The campus should be designed with disabled students in mind

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BY REILLY DENNEDY ’23


As a disabled student, walking to my classes, my dorm and Blanchard proves that this school was not built with my body in mind. 

The door handle to my room can be difficult to grab; my legs are often too stiff in the morning for me to walk down the stairs; the door to Blanchard is heavy; I can’t use the tongs in the cafeteria in the morning. 

It is not easy to understand the struggles of a disabled person and many do not acknowledge them. Our administration and many students here demonstrate apathy towards disabled students’ ability to use facilities — both groups must be more proactive.

Disabled people are one of the most discriminated against groups and are constantly left out of the activism practiced by students on this campus. 

The unemployment gap between the disabled and non-disabled has widened from 38 percent in 2008 to 41 percent in 2018. In schools for the disabled and care facilities, abuse from staff is common — I’ve experienced it myself. I see the lack of care from people I know when ableism is mentioned last or left out of long lists of “isms,” and in the indifference of my peers when it comes to making our campus accessible for all bodies. 

When I talk about how difficult it can be for me to use the facilities here, I’m met with comments about how difficult it is to create accessible buildings and how nature discriminates against the disabled. Buildings are created for a certain type of body, which excludes disabled people. When designing buildings for all humans, every body should be taken into account. 

We have come a long way since the days before ramps and elevators, but there is a lot of work to be done before everyone is able to use this campus in an equitable way. Mount Holyoke does have an online form where students can report which places on campus are inaccessible. While an online form is great, it relies on disabled students to list out every way the physical structure of the school does not accommodate us — an extremely tedious and impossible task. Having a platform for the voices of students is great, especially because every disability is different, but it can’t be the only way our administration is working toward change.

If our administration is serious about their promises of diversity and inclusion, reactionary changes are not enough. It is difficult for an able-bodied person to understand the challenges disabled people face, which is why buildings should be designed with the input of disabled people. If the students here are serious about their body positivity, they should acknowledge the struggles of disabled students and listen to and advocate for us.