“Accessibility Is More Than Just Wheelchair Access”: Accessibility Concerns Raised with Halls of Residence
Words by Zoë Mills (they/she)
Former Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington student Taiming Zhang is suing the university for $35,000, alleging that the age-limit policy at the halls of residence meant that he was left in severe pain commuting to and from the university.
The case has sparked discussion around current accessibility issues at the halls of residence, raising questions as to whether the current accommodations are enough to support disabled students.
Taiming Zhang, a 22-year-old arthritic student, was rejected from halls of residence on the basis that he is “too old”. The age-limit policy, which excludes residents over the age of 20 from first year accommodation, was changed in 2021. Zhang had applied for the halls to be closer to the university as his arthritis caused him pain when walking to and from classes. The case is currently before the Human Rights Review Tribunal.
Hope, a student currently residing at Boulcott Hall, says that although she has struggled with accessibility issues, her hall has overall been “very accommodating”. Hope is deaf and has dyspraxia, which made it difficult for her to understand what was happening during O-Week. “Things like trying to communicate in the dining hall and understand what was going on during our O-Week hall meetings have been difficult,” she told Salient.
“I think the university needs to [understand] that accessibility is more than just wheelchair access,” Hope explained. “I’ve had a lot of issues [when] trying to explain to staff that I need to lipread or have things written down if people are wearing masks. Often they will continue to talk at me and not register this”.
Liam*, a resident of Weir House in 2021, lives with chronic pain and autism. He describes some aspects of his experience at the hall as “really positive”, such as being assigned an accessible room. But he found difficulty in other aspects of the hall. Echoing similar issues to Hope, Liam says that the dining hall was “always insanely over-stimulating, and there were little to no communicated options for getting meals on days where I couldn't walk to the dining hall.”
“Getting around the other buildings was also difficult as the layout was not designed to be easy to navigate when physically disabled, and the elevators that there were were not always the most functional,” Liam explained.
Spokesperson for the Disabled Students Association (DSA), Kavish, describes the current state of accessibility at the halls as “[not] adequate for disabled students”. The university’s halls of residence and campuses currently have some accessibility-friendly adaptations, such as wheelchair bathrooms and lifts, but Kavish says that more support is needed for students with disabilities.
“Something we rely on with the accessibility suites at the university [a lot] is ergonomic furniture, which can really help [to] support disabled individuals,” she explained, “[as well as] sensory friendly environments […] like quiet rooms, dim lighting. […] The university should be providing more support to help with that”.
A spokesperson for the university told ^Salient that when the university is made aware of disability related needs of an incoming resident, Accommodation Services works closely with Disability Services and the student to understand their specific needs. Meeting those needs in the halls “may include placement in a room designed with accessible features, strobe lighting that makes the fire alarm accessible for deaf people, a supported emergency evacuation plan, access for a disability assist dog, or other relevant service,” the university said.
Kavish wants able-bodied students to know that “not all disabilities are visible, not all disabilities are diagnosed. I think it's just an important message to be showing empathy to each other.” Kavish encourages students who are facing accessibility issues at their halls to reach out to the DSA for support and advocacy.
*names have been changed