Inaccessible
A disabled Western Kentucky University student's struggle with accessibility in her campus-owned apartment.
By Ali Costellow
Kiersten Washington, a junior elementary education major at Western Kentucky University, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at the age of two.
Cerebral palsy is a motor disorder affecting muscle movement and overall mobility in individuals, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Symptoms of CP vary in each person. For Washington, her diagnosis means she needs a walker or motorized scooter to assist her in moving around.
Cerebral palsy is a motor disorder affecting muscle movement and overall mobility in individuals, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Symptoms of CP vary in each person. For Washington, her diagnosis means she needs a walker or motorized scooter to assist her in moving around.
Kiersten Washington, a junior elementary education major at Western Kentucky University, pulls herself up onto her scooter in her WKU-owned Kentucky Street apartment on April 28. Washington has cerebral palsy, a motor disability impacting the muscles, causing her to need a walker or a scooter to move around.
Washington lives in the university-owned apartments on Kentucky Street in the particular suite reserved for handicapped tenants, which is meant to be fully accessible for those with physical disabilities in need of housing accommodations.
However, Washington’s apartment does not provide the accessibility she requires.
However, Washington’s apartment does not provide the accessibility she requires.
Washington reaches over her head to lock the door to her apartment on April 28 without being able to see the lock. Her door has no handicapped accommodations except for a second peephole that is slightly lower than the original. ““They’ve [WKU Housing & Residence Life] given us what we need on paper, like that fits into the legalities of it, but not into the extent that you need,” Washington said.
Washington switches whether she uses her walker or her motorized scooter to assist with mobility due to whatever she is doing or how far she needs to move. When outside of her apartment, she typically uses her motorized scooter, but when moves within her apartment, Washington typically uses her walker. Her apartment’s dimensions are not built to accommodate either one.
When in her kitchen and laundry room, she has limited movability due to the rooms not being built large enough for the space her walker takes up. This can cause difficulty when Washington attempts to complete everyday tasks such as cooking and washing clothes.
When in her kitchen and laundry room, she has limited movability due to the rooms not being built large enough for the space her walker takes up. This can cause difficulty when Washington attempts to complete everyday tasks such as cooking and washing clothes.
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"It's been hell. Actual hell."
Washington does her laundry on the morning of April 22 before getting ready to go to class. Since her walker takes up the majority of the laundry room, it can be difficult for Washington to complete her laundry efficiently.
Washington waits for her breakfast to warm up in the microwave in her kitchen on the morning of April 22. The width of her walker and the lack of appliance accommodations cause challenges for Washington when it comes to cooking.
Washington can’t get her walker to fit inside of her bedroom. To go inside, she must leave her walker out in the hallway and crawl on the floor into the room. Washington’s bedroom has marks all over the walls from where she used to attempt to fit her walker inside.
Washington crawls into her bedroom after leaving her walker by the doorway since there is not enough room for it. “I can’t get in my room," Washington said. "My walker has to sit in the hallway every time.”
Marks are on Washington’s bedroom walls due to her attempting to get her walker inside of the room. Washington fears WKU Housing & Residence Life will try to make her pay for the damages when she moves out of the apartment.
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“I’m not paying a dime when I move out due to all the scratches. It’s not my fault.”
Washington sits in the most easily accessible of her bedroom as she makes a phone call to her parents. Washington referred to this part of her room as her “little corner” since it is the space between the doorway and the bed where she can easily crawl into without her walker.
This Post-it note hangs on Washington’s bedroom wall above the scrapes from her walker to ease her anxiety about the damage.
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"I feel like they've [WKU Housing & Residence Life] failed me."
