Spraining my ankle was the worst thing to ever happen to me. Being taken out of soccer season for five weeks was heartbreaking news. There is nothing more painful than realizing that you are going to miss half the season because of an injury. The timing was unfortunate because I was a week away from going on a school trip to New York and there was a chance the orthopedist would refuse to let me go on the trip. Luckily, I got approval and was advised to rent a knee walker so traveling around the city and campus of Columbia University would be easier. However, I wasn’t ready for the challenges ahead of me that come with requiring accessibility accommodations.
On my first day I had trouble finding an elevator in the buildings so I resigned myself to taking the stairs and luckily my friends were willing to carry my knee walker down the steps for me so I wouldn’t have to. It’s a federal law that schools must be wheelchair accessible, but nowhere in the law does it say that elevators and ramps have to be convenient.
Touring the streets of NYC was also a challenge because the ramps built in to the sidewalks were either occupied by people standing and waiting or they were so bumpy I thought I would tip over. People with mobility restrictions need to have more accessible elevators and ramps. A 2015 study done by the School of Human Performance and Recreation found that only 66 percent of restaurants in the United States have the required ramps and only 53 percent of restaurants have designated parking spaces for individuals with disabilities. This isn’t fair at all to those who need it. They didn’t choose to have this disability and they shouldn’t have to go out of their way just to get into a building.
Not only are people with disabilities already forced into finding new methods to get around, but the difficulty that comes with accommodation could force them to feel different or out of place.
There is a stigma that comes with having a disability and it’s that you will always need help doing everything. This isn’t true at all. Persons who require ramps and elevators are not helpless individuals.