ACCESSIBILITY AND UNIVERSITY
“The transformation towards accessible and inclusive cities”
I am a graduate of Mount Royal University but I have also attended Simon Fraser University in Burnaby B.C. My experiences between the two universities could not be more different. One university embraced me with open arms, rolled up its sleeves to make the building as accessible as possible and was willing to do anything they could to make me successful through my education.
The other university left me isolated at a single desk for the disabled either in the front or back of the classroom. The university had only one wheelchair-accessible room throughout all their residence buildings which left me in graduate housing as the other first years met one another in common living quarters. I got pneumonia and received an F on my paper that was due as I was nothing more than my student number and my health condition was of no importance to professors. My breaking point came when I was in the middle of a workout with my personal trainer and was suddenly approached and told I was not allowed to work out in the recreation facility as my condition made me a high legal risk.
I left that university discouraged and unsure that I would be able to continue attending university if this treatment was what I had to look forward to for the next four years. Thankfully Mount Royal allowed my opinion of university to do a 180 and I began to see what it was like to go to an accessible and inclusive university.
The steps Mount Royal took were really quite simple. These steps can be taken and implemented in classrooms anywhere, businesses, work environments and society as a whole.
These steps include seeing individuals with disabilities as contributing members of society, understanding that students with disabilities have far more on their plate than just classes and being proactive about accessibility and inclusivity.
Seeing individuals with disabilities as valuable and contributing members of society is the key to inclusion. We want nothing more than to be like everyone else. To work, earn a living and have a home. To make a life for ourselves. I encourage others to consider the lessons that can be learned from someone who lives with daily challenges and find a way to incorporate those strengths and abilities.
Understanding people with disabilities have more on their plate than just school is what truly made MRU click for me! Not only did they support the need for my health to be taken care of, but they also got behind my advocacy work as well! They saw the value it brought to my education and helped me find a way to do both. My professors began sending my news clips and speeches to my peers, one professor spoke about me on my inspiring Albertan episode through CTV and suddenly my peers began to understand my absences. They started to ask how my treatment was going, where I was at in my fundraising initiatives and how they could help. MRU found a way to normalize my life circumstances while allowing my peers to see a glimpse into the life I live and get behind my initiatives. My disability was able to take a back seat in an environment where my challenges were acknowledged and my goals were supported. Realizing your staff, students or friends with a disability have an abnormal workload which you often don’t see is key to their success and key to their inclusion.
Finally, I want to address being proactive with accessibility. After 22 years in a wheelchair, I’ll be honest, I often forget or avoid calling to check about accessibility because it is so frustrating to still have to do that. MRU was proactive with its accessibility which allowed me to show up on my first day to fully accessible classrooms, buttons on doors, buttons on washroom doors and ramps next to any set of stairs. To someone in a wheelchair that says welcome. We want you here. You are important and valued. When I pull up to an inaccessible building those are not the messages a person with a disability receives. We forgot about you, you are too much work or our store isn’t meant for you are the messages inaccessibility sends. These are the messages I felt at my other university. I encourage not only universities but each of you to leave with a desire to be proactive about accessibility. Look at your business, workplace or businesses you frequent and ask yourself, how can this space be made more welcoming for people with disabilities? How can I make an impact on someone’s inclusion?
Just something small like having a ramp built, installing an access button, keeping accessibility in mind during the next set of renovations, shovelling a sidewalk. A small action makes a huge impact on the inclusion of people with disabilities.
