Ramouni, who is blind and currently a lifelong education graduate student, moved to East Lansing last year. Ramouni uses a guide miniature horse instead of a dog because of family and religious beliefs. She said her horse, Cali, is a great service animal and learns new ways to guide and protect her every day. She is pursuing a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling her own way without the live-in help of her family.

“I wanted to go to MSU because I knew that I would get more help and more acceptance than going somewhere else,” she said. “It was a big transition for me, but I knew that if I wanted to go to school, these were things I had to do.”

Accessibility at MSU
MSU’s campus and academic programs are similar to other schools its size in many ways, but the options on campus promote the preparation for students with disabilities to be the best they can be, said Michael Hudson, the director of the MSU Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities, or the RCPD.

“Students with disabilities earned their place here just like everyone else. They can’t be stopped by arbitrary barriers,” he said. “Universities have to go in to be compliant, but (MSU) goes above and beyond.”

MSU officials have done more than just install ramps and automatic doors but also have adopted the use of talking crosswalks that announce the status of remaining time, heated sidewalks near some residential areas to keep walkways safe and visual-indicating fire alarms, Hudson said.

“It gives (students with disabilities) confidence when (they) cross the street,” he said. “It gives (them) confidence in other areas of life.”

MSU has applied the same principles to campus accessibility as it has to academic support for students with disabilities — transforming the classic textbook into formats such as an MP3, Microsoft Word document and PDF, said Tom Hwang, the media access specialist for the RCPD.

“Last year, 250 books were altered for students,” he said. “For students that are blind, or have low vision, they don’t have to pay (for this service).”

MSU alumnus Kim Borowicz, a person with low vision, remembers the days before technology was so convenient, when one textbook would be printed into volumes of four to six, she said.

“I wasn’t able to bring them anywhere to study — they weren’t really mobile,” Borowicz said. “You couldn’t just throw them into a backpack.”

The books were so large Borowicz felt embarrassed to study in popular campus spots, such as a coffee shop or lobby, so she stayed in her residence hall to study, she said.

Textbooks are not the only challenge to students who visually are impaired or blind, said Alicia Paterni, a graduate student and a wheelchair user.

“Professors don’t take into account how visual they teach,” she said. “PowerPoints don’t work for a student with visual impairments. How is a PowerPoint accessible (if) it’s not in their language?”

Other MSU academic tools, such as Angel, can impose an obstacle to students who have visual disabilities, Paterni said.

“(I’ve heard that) Angel is frustrating to get to work with (some visually impaired students’) screen readers,” she said. “(The university should think,) ‘What is the best online format to make compatible with Angel?’”

Progression
It was 10 p.m. during finals week in December 2010 when Paterni was left stuck in her motorized wheelchair near the Administration Building while trying to get to the Main Library to study.
Paterni waited in the cold until a student walked past to help her.

“I’ve been stuck more than once,” she said.

Although handicapped parking is available near the Main Library, Paterni, who lost both her legs at 3 years old, cannot gain access to either of the two spots because they aren’t large enough for her van, which releases the ramp for her wheelchair, she said.

Her closest option to the Main Library was to park at the Administration Building or gamble the risk of being parked in by other cars and not being able to access her ramp or get into her vehicle.

“(People say,) ‘Well, why were you in that lot that wasn’t shoveled or accessible?’” she said. “(It’s) because there was no where else for me to park. There was no handicapped-accessible place.”

Other students, such as Cheryl Wade, a graduate student who is blind, also have issues moving safely across campus — she and her guide dog, Harper, nearly collided with a skateboarder, she said in an e-mail.

“(He) scared my dog and sped away with the words, ‘Sorry, man,’” she said. “People on bicycles often ride way, way too close to me, come out of nowhere or simply don’t watch at all.”

Even with MSU’s high ranking as an accessible campus, there is still room for progression and more to accomplish in campus accessibility, graduate student Traci Chetter said in an e-mail.

“I have realized that although the college has been given a high rating for accessibility, there are plenty of inaccessible entrances on top of inaccessible restrooms in certain buildings,” she said.
Entire classes have had to be moved to more accessible buildings, and sometimes students with disabilities even can’t go to the bathroom in the same building that they have classes in, Chetter said in the e-mail.

Taking strides to make this campus as accessible as it is for able-bodied students, MSU officials one day hope to have the university be absolutely accessible for students with disabilities, Hudson said.

“If we build (the campus) accessibility from the ground up,” he said.

“Then people don’t have to ask for anything special — they can be free.”