Campus was pretty good but when I was going to partial weight bearing and learning how to walk again sometimes I would have to sit on the ground or a bench with my crutches because of only having one leg to use. Getting into the bus was a big hassle because I didn’t have a handicap parking sticker (something I wish my doctor would have talked to me about) because my availability to get in the bus was severely limited to how many people would be on it. I would have to wake up much earlier to get on a bus that had as few people as possible.
The accessibility center was great to work with because they were clear about what I was supposed to do for a shorter wait time when it came to testing. When I went to the testing center, despite following the UAC instructions the testing center told me I was in the wrong room which was a bit frustrating. I was sure about this because they told me to get into the elevator and go across from the desks where students check out their tests. The testing center told me I needed to go downstairs to a specific room that other students use. It seemed like they needed better communication with each other or with the student.
Many of my professors were understanding of my issue but I still needed to ride my scooter to campus for a 7 am final. I was able to use specific chairs in my classrooms and professors were willing to work with me even though I did my best to not need additional assistance.
I did notice that my map of the campus became very different and I became accustomed to remembering where the elevators were instead of stairs. Whenever an elevator would be broken I would have to go out of my way to find another one that would get me to my destination
I believe I was very lucky that I was extra motivated at the start of the semester so I got ahead of all my classes so when I needed to take 2+ weeks off to recover from surgery instead of having to withdraw from classes
First, I think doctors should address short term handicap parking for temporary disability with patients, maybe an app that notifies students of traffic between classes and out of order elevators so that they know how to get where they need to go, especially in the Tanner building, even though I had very few issues with that building. The ryde could operate more as a business to notify students of higher shuttle use in case if a student needs to take up additional space. Next, better communication between testing center and accessibility center. I also think that with students who have sudden temporary disabilities that CAPS could address new methods of coping when they are unable to be active. I was very active before my injury and it took me almost 5 months to be able to exercise again. CAPS only really takes new clients if they are seriously suicidal if they don’t sign up months in advance. I think maybe giving students one session to talk about new activities to alleviate some of the emotional symptoms that come with a drastic change in life
I realize that my experience was much lower scale than some of the students I see on campus with permanent disabilities. But this injury gave me so much more of a respect for students who have to deal with this on a permanent basis