Saadia+Faiz

Saadia Faiz 996228041 CCT205H5 Prof. Gail Benick, Mike Jones Thursday, February 5th 2009

__**Disabled Students at UTM- Accessibility Issues Still Not Resolved?**__

While many student’s at the University of Toronto find it challenging enough to complete a degree, students with disabilities are faced with further academic difficulties as well as physical challenges that many of us students fail to recognize. The University of Toronto’s statement of Commitment regarding Persons with Disabilities states: “It is the University’s goal to create a community that us inclusive of all persons and treats all members of the community in an equitable manner. I believe that it is important for UTM to meet and accommodate the needs of individuals with disabilities of to the best of their abilities. However, with close observation of University of Toronto's accessibility options and an interview with a volunteer representative at the Accessibility Resource Centre, I am able to conclude that University of Toronto is far from meeting their goals in providing an environment in which all students are considered equal. Over 300 students are registered students with disabilities at the University of Toronto, many with learning disabilities. Many of these students are forced to attend classes that are designed to teach to able-bodied students only. Some professors fail to teach in a manner that accommodates all learning styles, auditory, visual, kinesthetic. The AccessAbility Resource Centre is a facility at the University of Toronto Mississauga funded by the school to accommodate the needs of students with all types of disabilities. This facility recruits volunteers to participate in note-taking for students with disabilities. Volunteers are expected to take notes in class and drop in sometime during the same week and photocopy their notes and leave them in a drop-in box. These notes will be given to other students with disabilities to supplement their own notes, and not replace them. I am currently registered as a volunteer note-taker with the AccessAbility Resource Centre. I heard about this opportunity by a professor in one of my classes. The package given to me by the professor came with no instructions, and I was advised to see my program advisor for further details. I was directed to three offices before I arrived at the main AccessAbility Resource Centrer, where I met a volunteer representative whom provided me with a registration package and a brief information session. I strongly believe that the recruitment for this volunteer position is not organized enough in finding an adequate number of students for each class offered at UTM. Also, Professor’s should be informed on registration processes and there should be a type of motivation in place for students to get encouraged and participate. Furthermore, I have received an email in the first month, second semester of this year recruiting volunteers for over 10 courses that do not have note takers. In these classes, students with disabilities are at a disadvantage in that they may not be able to engage in lectures an/or miss an important notes that the will professor discuss. This severely impacts the student's ability to perform well on exams as well as on their assignments. The student is discouraged and may feel neglected. The AccessAbility Resource Centre is doing activities to help students volunteer, however, many of the complaints by disabled students are still not being heard and many issues are still not being resolved.

Another problem is the parking lot at UTM. On days where there is heavy snow often late in plowing the parking lot or may miss a section entirely. Often, during heavy snowfall days, the snow plows are not able to constantly remove snow from the pathways and parking lot. Sometimes snow becomes hard and even more difficult to remove. Ice also prevents people from safely transporting from one building to another. In these cases students must wait for the pathways to be cleared, and it may mean missing class sometimes. It comes back to the issue of treating all students equally. Able-bodied students are able to attend class, whereas disabled students are held back once again, with no way of moving in between buildings. Again, the University of Toronto faculty as well as Accessibility office is currently doing nothing to improve resolve the issue of transportation and mobility for disabled students.

On the main levels of the Student Center as well as the South and CCT building there are many automatic door openers to help students in wheelchairs. However, on the upper and lower levels of these two buildings as well as the Kaneff and North buildings, lack many buttons to help students that need the assistance. An argument was made in the University of Toronto newspaper, the Medium, that “over-use of the door openers by able-bodied individuals result in frequent breakdowns.” The neglect of UTM’s building maintenance on doors may be a small issue ignored, however, it severely impacts the situation of students in wheelchair who wish to travel on campus. Furthermore, many lecture halls have no automatic door buttons. The Accessibility Resource Center’s reply to this issue was simply -those students who wish to attend those lectures will have to rely on assistance of other students or professors, as there is nothing being done to help this specific cause.

Ray D'Souza, chief administrative officer at UTM, works hard to understand the physical barriers UTM student are met with. He stressed “UTM is committed to exceed minimum accessibility standards for new buildings and retrofitting existing facilities 'as quickly as possible.' Some examples of retrofit projects include ramps, curb cuts, door openers, and creating accessible washrooms.” (The medium, 2006). These changes would make great advancements in the disabled students experience at UTM and would also make them feel more welcome. “D'Souza admits that 'we have not been adequately funded for renovation projects…once we are done with capital building, I hope that a sizable portion of those funds will be allocated for retrofitting.'" (The medium, 2006). D'Souza also discussed the upcoming technological advancements in the Hazel McCallion Learning Center to help students with visual disabilities. The library contains an adaptive technology room that provides computers as well as installed softwares such as ZoomText and ReadPlease that aid students with physical disabilities.  The main issue in a lack of accessibility options for disabled students is an insufficient amount of funding. Mark Overton, Dean of Student Affairs has explored accessibility issues at UTM and agrees that funding is greatly needed. He says “a student movement must come together to push government for increased funding, and disabled students need to engage with, and directly participate in, UTM’s student governments.” (The Medium, 2006). Also, Shawn Abraham, Erindale College Student Union (ECSU) Vice President of Finance claims that funding for accessibility projects will only be dealt with if students raise awareness and genuinely speak about the issues, “ECSU could then lobby for on behalf of students...There is a need for a student body to be created... ECSU has a very open election process and would welcome the participation of disabled students."

There are numerous problems around the University of Toronto at the Mississauga Campus, many that have not been discussed and resolved. Students with disabilities should be treated equal and fair and if that were really the case, then the AccessAbility Resource Centre would not receive complaints every week by disabled students. A lack of funding is a main issue in which explains the lack of Accessibility options for disable students. However, the critical issue that needs to be addressed first is the lack of participants engaging in volunteering, raising awareness and speaking out against the issues. If the students show that they truly care and want accessibility issues to be resolved at UTM, then they first need to show the University that they really care.


 * Bibliography**

"Accessability at UTM." Personal interview. 29 Jan. 2009.

__AccessAbility Resource Centre__. University of Toronto. 28 Jan. 2009 .

__Adaptive Technology Resource Centre__. University of Toronto. 28 Jan. 2009 .

DEBORAH ZIFF dziff@madison.com 608-252-6234. "A HAVEN FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES:UW WHITEWATER IS ONE OF A HANDFUL OF SCHOOLS NATIONWIDE WITH A MISSION TO PROVIDE SPECIALIZED SERVICES TO STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES.."Wisconsin State Journal [Madison, Wis.] 10 Dec.2008,A.1. Business Dateline. ProQuest. Scholars Portal. 5 Feb. 2009 

Dytyniak, Michael. "Accessibility issues still plague students." The Medium 04 Feb. 2006. University of Toronto. 25 Jan. 2009 < __http://www.mediumonline.ca/news/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=133&Itemid=100__ >.

Lyser, Yona and Greenberger, Lori(2008)'College students with disabilities in teacher education: faculty attitudes and practices',European Journal of Special Needs Education,23:3,237