This was submitted as a comment to this site

"As a disabled student, I think some of the things under the disabilities section are already occurring. “ Additionally it should be simpler to get accommodations, and there should be a list of accommodations that they office can provide as a jumping off point.” It is incredibly easy to get accommodations at Smith— over 1/4 of the campus is registered with ODS and it’s as simple as having a doctors note (which you can get at the Schacht Center). It’s a very simple process and they have forms that you fill out that include a bunch of accommodations, plus if you meet with them they’ll suggest things. The Schacht Center already has support groups for disabled students. Also, I think that they should focus on improving elevators in academic buildings and ensuring all offices and academic buildings are accessible. There are quite a few houses that are accessible and have elevators, and it doesn’t make sense to focus on housing until academic buildings are more accessible. Not to mention, there are a lot of historic houses that probably can’t have elevators created (like Sessions)"

I can definitely see where you're coming from, and maybe some of the listed demands are in progress or are occurring. But, if most students don't know about the services and or cannot access them, then they need to be expanded upon. I think ODS is a great example of this, because as you stated, a large part of the campus is registered with ODS. And while I'm glad you had a simple time registering with ODS, imagine if you haven't had money to get treated for your disability or diagnosed at all. What if you have had spotty health coverage so your medical records are scattered and you don't have a doctor who is currently treating you to write a letter? I am from pretty far away, and did not have access to healthcare consistently, so getting registered with ODS, while totally necessary for my access, was super expensive and stressful. And many students I've connected with have similar stories to this.

Similarly, all buildings, not just academic buildings should be accessible to disabled people. It's baseline access to say disabled students can (mostly) access their classes. But what if your house holds tea on the third floor lounge? What if your best friend lives on the 2nd floor? What if the only toilet on the first floor is broken? What if you live on the 3rd floor of Wilder, which has an elevator and is labeled accessible, but the elevator breaks like it did the week before thanksgiving and it still hasn't been fixed? Does someone have to move your stuff to another room? Even if you cannot physically access your old room and stuff? These are just some examples to keep in mind.

What do y'all think?