All beautiful things must come to an end.

This is the reality that I have been facing as I reach my final year at the University of Toronto. The past four years have been tumultuous, there were many days of feeling lost and frightened, but just as many days or even more so of joy and success.

When I and the founders created U-TAAC (University of Toronto Accessibility Awareness Cub), we did not have any ambitions. We wanted to create a community where we could meet other students with disabilities, and discuss disability issues. We did not set out to make U-TAAC a big student organization that had the capacity to advocate for change at our university and beyond.

Yet, through creating and partnering with Accessibility Services, the U of T AODA Office, and other student groups, as well as having passionate members, it was only natural that U-TAAC would rise up and fill a void where so many students with disabilities have been craving for change.

U of T prides itself as being the number one university in Canada, and in the top ten around the world. It has in recent years dedicated itself to ensure its campuses are accessible for students with disabilities. With services such as Accessibility Services and Accommodation Testing Services (ATS) and many more designed to help students succeed.

That being said, I would not say that it is the top accessible university in Canada or elsewhere. Its accessibility system is riddled with glaring issues. There are so many stories of students complaining of discrimination, long wait times, and general inaccessibility that it is hard to say that U of T is truly accessible. Of course, they have aimed to improve this issue through renovations and establishing training modules for its staff and faculty. But more can be done.

For the 2022-2023 school year, I sought on tackling this issue head on with the combined collaboration of the executive team.

Orientation

Accessibility Awareness UTSG Campus Tour – August 25, 2022

Every year first years are given the opportunity to go on a tour of their campus. It will help them become familiar of their new home away from home.

However, as much as I enjoyed the regular campus tours when I first enrolled at U of T, and the ones hosted during Frosh Week or Orientation, I figured that students with disabilities may appreciate having a tour that is dedicated to accessible spaces for studying, social spaces as well as places that provide accessibility services.

While I had never organized an “official” campus tour before, after three years of being at UTSG, I was familiar of all of the important spaces. I even created an ideal route that would travel from St. Geroge Station all the way to McCaul Street.

However, the difficulty was the logistics.

How many locations could we reasonably hit within four hours, that does not tire out the students? When would we take breaks to rest and eat? Will the locations be available for tour at a reasonable time that will prevent us from travelling in a zig zag?

There was also the element of making sure the tour itself was accessible. From taking breaks, to having those with mobility issues to lead at the front to set the pace, and taking the wheelchair accessible route through the building and avoiding construction.

Accessibility Moving Forward

Moving Forward is a two-three day event orientation organized by Accessibility Services that help first years to find friends, register with the service, learn about self-advocacy as well as how to do well academically (taking notes, reading long papers, writing essays and studying etc).

Moving Forward was the highlight of my orientation in the first year. It was where I found my first and long-time friend who would end up being one of the founders of U-TAAC as our Social Media Coordinator. It also taught me what it means to be a university student and that it is not too scary.

So it was an honour to be invited back for moving forward, meet new students and inform them of a community they can be a part of.

Centre for Global Disability Studies Reception

Picnic Social

Monthly Events & Socials

Eco-Ableism

What is Eco-Abelism? In this seminar, we discussed how our push for environmental issues, has in the past ignored people with disabilities. Accessibility is something that supports the environment, yet our environmental policies have harmed people with disabilities. From plastic straws to our emergency plans.

Deaf, Deafened & Hard of Hearing Dialogue

Here students with hearing loss reflect on the issues that affect them as well as explain the differences between hearing aids and cochlear implant users.

Disability Disclosure

Students with disabilities reflect on their struggles with disability disclosure, and share personal resources and advice.

Don’t Shoot, I’m Disabled

Police brutality is usually discussed in racial contexts, but we tend to forget that black people aren’t the only group that is being shot at. People with disabilities or in particular those with mental issues, tend to be shot at or tazed by the police during a mental crisis.

Mental crises are scary, yes, but instead of reaching for the gun, or doing anything that might stress the individual even more, try to calm them down.

Mental Health Discussion

Continuing the conversation on mental health, we had an open information session on the different types of mental health issues, how to help individuals who are having a crisis and shared tips and experiences.

Collaborations

Hart House Accessibility Washroom Opening

Innovation Hub: Designing with Accessibility in Mind @ Sidney Smith Hall

Collaborating with Innovation Hub to host a discussion among the disability community to see how can we improve the accessibility of public spaces at U of T, specifically the renovation of the Faculty of Art and Science’s building Sidney Smith Hall.

Accessibility Services Transition Day

U-TAAC assisted Accessibility Service on their Transition Day by welcoming incoming students to U of T, offering advice, sharing our experience being registered with Accessibility Services as well as promoting our club for new members.

Accessibility Services Unveiling of “Gift of the Stars”

Exploring the intersectionality of disability and indigeneity

University of Toronto Roundtable

Annual Conference: Ableism in the Classroom

To end it on a high note, U-TAAC organized its first in-person/hybrid conference. It was truly an honour to bring students, faculty and staff together to discuss accessibility at U of T, to identify the gaps and to get a conversation going to improve it.

It has been truly an honour to create this new community and help it grow for the past two years, so to see the fruit of it during our 2023 election and transition period for the past two months has been incredible. While I hope they don’t change it too much from the core values of “accessibility awareness”, I have no doubt that this new executive team will have U-TAAC grow!