Slow progress on improving disabled accessibility
Almost a year after students of a Sociology and Disabilities class presented their findings on the substandard or nonexistent disability access at many of the most frequently used buildings on campus, much work still remains to be done.
Both the administration and advocates for the disabled agree that retrofitting these buildings for disabled access is constrained by a finite budget and must be done in order of priority.
But Christian Villenas, a sociology graduate student who taught the course last semester and uses crutches himself, feels the administration has not addressed how they plan to act in response to the findings of his students' research.
One of the issues raised by Villenas's students was that the doorframes of the graduate study rooms in the library were too narrow to allow for wheelchair access.
Richard Sanders, dean of Student Disability Services and Peggy Hayeslip, director for ADA Compliance & Disability Services at Homewood, said that wheelchair-accessible study rooms have since been installed in the library.
"At this point I'm more concerned [about] lack of response to major issues students found, like the Center for Social Concern," Villenas said. "Being up a narrow flight of stairs, [the Center for Social Concern] has always been a barrier for students with physical disabilities. Things are moving forward but I don't want progress to end just because they have added a couple of accessible rooms in the library."
Other projects completed in reaction to the findings have included a new elevator for Maryland Hall and a ramp for Dunning Hall. Ongoing renovations of Shiver Hall aim to allow for rear wheelchair access, as well as easier access to the auditorium and stage.
There is now an unfunded proposal to study how to allow for wheelchair access to the front of Shriver Hall.
According to Sanders, there are 152 Hopkins students registered as having disabilities of some kind, the most common of which are learning disabilities and attention deficit disorder, which comprise about 80 percent of the total.
Both the administration and advocates for the disabled agree that retrofitting these buildings for disabled access is constrained by a finite budget and must be done in order of priority.
But Christian Villenas, a sociology graduate student who taught the course last semester and uses crutches himself, feels the administration has not addressed how they plan to act in response to the findings of his students' research.
One of the issues raised by Villenas's students was that the doorframes of the graduate study rooms in the library were too narrow to allow for wheelchair access.
Richard Sanders, dean of Student Disability Services and Peggy Hayeslip, director for ADA Compliance & Disability Services at Homewood, said that wheelchair-accessible study rooms have since been installed in the library.
"At this point I'm more concerned [about] lack of response to major issues students found, like the Center for Social Concern," Villenas said. "Being up a narrow flight of stairs, [the Center for Social Concern] has always been a barrier for students with physical disabilities. Things are moving forward but I don't want progress to end just because they have added a couple of accessible rooms in the library."
Other projects completed in reaction to the findings have included a new elevator for Maryland Hall and a ramp for Dunning Hall. Ongoing renovations of Shiver Hall aim to allow for rear wheelchair access, as well as easier access to the auditorium and stage.
There is now an unfunded proposal to study how to allow for wheelchair access to the front of Shriver Hall.
According to Sanders, there are 152 Hopkins students registered as having disabilities of some kind, the most common of which are learning disabilities and attention deficit disorder, which comprise about 80 percent of the total.
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