At the south end of the long corridor that leads out of the Arts and Humanities building, where photography students display their work, past the welding classroom and the art student's lockers, there are two doors. It is almost always the case that one of those doors, whenever someone is passing through, remains closed.
In the awkward moment where two people meet while walking in opposite directions, one will wait as the left door –or is it the right?– slowly opens itself, allowing them through. Most of the time, one of these two people will have activated the switch, designed to help students on wheelchairs open up a door into a building or room. Very rarely, will a student purposely walk up to the door handle, yank the door his or her way, and walk on through.
The door switch, much like ramps that lead out of buildings, or spacious elevators, or the automatic doors in front of Library North, are all mandated requirements by the Americans With Disabilities Act, the one piece of legislation that was passed in order for disabled Americans to have equal access to work, live and play areas.
Another one of those mandated requirements is the Office of Disability Services, where an often overlooked, but never ignored part of the Georgia State University community gets help with their specific needs.
"We are a mandated service because of the ADA and we provide assistance to about 600 to 700 students with things like better note-taking, taking exams, and technological assistance for students with sight impairments," says Rodney Pennamon, the director for the ODS. "There are academic accommodations for students who request them."
The office doesn't exist in a vacuum, he adds, it works with other offices in order to provide the assistance that some students may require.
"We try to promote the idea that people should see the student first then the disability and more often than not, it happens the other way around," says Pennamon.
Peter Cossaboon is the student liaison in the ODS, where he works reaching out to his fellow peers.
"It is a common misconception to say that we are challenged or that learning is a challenge for us; the disability may pose a set of difficulties but it's just like any other student," says Cossaboon, who's partially blind. "Everybody's challenged."
Pennamon agrees, "We all learn differently," he says, "we all have different styles of learning."
For Cossaboon, a history major, Georgia State has done a good job in creating a more inclusive environment for students like him.
"There's always a way into the buildings here and I generally think there are no problems. People don't like the Aderhold building because of it being so far away from the central campus," he says.
As far as issues with other students or faculty, Cossaboon is happy to say that he has not come across an incident in which he was discriminated or rejected against. Overall, students do not feel intimidated or uncomfortable whenever they see a wheelchair or a walking cane. The fact that the ODS instills a sense of self-advocacy onto it's members also helps.
"It's a matter of personal responsibility, because I've met [disabled] students that feel they are owed something. But I think to get something you have to give" says Cossaboon, "we're in college, we're all adults and nobody is supposed to be holding our hand."
There are issues that sometimes cannot get resolved, specially because the ODS has limited resources, and at times it is asked to do more than what it realistically can.
"We don't live in a perfect world," says Pennamon. Some problems that the office can't really address are "facility issues" that overlap into the services that students with disabilities may use; services that other students also use.
"Elevators are a concern because once they're out, other students want to help by offering to carry a person on a wheelchair up the stairs and that may not necessarily be a good idea," he says.
Issues as those are taken to the ODS where they simply cannot be solved. "We don't have a tool belt," says Pennamon.
On a day-to-day basis, students with disabilities don't lead any different a lifestyle than other people. "Believe it or not, Monday is always a tough day for me," says Cossaboon, smirking, "specially after I had a drink the night before."
He traveled extensively, working as a courier for an archeology firm, he has visited Australia, Europe, Africa, South America, and all over the United States. History, his subject of interest, was introduced to him by a former high school teacher 17 years ago and his favorite time period is the Greek-Roman period, especially, the mythology. He admires Alexander the Great, the Greek military commander.
He says he admires the independence people had during that time period and he hopes to model his life in that sense.
On a regular day, he'll wake up early, get dressed, and walk outside to catch the bus. In the world outside Georgia State may be less sympathetic to him, like when the bus driver forgets he's aboard and drops him off at a location he's not used to.
"I have a route I'm familiar with and that helps get around campus," he says.
Does he live far from campus?
"Relatively close," he says, "right on Ponce [de Leon Ave.], you can see the Majestic Food Market from my window."
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