Campus requires wheelchair access I didn't expect to be writing this article from first-hand experience, let me tell you right now. I intended to write a well-intentioned and quite possibly ineffective opinion piece about Earlham's wheelchair access and lack thereof, trying to make myself feel like a compassionate and involved person...The article would begin with something along the lines of , “Have any of you noticed that we don't have any students in wheelchairs?” I hope I'm still a compassionate and involved person, but the game has become more personal. I am now a student in a wheelchair. This is a temporary condition, of course. I fell, breaking my ankle and spraining my wrist, the day before class started. I'm already healing, and I might even be out and about, without a chair, when the first semester edition of The Word is published. I know that my perspective, therefore, is that of a generally able-bodied person. Nonetheless, I have gained an unusual (for here) perspective on the issue of access. If I were a student permanently confined to a wheelchair, I wouldn't consider Earlham for more than a minute. My first visit would have been enough to convince me to apply elsewhere. Yes, most of the campus is accessible, but only nominally. That is, you can reach many places, but it is quite inconvenient, especially when it rains. My first day in a wheelchair, it was raining. Many. I mean, the umbrella I had while they were carrying me to class didn't do much good. And let's see... I'm on a 19 meal plan, which means I'll have breakfast at Saga. Great. My first lesson is in Runyan! But to get there I have to exit Runyan Center and be taken to the back entrance via the circular driveway. That's because there are stairs between Saga and the Fine Arts department. Instead of budgeting two minutes to get from one place to another, I have to remember to set aside 10, not to mention trying to check my email. In fact, there is a wheelchair entrance in the basement of the Runyan Center. More than once I found it locked. The ramp to the other basement entrance is, like many ramps on campus, at a scary angle, i.e. I'm afraid I'll fall out of my chair and/or roll too fast and hit the doors. And thank God I'm a music student, because if I had an applied art course up...to the middle of the paper......or is able to meet the admissions, academic and technical standards of a program ( i.e., all essential non-academic admission criteria) with or without accommodation. For a person to qualify as disabled, the disability must "substantially limit" a major life activity. Clearly, “substantial” connotes something more than trivial or minor, but federal courts disagree beyond this point. There are at least four options, as highlighted by recent case law: "compared to most people in the general population"; "compared to the average person with comparable education, skills and abilities"; "compared to the average healthy student"; and “the disparity between intrinsic ability and performance.” Source: Journal of Special Education, Winter2000, vol. 33 Issue 4, p248, 10p, 1 graphic Author: Thomas, Stephen B.%22>