How Yale supports students with disabilities

As the only current undergraduate with a hearing impairment and one of a scarce number of students with physical or learning disabilities, I identify myself first as a Yale student and second as a student with a disability. However, that is not to say that having a hearing loss has not affected my college experience. It has undeniably shaped my college experiences—just in very subtle ways.

JOHN YI/YH Resource Office Director Sally Esposito (right) and Assistant Director Carol Bennett assist students with disabilities.

Although I have become part of the hearing world of Yale, I have had to accept some limitations. Lectures are difficult when the professor is talking on the stage or meandering around the classroom and not facing me, since I read lips more proficiently than I hear. When students in the class ask questions or make comments, it is difficult for me to find them in the crowd and understand what they are saying. Seminars with fast-paced discussions can also be frustrating, and plays, lectures, and concerts can be bewildering, because sometimes I cannot understand the performers. However, these frustrations are but a small part of my experiences and have not stopped me from taking advantage of all Yale has to offer.

After I presented documentation of my hearing loss, the Resource Office on Disabilities (ROD) has provided me with all the accommodations I have needed, such as real-time captioning: a court reporter sits next to me in class and types the lecture, almost verbatim. The lecture appears instantaneously on a laptop in front of me. While at first it was embarrassing to have to go to class with a stenographer sitting next to me, I eventually realized that it has its perks: all the professors know who I am, and so do most students in my classes. (Unfortunately, since the professors know who I am, I can't cut class!)

After two semesters, I cannot recall a professor who was unwilling to allow the captioning or who would not meet with me during office hours to review the lectures if I had an especially difficult time understanding. The professors, along with ROD, have made the transition from the smaller, more intimate setting of high school to the larger setting of college fluid and easy. The University as a whole is supportive of disabled students and ensures that their lives are as unaffected by their disabilities as possible.

However, there are still flaws in the University's treatment of students with disabilities. Although ROD has worked tirelessly to make the University handicapped accessible, many buildings are old and cannot accommodate wheelchair ramps or elevators. Mobility-impaired students cannot visit every dorm or college, and they cannot gain access to the facilities in all of the colleges. Even some of the newer buildings are not completely accessible.

It will take time before handicapped access is extended to more buildings around campus. Students—disabled and non-disabled alike—should not accept that a "ramp is unfeasible here," or that "this book is too hard to change into Braille." Such excuses are unacceptable. Students with dis-abilities need to challenge other Yale students, staff, and faculty to create greater access for the disabled. It is not that the University does not care, but when disabled students comprise such a small minority, their voices are not always heard.

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