Journal #6- 6 Hour Disability

For my disability, I acted as if I was wheelchair bound. I didn't physically have a wheelchair, but I made sure that I only used handicap accessible utilities. When I first woke up, this posed as a problem because my townhome is 2 stories. I had explained to my roommates what I had to do for this journal, so I got one of them to carry me down our stairs. Since my car is not handicap accessible, I also had them drive me to campus. When navigating through campus, I had to go all the way around the drillfield because the sidewalks did not have ramps. When I finally got to my work in Squires, I realized how hard it was for someone in a wheelchair to get around that building, especially in the ABP section because its so crowded. I had to take the elevator up to the 2nd floor to where my office was, but once in my office things weren't too difficult because all of the desks are handicap accessible. When I was finished with work, I took the elevator back downstairs and had to go all through Squires so I could reach the wheelchair ramp to get down to the sidewalk, and had to go around the drillfield again to get to my only class of the day in Williams. I had to go back behind Williams to get into the building since no ramp is located at the front, and had to take the elevator to the 2nd floor where my classroom was. Once in the classroom, I had to find a desk that was not connected to the chair so a person with a wheelchair would have been able to sit there. After class, I took the elevator back downstairs and had to go around the back of Williams again to exit and meet my roommate who was picking me up. Once I got home, I spent the remaining hour of my disability on my couch watching TV downstairs because I didn't want to ask my roommates to carry me back up the stairs.

I didn't realize how difficult it was going to be to navigate around campus. I was surprised how many buildings have limited to no handicap accessible features. I also didn't realize how my 2 story townhome would pose such an issue, or how I wouldn't be able to drive since me car isn't made for someone in a wheelchair.