Long Ass Post Incoming:

Long ass post incoming:

Okay so generally speaking my university’s campus is relatively accessible on first glance and new buildings are in theory ADA compliant and they’re working on the older buildings which is more than can be said for a lot of campuses or even places in general. A lot (but not all) of the professors are respectful of accommodations and do their best to accommodate all students as best as they can however there is still a lot they could do but either don’t know they can or outright refuse to do.

However, it is still very inaccessible!

Elevators frequently break and can take days or weeks to be fixed they’re also really annoying and often hard to find because they’re not labeled very well not to mention they’re slow as fuck, ramps are slightly too steep (super hilly campus too), shuttles are available but frequently run late or are excessively full and only run to a certain time so if you need to get somewhere on our giant campus past a certain time you’re fucked, sure there’s mobility services you can access but you need to schedule pickups ahead of time so you can’t really do anything spontaneously and there’s not many of them so if you need it the same time as someone else you’re fucked, so many doors that are supposedly automatic are broken, a building may have an automatic entrance but if you need to get into a classroom or lecture hall the doors are wickedly heavy, some lecture halls have auto doors at the top of the hall but not at the bottom where someone with a wheelchair could actually get into the room, and that’s just to name some of the accommodations for physical mobility impacting disabilities.

When it comes to other disabilities the campus and specifically lectures can be inaccessible too. For example some professors refuse to use their microphones in large lecture halls because they feel their voice is “loud enough” but that makes it even harder for students who have hearing impairments or auditory processing issues, often times professors use many colors on their lecture slideshows and that can make it difficult for students with colorblind ness or students with other visual impairments or for students with visual processing problems, when COVID-19 was still deemed to be a thing worth worrying about lectures were “podcasted” or recorded in classroom or on zoom so that they could be accessed remotely but now many professors refuse to record their lectures because they cannot be bothered to just push a simple button which leaves students who can’t safely come to campus unable to access their education or students who are sick without that same access and students who even if they can make it to lecture cannot process everything in it for a whole lot of other reasons unable to access their education the ability to do this when Covid was still of public concern (1) just shows that we can still do it and honestly still should(2), additionally many lecture halls are full of distractions and noises and so much else that make them inaccessible to people with cognitive/mental disabilities and mental illnesses, and that’s not just the case lecture halls but also in dining halls and gyms and even just outside can be extremely overwhelming and overstimulating for many many people.

(1) which mind you it still should be we are still suffering as a society from a virus that is incredibly deadly and saying that it only kills those with underlying conditions and what not is ableist as fuck

(2)For example we don’t really turn in printed out copies of essays or assignments for hand grading anymore we turn them in online because that’s easier and with technology the way classes are run has changed so why hasn’t it changed with COVID??

In general I am thankful that the campus is relatively “accessible” but it still needs hella work. Sure not everyone can be accommodated completely by an institution or even by other people but there certainly are things that are very easy changes that can be made and there is stuff that we can do to accommodate ourselves and we cannot put the burden of accommodation solely on others we know ourselves the best and thus can figure out what accommodations we need from ourselves and others.

Overall the world is super inaccessible and we NEED to do better than we are doing now both abled and disabled people alike need to work together to make everything a better more accessible for as many people as possible

TL:DR

University campuses are super inaccessible to all disabilities and there is so much that needs to change and that can easily be done and it’s absurd that we aren’t doing it. Colleges and universities and professors and even students need to do better so that everyone can feel welcome and accommodated and safe to learn

I love my forearm crutches but damn they make my forearms tired so fast especially when I’m having a flair day (both pots and pain) like today. I’m so glad I have them but holy shit it’s exhausting.

[to the tune of YMCA] mothman, there’s no need to feel down I said mothman,

Got some hinged knee braces (from Amazon) and honestly they help some but I can’t adjust how far back they can go so they stop at 180 but to keep myself from hyperextending I would need a smaller ROM but they at least do something. My main problem is that they don’t fucking stay up! Granted I’ve never had a brace that stayed up on me but still it’s annoying and kinda pisses me off cause it just means I have to constantly adjust them and pull them up. Also when I sit the top of the brace majorly gaps. Like it turns into a fucking handle basically.

Also they are so far from sensory friendly because of how much they slide around.

All that said they’re helpful for now and hopefully I’ll be able to get custom braces soon if my insurance will approve them (I really hope they do soon because fuck my knees suck). Being disabled and being fat (1) and having big thighs as a result really makes this shit hard because prefabricated braces don’t fit me.

Also the socks I’m wearing are from Not Your Grandma’s and they’re compression socks and they’re fucking amazing and so comfortable 10/10 honestly. They’re about £15 (idk what that converts to in $ I think it’s like $17??? I’m American (eww) but the company is from the UK) so not cheep but the material and patterns are so good!!! Highly recommend. I have their dinosaur, shark, and sea life patterned socks.

(1) I really don’t know if I qualify as fat. I feel like I do but I’ve also been told I’m not “fat enough” which is ridiculous like maybe I’m fat lite? Or something idk either way I’m a large person.

Fuck heat intolerance and exercise intolerance. I cant fucking sit without sweating my ass off and having a high heart rate, and when I just walk i end up dripping and with an extremely high heart rate. The fuck is up with that shit.

Okay so I’ve tried taping my knees in the past with KT tape and stuff like it but I haven’t done it in a while so I decided to get some target brand tape. It claims to be water resistant and designed to last for 3 days so I decided eh it’s about $6 ($14 less than KT branded) so let’s try it. One of the strips didn’t even last 10 minutes and the others didn’t last more than an hour. Like wtf. I wasn’t even in water I was just walking around and sweating a little (sure a little for me is probably a lot for other people cause I sweat a lot but still) how the fuck can it claim to be water resistant if it can’t even withstand some sweat??????

I just wanted something to help with my pain and stability today while I worked but I guess that’s not gonna happen. Does anyone have any tricks for getting tape to stay? Or any alternatives other than braces cause sometimes I don’t want to have to wear something so bulky especially if it’s just gonna end up sliding down anyways.