Wheelchair Accommodations On Campus

Six months after I broke my neck, I did what most people considered crazy. I went back to college and resumed my undergraduate studies. My therapists, family, and counselors made compelling cases to take at least one year off to get used to being disabled. They also strongly encouraged transferring to a more wheelchair accessible campus. Among those recommended were Universities like Ohio State and Wright State, which had much better wheelchair accommodations on campus at that time.

When I called representatives at Ohio University and expressed my desire to come back for Fall quarter, they even cautioned me that the campus and the city of Athens were not well suited for someone in a wheelchair.* Despite all of the well-meant skepticism, I went back to Athens and resumed classes at OU in September of 1999.

Finding Caregivers

From May to August it seemed like I spent several hours daily trying to find accommodations on or near campus. I was on Medicaid, so in order to comply with the rules, I would need both skilled nursing care and home health aides. I was calling every nursing agency, home health agency, durable medical equipment supplier, and apartment complex in the phone book to arrange for my return to campus.

Finding an agency to provide skilled nursing was complicated because I would be living alone. Since that meant I would not have back-up caregivers, most of the agencies refused my case in order to avoid liability issues.

Figuring out a solution to the liability problem turned into one of my first real lessons in negotiation and co-opetition. At times it felt like every phone call that I made ended with two more calls to make. Sometimes, I had to call agencies back just to see if a different person might answer the phone and agree to start the in-take process. Persistence would eventually pay off and I convinced a couple of agencies to work together to accommodate my needs. One agency would provide skilled nursing and the other agency would provide home health aides. To satisfy the liability concerns, the agency providing home health aides agreed to be a secondary source for skilled nursing, so we established an unconventional form of back-up care.

Accessible Environment…or Not

It was practically unheard of that a student in a wheelchair would attend classes on Ohio University’s main campus. Athens is set in the rolling hills of Southeastern Ohio where many of the buildings are historically preserved. Buildings with historic significance have a limited set of ADA requirements to meet. As a result, wheelchair accommodations were frequently unavailable in various areas on campus and the city. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, but accessibility and inclusive design just weren’t taken into consideration in the 19th century when most of the city had been constructed.

In addition to challenges with buildings not always having wheelchair accommodating features, many of the roads and sidewalks on campus were made of bricks. Other sidewalks along the side streets of Athens were in rough shape. It simply was not a place designed for wheelchair users. Riding across the bricks was a bumpy ride and some sidewalks were so bad, they were impassible. It took several months of trial and error to learn where I could go and find accessible routes to all of my classes.

Wheelchair Accessible Student Housing

Given the logistical challenges of the city and campus, there was no real demand for wheelchair accessible student housing. I found it to be just as difficult to locate housing with wheelchair accommodations on campus as it was to find caregivers. As a result, this became a real-life economics lesson on the principles of supply and demand. When there is little or no demand for a product, then there will be little or no supply. And it turns out that when both supply and demand are low, scarce products are very hard to find. Fortunately, the office of Student Accessibility Services was able to help us identify a few options.

The first option was an assisted living complex on the far east side of campus. While this was the most practical place for me to reside, there weren’t any students living there. I quickly dismissed the place because it completely defeated the purpose. I was going back to school to try to have as much of a normal life as possible. I’m sure the residents were nice and I would have been well cared for, but it was nowhere near normal with no other students living there.

The next possibility was in the students with families housing. Most of the residents were graduate students with spouses. I was a single undergrad and an active member of a fraternity. My lifestyle back then was not a good fit for that community.

The place I finally settled on was in a dorm. There was an old nurses’ station that was no longer in service. The University had converted back into a dorm room with a private entrance and bathroom. It turned out to be just right for my first year back on campus. My assistants could come and go through the private entrance. I had the privacy of my own bathroom, complete with a roll-in shower. And, I had the community of undergrads. It felt more normal than anything else I could have hoped for then.

Ready to Roll…

With caregivers and housing figured out, I was ready to roll my way back to school. While I would later discover more shortcomings related to wheelchair accommodations on campus, I had the essentials in place. As the stepfather of a young man who is currently in college, I realize now more than ever that it was a crazy endeavor. I can only imagine what my parents went through in allowing me to go back. They had to know it was going to be more difficult than I had envisioned… and it was. Thankfully, God was watching over it all and it’s a good thing he was.

*This is an account of my experience from 20 years ago. A lot has changed in the years since. This is in no way an indictment towards Ohio University or the city of Athens, OH.