As one of the top universities in the world, The University of Hong Kong gains its reputation not only in the education but also other aspects. But to those disabled students and staff, the facilities and service on campus are not barrier-free enough for them.
Dr. Francis Lee, Research Officer of Department of Social Work, has worked in The University of Hong Kong for 13 years. He had a Machado-joseph disease which negatively affects his balance system so he had to use a wheelchair in daily life.
Dr. Lee said many facilities on campus are not disabled-friendly since the university has a very long history:
“I can’t go to the Eliot Hall from K.K.Leung Building,” said Dr. Lee, “Some buildings are not wheel-chair accessible.”(audio)
“Luckily the canteen is two levels above my office and washroom just around the corner. So they are both accessible for me,” Dr. Lee said.
Dr. Lee said his problem started after his forties which makes his coordinating functions degenerate earlier.
Clayton Loo: Reading Textbooks is the Most Headachy Problem
He only leaves 30% eyesight.
You can’t tell any difference between Clayton Loo and an ordinary young people from their appearance. But when he came out of the visually impaired study room in the library of The University of Hong Kong, you know he is special.
Clayton Loo, Chinese name Loo King Tsi, has studied in The University of Hong Kong for over 5 years. Since he was a little child, he was diagnosed to have a macular degeneration and his eyesight continues to fail. Now he only leaves 30% eyesight.(Add pictures of Loo)
“HKU is making progress on the facilities for disabled people,” Loo said, “For example, there are elevators in main building for the handicapped now. The elevators in the library are equipped with speech synthesizers and Braille, which are more convenient for visually impaired people.”(Add pictures of elevators)
“But it took more than 5 years to set up the speech synthesizer since I entered the university,” Loo added.
Living in a blurred world, Loo said the most difficult part to tackle with is reading textbooks especially for a student who majors at Comparative Literature.
“I think the basic purpose of being a student is to study,” Loo said, “I need to do a lot of reading for my major.”
“We can ask professors to send us electronic lecture notes and PowerPoint slides. But as to textbooks, we have to scan them into computers and convert them into a special version,” Loo said.
Loo said the special version of Chinese books extremely differs from the original ones, which requires him to find helpers to revise. “It is really expensive to revise a book. The price per book ranges from HK$1700 to HK$1900,” Loo said.
(soundslides)
According to Michele Fok, Senior Student Advisor of Centre of Development and Resources for Students (CEDARS) at The University of Hong Kong, there are currently more than 40 disabled students studying in the university.
Fok said CEDARS provides support and service to assist disabled students on academic studies, information and funds:
(audio)
Suk-Yee To, a year-one student, said CEDARS has given them a talk about the facilities and service in libraries, clinic and etc when she just entered the school, which is really helpful for her.
Because of a genetic disease Retinitis Pigmentosa, To’s eyesight began to fail since high school and now she can hardly sees light and shadow.
“I think facilities here are ok for me,” said To, “But resources for us are too limited. For example, we do not have enough helpers to scan
and convert textbooks for us.”
To said it was not until mid October that she had the books to read after she entered the university in September.
This is where CEDARS locates in.
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