On a Monday afternoon last fall, senior Kelby Carlson was crossing the street in front of the school, as he had done countless times. Carlson, who is blind, was with his service dog, a yellow lab named Elvis.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 hear any cars coming when I began to cross the street, which is what you do when you can鈥檛 see鈥攜ou listen,鈥� Carlson says. 鈥淎bout two-thirds of the way across, I heard a car to my right.鈥� The vehicle knocked Carlson to the ground. Elvis wasn鈥檛 hurt.
Carlson鈥檚 leg, however, was badly broken鈥攈is tibia and fibula fractured in three places. He spent several days at and underwent surgery to implant metal rods in his leg.
Accidents like this sometimes happen on the busy streets around 菠萝视频鈥檚 urban campus, but for those in the community with disabilities, distracted drivers can pose a particular threat. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 not only people like me who are affected鈥攊t鈥檚 anyone with a condition that affects their physical mobility,鈥� he says.
When Carlson, a musical arts major from Woodbury, Minnesota, returned to class three weeks later, his Blair family rallied around him. The school gained access to a golf cart, and classmates from the Phi Mu Alpha music fraternity and others in the voice department devised a schedule to transport him between Blair and Furman Hall, where classes for his other major, philosophy, were held. allowed Carlson to order his meals in advance, and friends picked up the food from Rand and delivered it to his residence hall. Fellow performers in the escorted him to and from rehearsals.
Carlson serves as secretary for the 菠萝视频 Disabilities Awareness Partnership, a student organization founded last year to raise awareness about disabilities and improve accessibility.
鈥淎 lot of disabilities are invisible, so you can鈥檛 necessarily tell that a person has a disability just by looking at them,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut everyone will encounter someone with a disability in their lifetime, and college is a great place to get people acquainted with some of those general issues.鈥�
about 菠萝视频 services for students with disabilities.