How Our College Administrations Create Disabilities.

national | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis Wednesday March 03, 2004 01:29 by reeuq riotspace at yahoo dot ca

The UCD Example

Earlier this year Hugh Brady held an address that was open to students. During the A&Q period two students asked him questions about accessibility at UCD. One student who uses a wheelchair brought to his attention that not all the entrances and washrooms were accessible to her and other students that she knew. Then another student asked him about getting audio materials for those with visual impairments. To both of these questions he deflected the responsibility to the newly appoint vice-president of ‘students’ and encouraged them to lobby on the issues.

Lobby? Really! Is the access to this college not something that the new president would want put in priority, especially when he is so keen on attracting “bright” students? To put this in perspective we have to understand the difference in the definition of disability that Hugh Brady and the university has that the understanding that many others take including many people who have disabilities. He is definitely looking at disability as an individual problem. He is not looking at how he is implicated in this problem. I am only using Brady as an example of how the system operates.

But there are many other perspectives on this issues; such as the idea that disability is not something to do with the individual at all but rather that there are people with different abilities, possible impairments and it is the way society is constructed that privileges certain bodies and minds that creates the disability. If everything was written in brail, if all buildings were filled with ramps and elevators, if there were sign language translators in all arenas, if paper was in many different colors and if all material was also available in audio format, then people would no longer have disabilities. That is if society actual was accessible to all people then all people would have more equal opportunity to learn to work and to play.

But that is not the way it works at UCD at all. Yes there is a centre and services that helps students that are disabled by the way the college is organized and there is a disability officer in the student union. And these people are great; they really want to make students experiences smoother while they attempt to study. But the fact is they don’t have the resources to do the job that students need them to do.

As it stands now you could go months or possibly a whole year with out getting the materials you need to study if you have dyslexia, a visual impairment or any other learning requirement. If UCD was cognitive of the social model of people with disabilities they could rid this college of people with disabilities and instead of an accessible institution that has people with many different abilities.