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Old 07-29-2005, 03:29 PM
alphaxikt alphaxikt is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 165
This is a really interesting topic. I just finished a course in "Exceptional Students" as a part of my Masters-in-Teaching program.

I know that my sorority's house was not wheelchair friendly, and I am pretty sure that this is the case for a lot of older houses. However, a lot of chapters with older houses are starting to remodel now, so wheelchair accessability could become more common. Two houses at my school (ZTA and XO) had remodeled and therefore became wheelchair-friendly; I believe that XO had a member in a wheelchair at some point while I was an undergrad. I definitely think a member in a wheelchair would bring a new perspective to a chapter, and maybe help members of the Greek community as a whole develop a sense of empathy (note: empathy, NOT sympathy).

As for autism, it's known as a "spectrum" disease, meaning that individuals who have autism may fall anywhere within a range of symptoms. Severely autistic children may have the really obvious delays (non-verbal, non-reactive, etc..) and behaviors (such as hitting or pinching or otherwise harming themselves). Then there is "high functioning" autism which means that the individual has a better-than-grade level vocabulary, tends to get really into a specific subject of interest, and usually does pretty well in school. However, the biggest problem for individuals with high functioning autism is social interaction. That doesn't mean that sorority/fraternity life would be impossible, but it might present some challenges given the social nature of traditional GLOs. However, in the right chapter, Greek life might really help an individual with high functioning autism learn to better deal with new situations and make lifelong friends.

Gee, apparently I really am into this topic. Sorry for the long post.
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