Disability Roundtable advocates for student accessibility on campus

Clusters of impatient students gather next to each bus stop on campus. Due to the five different campus bus routes, students must push past each other and squint their eyes to see which bus is approaching.

But this routine is impossible for a student who cannot see.

Until this spring, visually impaired students had no way to know which upcoming bus they needed. This prevented them from using the transportation system that all IU students pay for through tuition.

But thanks to the University’s Disability Roundtable, bus drivers are now required to announce their bus number as the doors open.

“It’s not the person that is disabled. It’s the environment or the program that is the problem,” Disability Roundtable Co-coordinator Sharon Hauss said.

The Disability Roundtable is a coalition on campus that advocates for people with disabilities in the IU community. The organization formed seven years ago to unite IU offices that dealt with disability issues. This enabled these organizations to share resources and ideas.

Some of the most active members in the Roundtable are Disability Services for Students, the National Center for Accessibility, the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community and the IU Architect’s Office.

“There is value in the different perspectives,” said Martha Jacques Engstrom, Roundtable member and director of Disability Services for Students. “I believe many voices speaking the same message are more likely to be heard than just one lone voice.”

Roundtable members want to support those with disabilities without duplicating services provided elsewhere, Roundtable Co-coordinator Alice Voigt said.    

“If (people with disabilities) are supported, they can blend in very well, and their disability is not noticeable,” Voigt said. “But it is unfair that they are often marginalized because of the barriers they come across on campus.”

This year, 1,200 IU students will receive some form of disability service. Of those students, 75 percent have learning disabilities or some variation of attention deficit disorder, Jacques Engstrom said.

The office provides services such as extended test time, specialized computer software and transportation to class.

The Roundtable also focuses on raising awareness about disability issues to IU students, faculty and staff.

The Roundtable’s most successful program is a presentation series called “Accessible University.”

This school year, the Roundtable will have a presentation each month that focuses on a different issue.

The first presentation is at noon Wednesday, Sept. 21 in the Indiana Memorial Union Walnut Room. The program will teach people to work with students who have hidden disabilities. 

“We definitely want to welcome students to our meetings and reach out to them to let them know that they can be a part of this,” Voight said.