Correction: One portion of this article that referenced "mental disabilities" was corrected to more accurately reflect the nature of the disabilities that Disability Services works with and make accommodations for.
Nearly one in 10 of the Elon University students roaming the school’s brick pathways have some sort of disability, a number that is in keeping with the national average of college students living with disabilities: 10-12 percent.
Under the Americans Living with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, both public and private universities must make certain accommodations in order to not discriminate against someone living with a physical or mental disability. Though the university is in a state of slow growth under the Elon Commitment, sections of campus like the Historic Neighborhood were built long before the ADA took effect almost a quarter century ago.
According to Brad Moore, director of planning, design and construction management, the university must continue to look back while it plans for the future by renovating previously-existing spaces to accommodate the needs of students living with disabilities on campus. ADA regulations demand 20 percent of the cost of a renovation be devoted to improving handicap accessibility, which starts in the parking lot.
“Whether we’re renovating an existing space or building something new, accessibility options start off in the parking lot, with a portion of spaces reserved for handicapped individuals,” Moore said. “From there, we’re looking at everything that leads into the building, from the slope of the sidewalk to the size of the door openings. It all has to be handicap-accessible.”
Sophomore Shane Dittmar doesn’t like to call his leber congenital amaurosis a disability, but he’s one of the more frequent visitors to Coordinator of Disability Services Susan Wise’s office which is tucked away in a first-floor corner of Duke.
Dittmar has never seen the office or Wise. The very detail that defines his life prevents him from seeing the accommodations made for him: Dittmar is blind. But he’s felt the presence of a host of helpers, from Wise planning possible accommodations for him before he ever put in an application to Elon University in Fall 2011, to Physical Plant employees installing braille versions of campus signs.
But that’s not to say it’s a perfect system. When, the Fine Arts Learning Community moved to the Global Neighborhood this year from its previous home on first-floor Virginia, Dittmar moved with it, and he now has to navigate elevators and an “annoying” common room with Phoenix card swipes separating him from his friends on both sides of the hall.
But the Global Neighborhood makes more sense to Dittmar than older buildings like Carlton.
“Some of the buildings make sense, and some just make no sense at all,” he said. “You have doors hidden behind stairwells and numbers that don’t follow in the logical order.”
When he’s run into such problems, Dittmar knows Wise is only a phone call away, and she works with Moore and the Physical Plant to address issues affecting Dittmar as quickly as possible. Once, while navigating a little-used section of the Center for the Arts, Dittmar discovered an entire hallway devoid of the braille markings that help him get around. A chain of phone calls and a couple of weeks later, he revisited to find new braille markers lining every door of the hallway.
“Elon as a whole has really been just incredibly responsive to my needs,” he said. “I certainly don’t try to be pushy or make more of a big deal of it than it is, but when I have concerns, they’re addressed with speed, and that means a lot to one student.”
Connie Book, associate provost for academic affairs, admitted it can be can be challenging for Elon to not only meet, but also exceed, the standards of the ADA, but she said it’s a worthwhile cause.
“It can be difficult, challenging and, sometimes, expensive when planning residence life initiatives to make sure students with disabilities are accommodated,” Book said. “But it’s so important.”
The 9 percent of Elon students living with a disability are not always as obvious at Dittmar walking with his guide dog, Chevelle, around campus. Many of them have mental disabilities ranging from ADHD to depression.
Students whose learning would benefit from accommodations are able to register with Disability Services, for help with everything from physical to psychological disabilities. But, as Wise said, there are students who may technically qualify for disabilities, but if they don't require accommodations, they don't have to register with her office.
As almost every class’ syllabus indicates in the fine print toward the bottom, “Students with disabilities should see Disability Services in Duke 208 in order to create a plan to best address their academic needs.”
It’s a phrase burned into the minds of most Elon students who see it over and over from class to class, but that does not mean they are necessarily as aware as the should be of students living with disabilities on campus and how to best live and learn alongside them.
It can get hectic inside Duke 208. Wise and Tina Kissell have to process every one of the disability application forms that come in from students, and then work with faculty and staff to provide the necessary accommodations.
"We love what we do here, but it can be tough to manage, sometimes," she said
Ever since Dittmar and his guide dog were matched a little more than a month ago, students have come up and petted the working service animal, which can be a hazard for the visually-impaired person who depends on the dog to safely negotiate hazards on campus and off.
“It’s almost unbelievable how ignorant people can be, sometimes,” he said. “When an animal is working, on duty, touching it or calling out its name isn’t only not appropriate, but it’s dangerous.”
Colleges throughout the country have sought the best ways to raise awareness of students with disabilities living on campus, from peer mentoring programs to education implemented into ‘101’ classes to campus-wide action by the administration when an incident of bias occurs.
But according to Dittmar, the majority of the “honor” of educating his peers falls squarely on his shoulders.
“You can sit there all day and lecture students on how to talk to, how to treat students with disabilities, but it’s easy to do if you’re not the one disabled yourself,” he said. “I can best tell people how exactly how they ought to treat me, what’s OK and what’s not, because I live this every single day.”