My armpits were stamped with bruises; my once-faked injury became a real-life pain; and any confidence I had about getting through a full 24-hours on crutches was stammering. It was only noon, and I was already reexamining my sanity.
On Sept. 15, I decided to spend my day on crutches for two reasons. The first and most important reason being because I wanted to see just how disability-friendly NSU’s Fort Lauderdale/Davie campus truly is. The second reason being that in my attempt to do so, I actually got injured. The injury itself didn’t come from walking around on crutches; somewhere in between the times I announced I was going to take on this task and when I actually started walking on crutches, my knee popped, and of course, it hurt to walk on. It was pretty apparent that the journalism gods were watching and thought the best way for me to experience this assignment was to actually be the assignment.
The day began with a simple goal of getting through 24 hours of living on crutches. Because I have used crutches for injuries in the past, I didn’t expect it to be too difficult, but boy, oh boy, was I wrong. The day was not only physically draining but also mentally exhausting.
As a resident of the Founders residence hall, the first leg of the race to understanding NSU’s handicap accessibility was to crutch my way down the stairs of the on-campus apartments. Unlike The Commons and Leo Goodwin Residence Halls, which are dorms, Farquhar, Founders and Vettel are apartment buildings that don’t have elevators, so the journey to and from my room was pretty daunting.
For those who have never experienced living with crutches, I pray you never do. Going up and down stairs is extremely difficult, especially when people are in a rush to get by. As each step approached, an enveloping fear took over as to whether the skip and hop motion would be successful or if gravity would take over and cause me to stop, drop and roll my way down the stairs.
Fortunately, my fate of having to venture up and down the stairs doesn’t have to be the same for all students. Aarika Camp, assistant dean for student services and director of Residential Life and Housing, said that the Office of Residential Life and Housing provides numerous accommodations to students with temporary disabilities.
“Any student who needs temporary accommodations can always come to us,” she said. “With housing, if it’s something temporary, we’ll work with you.”
Camp explained that it’s really common for athletes to suffer from injuries because of the strain put on their bodies. When injuries do happen, the only requirement is documentation saying how long a student is expected to need assistance. Numerous students, including Jasmine Wilkins, interim area coordinator for Founders, Farquhar, Vettel and CLC, tear their ACL’s, which prevents them from walking temporarily.
In Wilkins case, she lived on the third floor of CLC and needed her mom’s help to get around. Res Life provided Wilkins’s mom with a guest card so she could get in and out of the building without needing Jasmine to escort her in.
According to Camp, Res Life can also provide students with an additional access on their Shark Cards that will activate any automatic door on campus to open. Of course, I wasn’t aware of this when I was out and about on my crutches, which made the next part of the day a lot more complicated.
When it came time to go to class, I started my venture to the Parker building from the Commons Residence hall, and my usual five to 10-minute stroll turned into a 30-minute conquest. To get to Parker, I walked through the Don Taft University Center, where I discovered two things: one, that automatic doors are a truly wonderful advancement, and two, they’re only wonderful when they actually work. The automatic doors to get into the UC did what the sign indicated, but when I went to exit the building next to the Flight Deck, the doors seem to be confused by their purpose. While the signs on the door say they are automatic, they did not open. Trying to open them while on crutches reaffirmed the fact I am not a gymnast, no matter how many times I jump-kicked, backwards hopped or flipped my way into the doors.
According to Heidi Jameson, administrative coordinator in the Office of Disability Services, the doors in the UC were originally made to be automatic, but because of the high humidity in the area, water would condense along the floors and cause a safety hazard. The only automatic doors currently in use have blue stickers, and are located near the Shark Fountain and the Performing and Visual Arts Theater.
By the time I got to Parker, bruises were forming, and I felt exhaustion coming on. The last thing I wanted was to fight another door, and, thankfully, the architects of this building didn’t want that either. The building was easy to access, and the air conditioner might as well have been a breath from God himself.
To make the venture around campus less arduous, Jameson suggested students who are on crutches or in wheelchairs use the Shark Shuttle service to get to classes.
“It does require you do a little advanced planning, but we always recommend students use the iShark app to reduce waiting time,” she said.
The remainder of the day was spent navigating the UC, DeSantis Building, Horvitz Administration Building, Alvin Sherman Library Shepard Broad Law Center, the Student Affairs Building and a few other spots on campus. Most of the buildings were extremely accessible; however, I noticed that although there are numerous doors on campus that say they are automatic, many aren’t, such as the one previously noted. Whether the un-automatic accessibility to these “accessible” doors was temporary or not is unclear, but it definitely would have been nice to have a sign depicting they didn’t work.
The only way to explain this day of adventure is to compare it to Rocky running up the famed staircase. I have come to the conclusion that, design-wise, NSU does a pretty amazing job of making the campus accessible to students with physical setbacks. However, I have two primary concerns: one, not all of these so-called “automatic” doors are actually automatic, and two, the fact that Disabilities Services seems to have more services readily available for mental disabilities than physical. While Jameson said that accommodations are made on a case-by-case basis, the services discussed in the discussion were primarily focused on individuals with more permanent needs.
For those who have the ability to walk at their own leisure, NSU’s disability-friendliness is not a top concern, but it is crucial to keep in mind that accidents happen. If a student finds him or herself physically disabled, whether it be temporary or permanent, Jameson said the Office of Disabilities Services is available to help.
This adventure was only a 24-hour experience, but for some people, the experience lasts much longer. While I initially took on this project to understand NSU’s accessibility, I came to a much more prominent understanding of the individuals who that accessibility affects. For people who have to get by with a physical handicap on a longer or more permanent basis, I commend you for your patience with not only your situation, but those around you. This experience was more than a physical obstacle; it was mental and emotional as well. With limited mobility comes frustration; with frustration comes stress; and with stress comes emotional hardship.
As arduous as this experiment was, there is a strength learned from physical disability. That frustration eventually turns into acceptance, stress becomes complacency, and emotional hardship becomes patience. Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Strength does not come from a physical capacity alone, but from an indomitable will,” and that is the perfect way to describe this day.
