edited by Jennifer DiDonato
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