Recent construction at the Newtown
campus has made huge
strides toward making the entire
school more handicap accessible.
Various ramps and closer handicapped
parking areas have been
added, and the often ‘out-of-order’
elevator has been fixed. This is a
huge step in making this campus
equally accessible to each and
every student.
According to one handicapped
student, there are several areas of
improvement that have not yet
been addressed that could make
this college much more attractive
to other disabled students in
Bucks County.
Shaida Abbas, 21, from Morrisville
had his inspiring story told
in the Nov. 3 issue of the Centurion,
and now he has a few suggestions
for the Bucks personnel
that could make these needed additions.
“I’d like to see various
sporting activities for handicapped
students like wheelchair basketball
or hand-cycling,” said Abbas,
who also added, “these additions
would help us enjoy college life
and attract more disabled students.”
The lack of campus transportation
for disabled students frustrates
Abbas.
He explains, “as far as I know
there are no buses offered to handicapped
students, but this should
be added for those of us who are
handicapped.” Abbas is able to
drive on his own, however he still
strongly feels that transportation
should be offered.
Abbas realizes that while it is
challenging to make every area of
a school handicapped accessible,
Bucks has made a serious attempt
over the past few semesters that he
has been here. In his opinion, the
library and lunch areas are among
the easiest to access on campus,
along with Penn Hall’s classrooms.
A problem area he has faced on
the Newtown campus though is
Founder’s Hall. Abbas said that,
“the stadium type classrooms are
really bad. They’re built like a lecture
hall, and having to sit at the
top of the classroom everyday is
really annoying. I was never able
to go in front of class to write on
the board.”
Still, Abbas credits The Office
of Disability Services at Bucks for
meeting the many needs of disabled
students.
“In basic chemistry last year, the
organic chemistry classroom was
entirely too small and The Office
of Disability Services was able to
get us into a larger room because
of my wheelchair,” said Abbas.
In previous semesters, Abbas
faced many issues at Bucks such
as the broken elevators, tightly
packed classrooms, and poor access
that he said was “disheartening.”
However, this semester,
there have been zero issues concerning
accessibility
on
campus.
With the recent
additions
Abbas certainly
sees
promise for
disabled students
in the
future as he
said, “with the
recent construction
to
make Bucks
more handicapped
accessible,
it’s
going to be a
lot better for
years to
come.”
Making a business or school
more handicapped-accessible has
more to do with simply making
the area easier to access, and
adding closer parking spots,
newer ramps, and functioning elevators.
It also means adding clubs,
sports, and various activities for
the disabled students.
Abbas put it best when he said,
“although the new additions are
going to make campus better, it
still will not be the best or where it
should be, in regards to friendliness
and overall appeal. The addition
of clubs and sports for
disabled students would make this
school more attractive for disabled
students looking for a community
college in Pennsylvania.”
Bucks is certainly moving in the
right direction with each upgrade,
and with support as well as a push
from students hopefully they will
give disabled students a chance at
fully enjoying their college experience
as well.
As Abbas points out, “there’s
still a long way to go.”