Central Michigan Life

Issue date: 11/5/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Patrick SIller Sidney junior Sandy Isles, along with her Great Dane, Aries, relax outside of Moore Hall. Isles, who has an immune disorder called hypogammaglobulinemia and back injuries, uses Aries to help her with daily tasks. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Patrick SIller Isles and Aries take time to enjoy the outdoors during class. Isles likes to spend much of her day outdoors because of Aries. "I think the dog gives me a lot of opportunities to start conversations and interact with people I otherwise wouldn't." [Click to enlarge]

Some disabilities are obvious - Sandy Isles' is not.

Seven years ago she was diagnosed with the immune disorder hypogammaglobulinemia.

"It's like the 'boy in the bubble syndrome,'" said the 46-year-old Sidney junior. "If someone comes in with a little bit of a cold, I end up with pneumonia."

Isles uses plenty of antibacterial wipes and sprays to try and stay healthy.

She said professors have been accommodating, allowing Isles to explain her condition to classmates and letting her take tests when she feels well.

Student Disability Services offers a variety of accommodations to disabled students like Isles.

Depending on their needs, students can have extended time to take tests, a reduced-distraction testing room, books on CD, help with note taking and use of adaptive technology.

Isles also has back injuries, making it difficult for her to carry heavy things. Isles' Great Dane, Aries, carries class supplies for her.

"I get a lot of questions," Isles said. "I think the dog gives me a lot of opportunities to start conversations and interact with people I otherwise wouldn't."

Isles is studying geology and environmental studies.

"I want to get involved with the planet," she said. "This is something I can make a difference doing."

Campus travel

When it comes to making campus more accessible for those with disabilities, Central Michigan University has been ahead of the curve.

Susie Pletcher-Rood, director of Student Disability Services, said CMU began removing barriers in the 1980s, before the Americans with Disabilities Act was approved in 1990.

"Legally we don't have to (remove existing barriers)," she said. "CMU has said we're going to; they made that commitment."

All academic buildings and residence halls are accessible, Pletcher-Rood said.

"This way, even if a student lives in Woldt/Emmons, they can go visit a friend in Troutman," she said.

Although all academic buildings are accessible, they are not necessarily easy to navigate.

Pletcher-Rood said some older buildings, like Powers Hall, may be easily accessible from the outside but narrow classroom doors present a challenge.

Mary Murphy, a Davisburg junior who will complete an internship for credit in the spring, is studying therapeutic recreation.

As a requirement for one class she had to spend one day in a wheelchair.

"It gives you such a different perspective," she said. "It's amazing the little things you start to notice."

Murphy said many sidewalks on CMU's campus are uneven and difficult to navigate in a wheelchair.

Another problem students may face is when a building's only elevator is not functioning. However, Pletcher-Rood said Facilities Management has been efficient in solving such problems.

Murphy said her experience with an elevator she used to get to the second floor of an older residence hall was unpleasant.

"It was the scariest elevator I've ever seen," she said. "It was dark and hardly lit - and there were garbage bags in it."

Recently, CMU also expanded its adaptive sports curriculum.

Last summer, the recreation, parks and leisure services department taught a disabilities sport class that covered wheelchair tennis, sled hockey and quad rugby among others.

The class mostly is for therapeutic recreation students, but Mary Lou Schilling, RPL department chairperson, said she would like to change that.

"We'd love to have an integrated class," she said. "We can teach our students about disability sports, then they can go out into the community and teach others."


Disability awareness

Despite the advances made thus far, Central Michigan officials still see room for improvement.

"We still have a long way to go in making people aware of disabilities," Schilling said. "When we think about diversity we should think about people with disabilities as well."

Isles said she has found most people are respectful, but uninformed, about her condition.

"Students need to know that there are a lot of disabilities out there and not all of them involve being blind, deaf or in a wheelchair," she said.


news@cm-life.com

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