Providing equal access for all is University's mission

Matan Koch, a senior who uses a wheelchair, comes and goes around campus with the aid of a hand-held remote that opens automated doors in his residential college and other sites.

Blind student Birkir Gunnarsson, also a senior, sometimes has the help of an escort when traveling less-familiar paths.

And senior Melissa Felder, who is hearing impaired, follows classroom lectures with a system called Computer-Aided Realtime Transcription (C.A.R.T.), which displays on her laptop computer notes recorded by a stenographer.

These undergraduates are among the more than 300 students who use services arranged through Yale's Resource Office on Disabilities, which was established in 1985 to ensure that students with disabilities have equal access to a Yale education.

"Our mission is to work to remove any physical and attitudinal barriers which may interfere with our students' full participation in campus life," explains Judy York, coordinator of the office, which is part of the Office of Equal Opportunity Programs and is located on the first floor of William L. Harkness Hall. "We help make sure that students with disabilities have the same opportunities as other members of the Yale community."

The office provides services and equipment to any undergraduate or graduate student with a medically documented disability who seeks such assistance, and also provides disability-awareness training to members of the Yale community.

According to the office's website, a disability -- be it permanent or temporary -- is defined as any "impairment or condition which substantially limits a major life activity, such as caring for one's self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning and working." Currently, there are 310 Yale students registered with the office. However, because students with disabilities are required to register with the University only if they need special accommodations, that number does not account for all individuals on campus who have disabilities.

The registered students include those with learning and attention disabilities; permanent or temporary orthopedic disabilities; individuals who are visually impaired or legally blind; those who are hearing impaired or deaf; and students with other conditions that cause some degree of impairment, such as lupus, cancer, narcolepsy, diabetes and respiratory illnesses, as well as psychiatric disorders.

Many of these students need computers or special software to meet their needs -- such as voice recognition software, which allows users to talk to a computer and then see the text on the screen. Other special equipment needs range from tape recorders to wheelchairs, TDD/TYY phones (which allow people with hearing impairments to communicate through typed messages rather than speech), scanners, cellular phones (for students who are unable to access campus blue phones) and headset microphones -- all of which are lent out by the office.

The office also contracts with a national service for books on tape for visually impaired students and students with dyslexia, and arranges C.A.R.T. services through a local company for students with hearing impairments. Sign language interpreting services are coordinated by the office in conjunction with state and private agencies.

In addition, the office employs some 300 students and community members each semester to serve as guides, notetakers, readers/recorders, scribes, typists or visual interpreters, who provide valuable services to students with disabilities.

Gunnarsson, who is majoring in computer science and economics, regularly relies on both readers and visual interpreters in his studies. The latter are often graduate students in his fields who can explain illustrations that appear in written materials.

"The average individual is unlikely to be able to read and interpret the technical information in charts and graphs, so in my case, graduate students with experience in my subject areas are hired to help," says Gunnarsson, who has been blind since childhood.

Like many of Yale's students with disabilities, Gunnarsson tries to prepare for his classes by talking to his professors before courses begin to find out what reading materials will be required, thus allowing ample time for any readings to be recorded for him.

"More and more often, faculty members are requiring students to purchase course packets -- made up of copies of selected readings -- for their classes," notes York. "In those cases, we need a reader to record the material on tape. Because of the extra time and help involved, we ask students to speculate with us about what courses they might be considering, then we can talk to faculty members and try to get a head start on it."

Advance preparation is also key for Koch, who has limited use of his arms and legs and requires round-the-clock care. He works with York to ensure that all of the classes he wants to take are located in wheelchair-accessible locations. York and her administrative assistant, Carolyn Barrett, also help students with such issues as seating priority, time extensions for tests and obtaining distraction-free testing locations.

Blake Charlton, a senior with dyslexia, is among the Yale students whose disability requires him to have extra time on exams, as well as the use of a computer with spell-check for classroom writing assignments. At the start of each semester, he informs his professors of his disability with an official letter that outlines his special needs.

York also works in cooperation with various campus departments to meet the students' special needs regarding housing, transportation and access. On some occasions, for example, staff members in Physical Plant have had to build temporary ramps to accommodate a student in a wheelchair, or Grounds Maintenance workers have been called upon to trim bushes that impede the traveling ease of a blind student. Likewise, York works with City of New Haven departments on such issues as curb cuts, sidewalk repairs and pedestrian walk lights.

"For a student with a disability, a big snowstorm can really be an impediment," notes York, a member of the Yale staff since 2000 who has nearly two decades of experience working on issues affecting persons with disabilities. "I might get an early morning phone call from a blind student or wheelchair user just wanting to make sure that a pathway outside of a building has been cleared." York has been known to race out of her office and check out the situation for herself if she isn't sure of the answer.

In fact, York also serves as a substitute "parent" for some of the students with whom she works, and has even made a trip or two to the hospital to provide support for a student in need. In addition, she says, "One aspect of my job has been to assure parents that their child will be taken care of here."

As part of Yale's effort to make the entire campus community sensitive to the particular concerns of students with disabilities, York makes presentations about the office's services to University departments and offices. She also facilitates special services -- such as sign-language interpreters -- for participants and guests at such events as Commencement.

Since she arrived at Yale, the University's population of students with disabilities has increased 25%. York attributes this change to the fact that it has become the norm for primary and secondary schools to mainstream students with disabilities -- a change from policies of the past -- and the results are just now being seen on college campuses. Today's students with disabilities, York says, are much more confident about their abilities to fit in, and advancements in technology have given many an increased ability to share in all aspects of campus life. Changes are continually being made on campus to better meet the needs of such students, says York, whose office recently launched a web-based "Access Map" showing the growing number of campus buildings and facilities that are accessible to wheelchair users. (See related story.)

Their own perseverance and the support they have received at Yale have helped many special-needs students to achieve their academic and career goals, says York. Felder, for example, won a prestigious Truman Scholarship last year and will study next year at Georgetown Law School.

Koch will head to Harvard Law School in the fall. In addition to an outstanding academic record, he has also been a leader in the student group Yale Students for Disability Awareness, which makes recommendations to the Resource Office on Disabilities.

Gunnarsson, who came to Yale from his native Iceland, says he refuses to be treated differently than any other Yale student because of his disability. He recently was director of a campus musical and will work after graduation as a security analyst for First Union Bank.

Charlton, a member of Phi Beta Kappa who has won two English department awards for his essay writing, plans to go to medical school down the road, but will first serve as a medic in San Francisco.

"Some of what I've accomplished wouldn't have been possible without the help of the staff in the Resource Office on Disabilities," Charlton says. "They offered sage wisdom and support. I can truthfully say that Yale has been with me every step of the way in terms of facilitating my disability."

-- By Susan Gonzalez

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