When Helen Keller attended Radcliffe she observed that the experience was a “largely lonely triumph” and described how she was ignored by faculty, students, and staff. I’m in mind of this because I’m a blind professor who’s been campaigning for accessibility at Syracuse University for over a decade and I’ve been pretty thoroughly ignored.
I’ve been talking about Syracuse U’s inaccessible websites, academic digital spaces, unreadable documents, HR inaccessibility, as well as our fickle adherence to the Americans with Disabilities act for twelve full years. After all this time I still can’t get readable documents or visit ADA compliant websites at SU. Let me be clear: I’ve spoken to every conceivable administrator from the very top to the mid-level compliance folks. I’ve called meetings with Deans and faculty. I’ve gotten nowhere. The Office of Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Access says they have a plan but no one knows what it is. They have a committee on diversity and access but its not public.
There’s a mindset at Syracuse which works like this: “we’ll get to this inconvenient disability stuff in the future.” You should see the number of emails I have that say this when I complain for the umpteenth time about dealing with something I can’t read.
This “tomorrow-ism” doesn’t just affect digital environments. SU recently renovated the JMA Wireless Dome and re-opened the building to paying customers without putting in the required accessible seating. Recently a disabled undergraduate tried to attend a football game and discovered he couldn’t sit with his friends—a matter that’s required by law. When I’ve raised this issue I’ve been told, “we’re working on it”—which means we’ll get to it sometime but not today even though the law says it should be today.
Back to Helen Keller. I often feel as if I’m entirely alone in this advocacy role..I sense what Keller felt. Meanwhile I’ve talked until I’m blue in the face. There’s something at Syracuse, a state of mind, a baked in thing—it says the disabled are welcome to come here but don’t ask for accessibility and certainly don’t expect dignity.
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Ableism is everywhere but it gets a special pass in higher ed. This is because many believe the apparently broken body has nothing to do with multiculturalism. The disabled are just medical problems.
In fact, when you “talk back” about this you’ll often be labeled as a malcontent. That’s how ableism works. I’ve experienced it multiple times.
Aren’t those cripples supposed to be in iron lungs somewhere out of sight?
Auditoriums everywhere have steps for the visiting reader. No ramps. Bring this up and once again you’re the malcontent.
Most universities like to talk about disability but without the disabled in the room.
Planet of the Blind 