College Beyond the Senses
If you think being a college student in America is hard enough, add being an African-American male with a physical disability.That's the case of Gumar Williams, a CCNY political science major, who lost his sight in an accident a number of years ago. A graduating senior, he says that strength and perseverance have helped him through his semesters at City College.Here, Williams talks about life at City College for students with physical challenges.Q: How does blindness affect your academic performance?Williams: Well, my academic performance is not limited because of my disability. However, the issue is that I do require assistance. When I am in class and the professor writes something on the board, I need a fellow classmate to tell me what the professor has written on the board. In some cases, I feel like I am breaking the concentration of my classmate.Q: Are there other ways classes are different for you?Williams: What is kind of funny is that when I want to make a comment about a professor's remarks, sometimes I have to abruptly start talking. When I raise my hand I don't know if the professor sees my hand, because the professor may be looking in another direction. Nevertheless, a classmate may get the professor's attention for me and then I make my comment.Q: What about reading and writing?Williams: My textbooks are transformed into audio books, which in all reality is equivalent to reading the text out of a book. I type and write my own essays that are administered by the professor throughout the semester. There is a program called JAWS which reads the text that is in a word document.Q: Do you believe students judge and treat you different because of your disability?Williams: Yes, absolutely. There are many students, not all students, who do not know or understand how to relate to people who are physically challenged. For example, if a fellow classmate is unsure about a specific issue in regards to the subject matter, the student may be unsure whether or not to ask me for my input. In many cases I am able to share my knowledge on the subject and their questions could be addressed. But the classmate loses out when he or she could have obtained the necessary information that would have elevated their knowledge of the subject.Q: What misconceptions do people have about the disabled community?Williams: The word disability makes me feel uncomfortable, because it seems to reflect a person who is physically challenged cannot think, make decisions, clean or bath themselves. That they are less than other human beings and should be alone and not seek love from another.But people who are physically challenged also love and enjoy music, art, dance, theater, books, and of course good food. We come from various backgrounds of different cultures--Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Catholic. So people in society, or the student-body at City College, must acknowledge these things when they see a fellow student who is physically challenged.Q: Do you think CCNY represents physically students well enough?Williams: The office of accessibility does provide students with disabilities with the necessary accommodations that allow a student to achieve an A+. In my own opinion the office of accessibility needs to provide their own note-takers for students who require a note-taker as an accommodation. Otherwise, a student has to ask a classmate in each class for someone to take notes for them, which we don't like to do. However, the issue is that the office of accessibility will suggest that it is not in their budget to provide note-takers for students.Q: What would you like the students of CCNY to know about yourself?Williams: I am a graduate of the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), where I achieved an associate's degree in English literature. In addition, I am also into music neo-soul, r & b, old school hip-hop and that good old soul music sung by James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Sam Cook, Martha and the Vandellas, Marvin Gaye, etc. In addition, I like to study the universe.Q: What do you think CCNY can improve to help physically challenged students?Williams: I think you already know the answer to the question: capital. Increasing the budget at the office of accessibility will help upgrade the office itself, and special walkways and signs could be placed throughout the school's campus to help guide students who are blind or who are in a wheelchair or students who walk permanently with a cane. As you know City College is a huge campus. Now let us not talk about the NAC building and its crazy dimensions on each floor. A person who doesn't have a disability finds it very difficult at times to get around in the NAC!
