Ride, Don't Walk

For a half an hour I was able to experience how life would be like if I was in a wheelchair. This experiment is a great way to understand how difficult it is to get around locations that are not wheelchair accessible. After I was done with my half an hour I was irritated that most of Daggy Hall is not anywhere near wheelchair accessible while Carpenter hall is a bit better.

I ran into a few problems while in Daggy Hall, in their staff room it was impossible to reach any cabinets or even the sink and the freezer was too high up to reach. The slopes inside the building were way to steep and there was not a landing to be steady while opening the door. Carpenter Hall’s main issue was that the bathroom doors were not wheel chair accessible; I had to try to hold it open and squeeze in at the same time. At the coffee shop the biggest issue was being able to reach the items on the back shelf and also feeling super small at the ordering counter. Throughout both the buildings there were tight halls and doorways that made me feel enclosed and hills that were very steep and scary.

These buildings were not completely inaccessible to wheelchair users, Carpenter Hall and Daggy Hall had a few automatic doors, ramps, and elevators. Carpenter Hall also had a handicap stall and there was space to pull under the sink while washing your hands.

I only had to do this experiment for half an hour and within a few minutes I had already ran into numerous problems, now I am aware of how these older buildings that were not built under ADA requirements are beyond difficult for someone in a wheelchair to operate through. I now find myself analyzing places to see if they would or would not work for people that are in wheelchairs and how they might be able to navigate through those places.