In order to get accommodations for a disability, Chapman University students and faculty must call the COVID-19 testing center, located on West Sycamore Avenue, prior to arriving, since the site is not wheelchair accessible.

During the summer, this policy had not been implemented, and the center — which can only be entered by taking the stairs — was not immediately accessible to Arthur Blaser, the co-director of Chapman’s disability studies minor. Blaser uses a wheelchair full-time after suffering a brain-stem stroke in 1993, in which his left side was paralyzed.

“He had to stand on the sidewalk and wait for someone to come out and test him,” Junior communication studies and public relations double major Kristen Kumagawa, one of his personal assistants, said. “I think considering it is a medical test, to be doing it out in the open, it’s not the most comfortable.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has provided its own set of challenges for students and faculty across the nation who have disabilities, including those at Chapman University. The U.S. Department of Education reported that during spring 2020, the pandemic worsened issues like depression, financial stability and feelings of being isolated and supported for students with disabilities. The same study found that students with disabilities have had a harder time switching to remote learning than students without disabilities.

Blaser, who also works as a professor in the Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, told The Panther that he has experienced some difficulties traveling during the pandemic, as he does not drive to campus. Instead, he uses his wheelchair to get there since he lives closer to Chapman and the tires are designed to not puncture when traveling.

“Restrictions during COVID-19 have meant that it’s taken more time (for me), or it’s been impossible to attend to basic health needs such as visiting the audiologist or even getting to parts of Chapman’s campus that aren’t centrally located,” Blaser wrote in an email to The Panther.

Blaser also recalled a couple of instances where the battery in his hearing aid was not working and was not covered by insurance.

“During the lockdown, there was no way to get (the battery) replaced,” Blaser said. “It had failed again when classes began, so my first week was spent with hearing only in one ear.”

The Association on Higher Education and Disability found that nine months into the pandemic, access to resources such as technology software, internet connection and communication with professors had seen an improvement since the start of the pandemic.

Kumagawa works as the advocacy and autism representative of The Spoonies, an on-campus club in support of students with chronic illnesses, for which Blaser is the adviser. But, her relationship with Blaser goes back to the interterm of her freshman year when she was a student in his class. The following summer, she began working as one of his personal assistants, a role that she still fulfills. In her position, Kumagawa helps Blaser prepare and type out notes for his lectures, which make up the transcript that will be inserted into the “text-to-voice” option in his computer.

“It was very serendipitous, because I didn’t intend to take Dr. Blaser’s class,” Kumagawa said. “I switched my classes for interterm 30 minutes before I was supposed to be in class. So, like the first day of class, I just spontaneously changed my mind and decided to go try to get into Dr. Blaser’s class. That class resulted in me better understanding my identity as a disabled person and also it made me want to be a disability studies minor.”

Simultaneous to assisting Blaser, Kumagawa said she must also remain cautious of her own health, given that she, too, is chronically ill. In the wake of the pandemic, she told The Panther her supervisors have been “pretty understanding” with her disability.

“They realize students really rely on them for support during (the pandemic),” Kumagawa said. “I would say — although it’s not perfect — I think the professional staff are doing the best they can to help the students they supervise.”

Kumagawa also said she thinks trying to figure out how to accommodate student employees during a pandemic is “challenging” due to the difficulty of navigating the situation. She said that the supervisors for student employees may be limited in what they can do to accommodate and support the employees as they rely on Chapman.

“You can’t just not have people working; you have to be able to get things done,” Kumagawa said. “There are a lot of personal decisions that have to be made, such as, ‘Are you willing to potentially be at risk?’ because you need to work. As a student worker, I think we’re pretty lucky to have understanding, professional staff, and I think we’ve built relationships with them to be able to ask for additional accommodations if necessary.”

Kumagawa said she thinks Chapman “could have done a better job” in communicating with the professors and helping them prepare for an online or hybrid teaching option.

“I’m not saying it’s an easy thing to solve, like I understand the universities (are) doing their best but I do think some things could have been considered a bit more in-depth before we launched fully in person,” Kumagawa said.

She said that while the new policy is “great,” she also finds it “a little frustrating” that the university had not taken the people with disabilities into consideration until this point.

“I’m lucky enough to not have to worry about things like (taking) a few steps up into a building; that’s not something I need to be concerned about,” Kumagawa said. “But the other day, the elevators in Argyros Forum were broken and that’s something that I need, so I can understand the frustration that people who use mobility devices may experience with things like the testing center and how inaccessible it is.”