Ever thought about what life would be like if you had a disability. I mean really thought about it? Let’s say, for instance, you had limited use of your hands, as is common in a spinal cord injuries or people with Cerebral Palsy. How would you button those skinny jeans, put on a belt, tie your shoes, cut your steak, put your hair up in bow, open doors, play basketball? I, like most, never gave it a second thought until I suffered a spinal cord injury and became a quadriplegic nine years ago, from a diving accident. At the moment of my accident I was paralyzed from my neck down. Through therapy and faith I have regained movement, feeling and functionality of a lot of my body. At this moment I have full feeling in my body. I walk with a walker and have limited use of my hands.
I have had to relearn how to do all the things that I use to take for granted. Fortunately, I have become pretty independent in getting around, opening doors, driving, carrying things etc. But, others are not so lucky. Some cannot even open a door by themselves.
When I was deciding on which university I was going to attend, the most important factor was the ability to independently get around campus and between classes. When I visited NSU, I loved that all the buildings’ entrances were equipped with automatic doors. Even though I can open doors on my own, it’s not the easiest thing to do and it’s one less obstacle I have to worry about. One thing I did not notice was that only one bathroom on the entire campus is equipped with these automatic door openers, which is located on the first floor of Parker.
I usually don’t complain about things like this and would rather just adapt to the circumstances before doing so. But, I thought about the days when I wasn’t so independent and realized there maybe students who are not as independent as I am and cannot open doors on there own. At one point I could only open a door by pushing it with my wheelchair and wasn’t able to “pull” a door open. I know that many people in wheelchairs have the same dilemma. This makes it difficult for students with disabilities to use the restrooms that are not equipped with automatic doors. Some restroom doors are even more difficult to open than regular doors. For example, take the bathroom doors in the library and in the Carl DeSantis building, those doors are heavy for even able body students and close automatically, which makes it even harder to open. When a student needs to use the restroom the last thing he or she wants to do is to have to wait by the bathroom door for someone to come and open the door for them and then wait on the inside until someone enters so they can get out.
Students with disabilities should have equal access to these basic things. NSU may be discouraging many students from attending by not having automatic doors for restrooms. Although some might feel privileged to have doors opened for them wherever they go, people with disabilities, who have to depend on others to open doors, just see it as a constant reminder of the things their disability restricts them from doing. The last thing a student at a university should feel is restricted.
