#accessiblity

- 4 absences = a fail in the class

- 3 tardys = an absence

- if you are more than 10 minutes late to class, you’re absent

- oh also class time starts 5 minutes before class starts

- if you have a written diagnosis for anything that would make you late you NEED to give it to her and it will be put in your file and you need PROOF!!!!! that your disability/sickness/whatever is what’s causing you to be late or absent!!!

- absolutely NO falling asleep in class

- absolutely NO phones or devices of any kind unless you have your own laptop to write on(but she prefers handwritten papers)

- absolutely NO recording of the class of ANY KIND. this includes video and voice recordings

- she goes home to a town an hour away after class ends so you can’t stay after class to finish or ask questions!!!!

- at least once every class there is a mandatory “brain exercise” which includes but is not limited to: walking around the building, running in place, jumping jacks, jumping in place, running down the sidewalk and back etc.

- she said “unless you have a written doctors note for why you can’t do this you MUST participate it will go into your grade as participation points”

- absolutely NO extra credit. there is only credit

- she also doesn’t accept late work at all!!! unless you have a WRITTEN DIAGNOSIS!!!!! and if you have an accommodation through the school. you MUST have both!!!!!

so basically she’s the LEAST accessible person on campus?

and we had to pick one topic to write about this entire semester and i chose disability advocacy and activism and that we can do in the medical world AND educational world to make things accessible to everybody who has any condition

i talked about how hard it is to get a diagnosis for some people(me) even for simple things because doctors and teachers and adults and PEOPLE never believe us to listen to us. then after class i told her i have a cane and chronic fatigue and chronic pain and heart issues etc and the only thing i’m diagnosed with is asthma and a heart murmur and i will not be participating in certain activities and i’m going to the school’s disability program and i WILL be getting accommodations without a single doctors note and if she has an issue then i will be dropping her class.

she said she likes my “fire” (whatever the fuck that means) and i’m the perfect person for her class.

and before y’all type and say “it’s just a college thing” and “welcome to real life”. bitch!! one of my professors noticed how tired i am and that i’ve been late like 6/8 classes and saw my cane and said “i don’t need to know your business, but if you need accommodations for ANYTHING talk to the disability program and they can help you with anything you need. if you need an advocate i will be there for you. school should be ACCESSIBLE”!!!! she’s going with me next week to ask if my professors can not mark me down for any tardiness or absences!!!!

I asked wheelchair accessible, not just accessible to someone somewhere. Ignoring the fact that most stairlifts are the most frustrating instruments on the planet, they are tools for someone who can walk on flat ground (maybe with some supports) but can’t climb stairs. They are all but useless for a wheelchair user. Someone would have to carry the wheelchair up the stairs (and down again) without damaging it which, depending on the chair can be impossible.

They have most details written in multiple PDF documents that might've been made for legal matters but they're so complicated with their erudite, legal language that I doubt most people bother to read it and that those who do even understand it. Some of that information should've been present on the website and in an easy to understand way because it's important.

And about the joining process itself: it baffles me how BAD the document they gave me to sign up as an active member was. Look at this second page!

Do you think a visually impaired person, especially one who's blind and has to use a screen reader, is gonna have an easy time with this? You're supposed to promote Independence and accessibility what the hell are you doing????

Of course I wasn't the one who ended up signing it. It was my father because I can barely read it. I only did the actual signing of my name.

What I'd like to figure out is how to share the document when (and if...) I finish writing it.

Putting it in a Tumblr post is nice but I don't believe most Portuguese Visually Impaired folks will be over here. I also don't want to cause drama with the association. I still have to think about how I should proceed.