Idaho State University is an incredibly diverse campus, filled with people from places as far away as South Korea and as near as Idaho itself. It’s almost impossible to enter a classroom without meeting someone totally different from oneself, with a unique and varied background utterly different from one’s own experience. If anything, college can be a lesson that people are different, for better and for worse, and that of course includes people with disabilities. Dyslexia, ADHD, and others are disabilities that impact those who have them to an extent generally mild enough to make outside help unnecessary. Many people on campus have these disorders but rarely need to vary their activities to accommodate them. But for those with disabilities severe enough to warrant help, the campus can be a much more challenging place. Travel from one building to another can be an expedition requiring planning and reaching a classroom in time for class may be a frustrating experience.
Idaho State makes every effort to make the campus accessible for everyone, and refinements on that accessibility are occurring all the time. Todd DeVries, director of Disabilities Services, says that the campus is accessible “for the most part,” but that there are definite “areas to be improved.” He and some of the students who make use of this department have already aided ISU in some of these improvements this year. Interested parties were asked by Cheryl Hanson, architect and director of Planning, Design and Construction in the Idaho State Facilities Department, to note on a map of the campus the areas they felt were most in need of better mobility accessibility for those with disabilities.
The new handicap-accessible ramp outside of Rendezvous is, perhaps, a direct result of this input. Whereas before students with mobility disabilities were forced to take an indirect route from the Eli M. Oboler Library to the Rendezvous Complex, the new ramp allows them to cross the street directly from one building to the other.
A ribbon cutting ceremony was held for its grand opening on Thursday, Aug 30, with an open house following in the Dorothy Broyles Assistive Technology Lab. Guests were shown a multitude of the technology available for students with disabilities — from one-handed keyboards to scanners capable of scanning pages at high speed. DeVries was careful to explain that the lab is open “as-needed,” and available for any student who may require these aids.
Todd DeVries can be reached at ude.usinull@ddotrved, or by phone at 282-3599.