Although the UW campus offers parking, transportation and accessibility for people with permanent physical disabilities, some students say there are problems with the system.
One service available for UW students with disabilities is the McBurney Disability Resource Center. According to J. Trey Duffy, director of the center, the McBurney Center was established in 1977 to offer assistance to UW students with disabilities. The center, named after a Phi Beta Kappa UW Law School graduate who died of quadriplegia, now helps about 900 UW students cope with learning and physical disabilities.
Lynn Rettig, a UW special student with a physical disability, agrees that campus accommodations make her situation easier. Rettig has osteoarthritis in both hips and has had one hip replaced. She is unable to walk long distances and said her campus-issued parking pass helps out, but is expensive.
“For me, at my level of disability, I’m content with how accommodations work, but others may not be because of the permit’s cost,” Rettig said.
Rettig said the cost of the permit increased by $120 this year, something she said may be more than others can afford.
Wendy Krause, a junior at UW, broke her leg earlier this year said accommodations may exist for students with permanent disabilities, but did not help her much.
Krause said because walking with crutches is difficult and transportation alternatives are expensive, she was thankful to have a scooter to help her get around campus.
According to its web site, the McBurney center does offer help for students with temporary disabilities. Krause said she wasn’t aware of such services.
“No one suggested any alternatives to me. I didn’t know where to go and was pretty much on my own,” Krause said.
Duffy said less than 2 percent of UW students are enrolled in McBurney disability programs.
Duffy said the center has four channels to help students: direct services to students with disabilities, including note-taking, sign language, Braille, test-taking areas for students that need additional time for tests, as well as counseling services to help manage disabilities; faculty assistance to accommodate students with disabilities; information service to campus and community members who want to learn more about disabilities. The center provides often hires students with disabilities.
Duffy said about half the students enrolled in the center have learning disabilities and half are physically disabled.
Duffy said parking is one way the campus assists students with disabilities. He said the campus has four times as many parking places for disabled than is legally required. Duffy said the biggest parking advantage for these students is a campus-issued permit that allows them to park in any lot at any time and charges a minimal amount.
“In reality, if you’re a student with a disability, you have more parking spaces open to you than the chancellor.” Duffy said.
Other transportation options available to students with disabilities include city and campus buses, all of which are equipped with lifts to accommodate wheelchairs, and a door-to-door “paratransit” service.
Beyond parking and transportation, Duffy said all 600 campus buildings are, at least in some part, accessible to students with disabilities.
Duffy said he thinks the university does a good job of accommodating students with physical disabilities but agreed it may not be easy for students with disabilities.
“Obviously on a campus of this size and this terrain, someone with a physical disability will have serious challenges,” Duffy said.
