Disabled Greeks?
 

When I joined Kappa, there was an active sister who was in a wheelchair - I didn't know her all that well, as I was very shy the semester I pledged and didn't talk to a whole lot of people. :)

General attitude in the chapter towards her was just that we all liked her... she was really sweet. I know that she didn't live in the house because there were no bedrooms downstairs (except for the house mom's apartment) and so she really couldn't - she lived in a nearby dorm that was wheelchair accessible.

My chapter currently has an active disabled sister, she is not in a wheelchair but has limited mobility and walks with a limp. She does attend all chapter events, and lives in the house, and I've only had positive experiences with her.

I only went through one formal recruitment, and I can't remember coming across any disabled PNMs...

We had a very sweet disabled girl go through recruitment last year, but she dropped out of recruitment. She was a fabulous girl. But I don't know of any other Greeks here at Elon who have physical disabilities.

I have a brother who joined the year after I did who is a quad due to a swimming accident while he was in high school.

We made the house ADA accessable, and he was very active. Some ten years later he is now the treasurer of the alumni association. A few years ago he even got a van and can now drive himself.

Hes very independent and isnt afraid to tell you so. At my birthday recently he was in the doorway as the marachis were coming in. I said to his wife and the group that was standing there, "Can someone move Donovan so the musicians can get through?" He quickly and firmly let me know that he could move himself. I didnt mean to upset him. Wont do that again.

We had a young woman come through rush one year, who was temporarily confined to a wheelchair. Panhel bent the rules to allow her mother to wheel her around during rush. (She hadn't had much practice handling the wheelchair herself.)

She did join AEPhi.

We don't have a house, so that wasn't an issue. As for activities, she just didn't let herself be limited. :) She could move around for brief periods without the chair, and it wasn't too long before she didn't need it any more.

My sophomore year there was a girl who went through formal recruitment who had a type of palsy (I'm not sure what kind). She had a speech impediment and some difficulty walking. She was a wonderful member of Gamma Phi Beta and very involved in campus activities. I know she was well-liked within her house and the entire Greek Community.

When I was in school, there was a guy in Alpha Chi Rho who had cerebral palsy. He walked with a pronounced limp and had slightly slurred speech. He was a sweetheart (as the majority of his brothers were) and dated one of my pledge sisters. I don't think his disability kept him from doing anything the rest of the chapter did.

I was hit head-on by a drunk driver a few years ago. As a result, I still have problems walking without pain. I am now disabled as a result of the neurological problems in my back/neck/shoulders and, I still have constant pain in my kneecap that was broken. I am not confined to a wheelchair. I just have problems walking with a slight limp when the pain gets to be too much!

My sisters know my car on campus since it's the only one with a handicapped license plate. They have been nothing but wonderful throughout it all. They know that it still takes a long time for me to go down stairs and takes a bit longer to walk places than it used to.

While there have been people whose eyebrows have been raised by me wearing letters, my sisters have never been part of that group.

Yes, I am an alum. But, my sisters are still there no matter what.

ETA: I wanted to also mention that the Betas at MTSU had an active a few years ago who was totally blind. But, he was one of the most popular guys in the fraternity... And, a great dancer;)

Several years ago, our Lambda Chi Alpha had a deaf member. It made the news at our Daily, and I think the whole house decided to learn ASL to support him. They brought a laptop to chapter meetings so he could read the minutes and what not.

Not sure what happened after that.

We had a girl go through COB my last year and she was sweet but not sorority material by any means (ok grades, not involved, didn't talk to anyone - even the sisters she knew). I think she just had some friends that pushed her into going through COB and it wasn't 100% what she wanted anyways. I think she was/is a part of SAI though.

There was a girl in DZ while I was active that was in a wheelchair, but she graduated my freshman or sophomore year, so I never got to know her.

My alma-mater is actually very well known for being handicap-friendly, and there were a lot of people of various abilities on campus. I'm actually suprised that there weren't more differently-abled people in the greek system.

At my second school, I rushed with a girl who was deaf, although she ended up de-pledging shortly after I did.

My fiance is a Sigma Nu and He has a kidney transplant. They just didn't make him do half the stuff other pledges had to do and he also got to park at the house handicap spot everyday. (he has a pass) He drank more than I would have liked for him to and I kinda think they should have been looking out for how much he was drinking with them socially. (as in, not getting him to bong beers with them) However, he was an adult and could make his own decisions. It wasnt their job to babysit him, however, I wish they would have been more like me and kept him roped in. In their defense, it is really easy to forget that he does have the transplant. You just never think about it.


I also have a friend in TKE here who has one arm and one arm is to his elbow, one leg is mid thigh and the other is just below the joint. He uses prostetics (SP) and gets around fine, with a limb. He gets all the girls and his brothers and all my sisters love him.

I'm actually disabled. I was born with a slight case of cerebral palsy I can do 99.9% everybody else does and I speak normal. My sisters help me when I need it and thats about it. I don't think people think about it anymore.

Some Times The Body Can Betray any of us!:(

But, The Mind, Mind Set, and Attitude can be a valuable Asset For All and Any Greek Organization!:cool:

Oh, by The Way, Max Clealand (SIC), is a LXA!

LOOK UP WHO HE IS! :)

Okay, He Was a Secretary of?!:)

There was also a member of Tri Delta who was born without a hand. She was an accomplished twirler and very active on campus. A few years ago she competed in the Miss America pageant as Miss Iowa.

We have a disabled member in my chapter of Pi Phi. She can walk, but she just goes slowly. During rush we just had to accomodate her by letting her be last in line to head up the stairs...

There was a guy last year who was in a wheelchair and was a Phi Kap here. He was probably one of the most popular people on campus, involved in student government, etc. Plus he was a real cutie. I thought it was great because he always had fun going out and dancing and everything; he did not let his disability stop him. The year he lived in the Phi Kappa Sigma house the school (which owns our houses) added wheelchair accessibility and an elevator. I think it's the only fraternity house on campus with those amenities currently--although all the sorority houses have them.

My alumni chapter has two disabled members:

One Brother is in a wheelchair. He is not as active as I would like him to be, but that's because of his job and his travel schedule. Otherwise, he is very active. I am not sure whether he was disabled when he actually became a member though.

Another Brother is blind, and was blind when he became a member. He is somewhat active...again, I think his inactivity is moreso because of his job.

We currently have a member of Chi Omega who is disabled. I don't know what her actual health issues are specifically, I am not sure anyone in the chapter does. She has difficulty walking and sometimes uses a wheelchair, sometimes crutches, sometimes nothing. She also has difficulty seeing well. Her speech is sometimes a bit labored. My best guess is cerebral palsy but that is just speculation. This girl is VERY intelligent and very sweet. Chi Omega means everything to her and has opened a lot of doors for her socially that she feels she never would have experienced otherwise. She is quite accomplished, having won an Emmy award for a show she worked on for Nickelodeon!!!!!! She also has a younger sister who is severely disabled....her family has been through it all!

I worry about her sometimes.....I don't think the girls are always as sensitive as they could be to making sure she feels included. When she was going through recruitment everyone was all gung-ho to bring her in based on the right reasons, but now it seems like she gets excluded for all the wrong reasons. There are a couple of girls and their boyfriends who go out of their way to make sure she has someone to talk to and dance with at parties and such, but she never brings a date and she doesn't seem to attend mixers, just date party and formal. I'm hoping that the experience continues to be a good one for her. I have driven her home from events that I have chaperoned and I have found her to be easy to talk to and a really great kid.....

I happen to work with people PHYSICALLY/MENTALLY CHALLENGED. I cannot stand the word disabled. It good to see that that population is included in the Greek system.