At Elgin Community College there are students from all sorts of backgrounds, from all across Illinois, and students are all here for the same reason, to get a higher education for a good price. One particular group that is aiming for a better education are those with disabilities, they often get the help they need through accommodations, which has been shown to help them thrive.

“These accommodations help my education because they stop me from worrying that I won’t be able to get around or use the services that I need to around campus and keep my focus on my studies,” said ECC student Kori Stoll who is wheelchair bound.

Accommodations are usually requested before the start of each semester, the most requested accommodations are extended time for tests, the ability to audio record lectures, and the ability to receive copies of instructors notes.

Pietrina Probst who is the Coordinator of ADA and Student Disabilities Services feels like ECC does have a lot of features but did also point out some improvements that can be made.

“ECC is a beautiful campus that has many accessible features, including ramps, elevators, Braille labels for office numbers, and push buttons on many doors,” Probst said. “Last Fall, students from the ADAPT Club conducted an accessibility audit on campus and identified some areas for improvement to increase accessibility.”

One of the most noted areas was the fact that there were no push buttons by the exit of the Library in building G.

“Another recommendation includes installing a push button on the left-hand side of the exit door to the ECC Library (Doorway C-1-4),” Probst said. “Currently, there is a push button installed on the right-hand side of the doorway, but when pushing that button, the door on the left-hand side opens. If the student requires additional time to maneuver from the right-hand side to the left-hand side, there is a possibility that the door will open and close before the student even gets to the door. Therefore, it will be ideal to install the push button nearest the door that it opens.”

Also mentioned in the audit was putting yellow paint on the edges of the exterior steps of Buildings J and F to increase visibility of the steps, and having the closed captions on when watching TV in the Jobe Lounge.

For ECC student Eloisa Basillo, the accommodations have helped her in her education but feels like teachers should get more notice about one of their students having a disability before the class starts.

“I think it’s would be nice to let teachers know about having a student who has a disability before the class start,” Basillo said. “One of the teachers was unsure how to interact with the deaf student, and I felt kinda embarrassed in front of a class. It happened a few months ago, but it gives time to understand and able to learn how to interact with and not be afraid.”

Probst believes that with these improvements it will help remove barriers.

“By ECC making these improvements, the campus will remove barriers to students with disabilities and will be more physically accessible to students with disabilities,” Probst said.