Going to college for the first time can be an overwhelming experience for anyone. Furthermore, this is even more true for individuals who have disabilities. Navigating the different social structures and educational proceedings while planning for accessibility requires Great forethought and insight. Understanding the various limitations while considering the possibilities will be crucial for a successful college career and individuals with disabilities.
The first thing that any college student needs to do is plan their schedule to get the most out of the college experience, and an in-person environment is required, in my opinion. Online colleges like the University of Phoenix will NOT provide the same insights and life lessons. However, these insights can only be gained when experiencing things first hands in the real world. While Zoom may make it easier from an accessibility standpoint, it will hinder your ability to form meaningful interpersonal relationships that can only be started in a physical environment.
To get started with your schedule planning, you should get familiar with the various ramps and elevators around campus. Sometimes it can be tricky to locate these accessibility devices at the moment, so careful forethought and planning are crucial. Furthermore, there may be great distances between the ramp or elevator and the desire to the classroom. This issue becomes magnified by several orders of magnitude when considering the number of building changes and classroom changes that can occur throughout the average week. Again, you can consult the University Disability Resources for more information.
Harvard College has a Handicap Assets office that offers help and facilities for understudies, personnel, and staff with disabilities. This office is situated at:
Handicap Assets
1049 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, Mama 02138
The Handicap office at Harvard gives different administrations to help people with incapacities, including educational facilities, assistive innovation, and availability administrations. They likewise offer assets and backing for the workforce and staff working with people with handicaps.
Key takeaway: if you are disabled, you should request that your school or university have early registration access. This way, you can plan out your schedule in a way that has the most negligible impact on your overall physical well-being.
For example, it will allow you to select glasses and buildings adjacent to each other instead of across campus. It will also give you access to the best teachers at the UniversiUniversitysmall park for being disabled. Being physically disabled has an extreme amount of limitations on one’s life. Therefore anytime that something can be made more accessible for you, you should take full advantage of this opportunity.
Once you have your classes picked out and you have planned your route getting to and from each class, the next thing to do is plan for backup paths. On more than one occasion, your standard accessibility device, such as the Elevator in place of stairs, may be closed for maintenance. Elevators go out of service far more than the average public knows. This is because they do not depend on the machine to transport them from Floor to floor. Taking the stairs is always an option for them but not ever an opportunity for individuals physically restrained to their wheelchair or have other leg injuries.
According to the Fair Housing Act and Americans with Disabilities Act, “landlords and property owners are required to make reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities.”
While it may seem excessive to plan a second backup for your backup, preparing this information ahead of time never hurts. Individuals with chronic pain or disability in both their hands and arms may not be able to rely on their cell phones to determine alternate routes. However, through careful forethought and planning, this will never be a situation that thoughtful disabled individuals will find themselves in.
College Disability Resources
There are numerous assets accessible to undergrads with handicaps, including:
- Inability Administrations or Handicap Asset Focuses: Numerous schools and colleges have a devoted office or focus that offers help and facilities for understudies with incapacities. These workplaces can give different administrations, like educational facilities, assistive innovation, and availability administrations.
- Professional Recovery Offices: These associations, which are often run by state legislatures, offer assistance and backing to assist people with handicaps in finding and keeping up with work. They may likewise give help with instruction and preparation.
- Inability-related associations and promotion gatherings: Numerous associations give assets and backing to people with explicit incapacities. For instance, the Public Relationship of the Hard of hearing (NAD) upholds people who are hard of hearing or almost deaf. At the same time, the Public Spinal String Injury Affiliation (NSCIA) offers help to people with spinal line wounds.
- Bureaucratic and state taxpayer-supported initiatives: The U.S. government offers a few projects to help people with inabilities, for example, the People with Handicaps Instruction Act (Thought) and the Americans with Incapacities Act (ADA). State legislatures may likewise offer projects and administrations for people with incapacities.
- Grants and monetary guide: Numerous associations and establishments offer appointments explicitly for understudies with handicaps. Likewise, the U.S. government provides financial guidance to undergrads with incapacities through projects such as the Pell Award.
Understudies with incapacities must research and access the assets accessible to them. These assets can assist with guaranteeing that they have the help and facilities they need to prevail in school.
