Traveling from California to the East Coast to visit college campuses was physically exhausting for Rhoda Olkin, a single mother who has post-polio syndrome. Olkin accompanied her teenage daughter Sophia as she toured schools in Boston, Philadelphia, and New York City.
Olkin is no stranger to college campuses. She is a professor at the California School of Professional Psychology and she is the executive director of the Institute of Health & Disability Psychology. A Stanford University graduate, Olkin has a Ph.D. in counseling psychology.
At home Olkin uses a wheelchair in her house, a scooter elsewhere, and sometimes crutches. She decided to travel without her wheelchair, because she “couldn’t count on everywhere being accessible.”
Olkin and her daughter traveled by taxi and visited one or two colleges each day. “Visiting college campuses was very hard,” says Olkin. The walk from the taxi to the Admissions Office was usually a long stretch, and many places had steps. One college Admissions Office was located on the second floor, and the building had no elevator.
Most colleges provide a guided tour for prospective students. Parents typically accompany their children on the tours that stop to see classrooms, the library, sporting complex, workout facility, and dorms. Olkin says, “The tours were long and required too much walking, so I sat them out.” Rain hampered their visit. One Admissions Office in Philadelphia had marble stairs on the outside and marble floors—a deadly surface for someone with wet shoes and crutches.
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