Rachel Fisher is about as non-traditional as a college student can get: She’s older than her cohorts, she’s a transfer student and she’s partially blind.
Aside from the accompaniment of her service dog, an adorable golden retriever named Austin, there is little indication that Fisher has limited vision.
“There’s a growing group of students with unseen disabilities,” said Fisher. “Nobody introduces themselves and says ‘Hi, I’m Rachel, and I can’t see.’”
But Fisher does have a disability, and her everyday activities are influenced by her limited vision.
In her two semesters at the Arizona State University Downtown campus, Fisher has run into a number of issues in terms of inclusion and accessibility.
She recalled one incident on campus a month or two ago, in which three young men attempted to play with Austin, distracting him from his duties to Fisher.
When Fisher explained that Austin is not a pet, but a guide dog, the situation escalated.
“They started to laugh at me and mock me … and say ‘but you don’t look blind’ … and continued to harass me,” she said. “I was really surprised.”
Fisher also noted the lack of clear demarcation of handicapped spots on campus shuttles and bathroom stalls.
“Most people don’t think twice,” she said about non-disabled students using protected seating or occupying the more spacious restroom stalls.
With all its shortcomings, Fisher still thinks ASU is one of the best places to be for people with disabilities.
“ASU is still better at inclusivity and education than most campuses are,” she said.
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 guarantees students with disabilities access to post-secondary education, and ASU officials maintain they’re doing all they can to make the campus as accessible as possible.
“The Downtown campus, from its inception, strived to create an environment that was universally designed to be accessible for all students,” said Herminita Rincon, an ASU spokesperson, who declined to be interviewed further.
But Fisher and her friends are working to make it an even better place for students like herself. She is now the vice president for a new student organization called Devils for Access and Inclusion, which works to connect students with disabilities to campus resources such as the ASU Disability Resource Center.
But if Fisher has one agenda item before she graduates, it’s to do something about the crosswalk on Taylor and Third Streets, which falls under the purview of the City of Phoenix.
This particular crosswalk, situated between Taylor Place and the Arizona Center, has been the target of complaints by pedestrians and motorists alike since it was built in 2013.
“It is not fully accessible, there’s a flashing light but it’s not audible … and the cars don’t stop,” said Fisher.
With classes at the ASU Mercado location near Fifth and Van Buren Streets, the flashing crosswalk is unavoidable for her, and impatient cars often spook her service animal, she said.
“[Austin has] ran me across the street before because we’ve almost been hit … I want to make that crossing safer for all students, not just ones with disabilities,” she said, smiling.
Fisher might just get her wish to improve the crosswalk, although not as soon as she might hope.
According to the City of Phoenix Street Transportation Department, installation of a stoplight is in the works for 2020, although no official deadline has been set.
“We have evaluated (the intersection) and determined that it does meet the requirements for a signal to go in,” said Carl Langford, a spokesman for Phoenix’s Street Transportation Department.
Langford cites the number of complaints about the intersection, but also the increased pedestrian foot traffic, as the reasons why a full traffic signal is in the works.
The city is currently seeking funding and possible partnerships to make the signal possible.
“Everyone needs to be paying attention, both the pedestrians and also motor vehicles anytime they are crossing the road,” said Langford.
Studies have ranked Arizona among the most dangerous states in terms of pedestrian safety. Since 2016 alone, there have been more than 200 pedestrian fatalities, according to ABC15 News.
Until changes are made, people with disabilities like Fisher are especially vulnerable.
Contact the reporter at Madeline.Ackley@asu.edu.
Correction: On March 19, this story was updated to reflect that Austin is a golden retriever, not a yellow lab.
Madeline is the community editor for Downtown Devil and is a senior studying at the Walter Cronkite School. She is a local freelance journalist who primarily covers politics, policing, immigration and business. In 2019, she won first place in her category in the national SPJ Mark of Excellence Awards for her reporting on deported veterans in Tijuana, Mexico with Cronkite News.
