General Information

The University of Cuenca is very supportive of students with disabilities participating in the exchange program.  The faculty members who teach our students are quite willing to accommodate, and the University has committed to providing an accessible classroom.

The first floor of the newly-built library is accessible.  Accessibility to the rest of the campus is limited, but the University is actively working to increase access.

The Cuenca coordinators for the exchange program, Kate and Ion Youman should be the primary contact for students to arrange to have their needs met. Email: kateyouman@yahoo.com

CONADIS (Consejo Nacional de Discapacitado), a governmental committee on disability has agreed to assist students in finding accessible home stays, assistance with personal care, information on access to community businesses, and wheelchair repairs.  Communication with CONADIS should be through the Youmans.

Academic Accommodations

Students should send email to the Youmans describing their specific needs for academic accommodations.  This should be followed by an accommodation letter from Disability Services.

Extended time and a reduced distraction test environment can easily be worked out with faculty.

Overhead projectors are readily available, and can easily be used so that print copies of overheads are an alternative to blackboard access for low vision students, and to facilitate faculty facing the class for hard-of-hearing students.

Students in the exchange program can get information about the books they will be using before leaving, and purchase them at home.  Students using books on tape should plan in advance to order books to bring with them.  Students who do not have their own small, portable 4-track player should purchase one before leaving.

Large print can easily be obtained where the professor has an electronic original; copiers with enlarging capabilities are also available.  If a greater degree of enlargement is needed than what can be done on a copier, and an electronic original is not available, handouts will have to be read onto tape, which faculty are happy to do upon request.

The University computer lab is NOT accessible to wheelchairs.  Students who need to keyboard rather than write with pen and paper should bring their own laptops.  If students wish to bring adaptive equipment on this laptop, there should be no problem. Printers are more readily available, perhaps in accessible locations.  If needed, students can turn work in to faculty on disk.

Students who need note takers should first try to recruit a volunteer from the other students going to Cuenca.   Copiers will readily be available to the volunteer, but the student with the disability should be prepared to pay for the cost of copies.  If a volunteer cannot be found, or large print notes are needed, the Youmans can assist in obtaining a paid note taker from the students at Cuenca who are studying English.

Students who need readers and/or scribes should work through the Youmans to recruit assistance, most likely student from the University of Cuenca who is studying English.  As an alternate to readers and scribes for testing, faculty may prefer oral testing.

Home Stay

An important part of the study abroad programs is home stays with local families. However, if a student has physical access and/or personal care needs, CONADIS will assist the program in finding host families with accessible homes. 

If personal care assistance with dressing, bathing, and eating is needed, the best option will most likely be to get this from the home stay family for extra remuneration.

Students in need of an accessible host family should communicate with the Youmans, who will then communicate with CONADIS.  Students should use the Personal Care Assistance Checklist to provide specific information about their needs.

If an accessible home stay cannot be found, an alternative may be to stay in a local hotel (see Community Access section for more information).  However, this would lose the interaction in Spanish that is part of the purpose of the home stay.  Students who decide to stay in a local hotel should strongly consider recruiting an assistant with personal care or mobility with whom the student can interact in Spanish.

Excursions

A number of excursions are usually planned for study abroad students.  CONADIS has agreed to assist with identifying which excursions are accessible.  In order to do so, they need specific information about a particular student.  Some excursions are accessible, but require advance arrangements.

The hot springs at Baños are for the most part accessible.  A ramp leads up to the entry and the thermal pool area.  The main dining room is not accessible, but an alternate, accessible dining area can be used with advance arrangements.  The pool entry has steps and a handrail.

Students with physical disabilities should email the Youmans to request assistance from CONADIS in identifying which excursions they will be able to participate in, and possible alternatives.  The information should include details of physical abilities, such as whether you can independently negotiate a few stairs, or your endurance for walking.  You should also inform the Youmans of your comfort level in being assisted over environment barriers (e.g. how many steps are you comfortable being lifted over, how many people do you think are required to safely assist you, etc.)  

Community Access

Conditions in Ecuador are not what students are used to in the United States. Curbs, small flights of stairs, and one step up or down into businesses are common. Curb cuts that do exist may still have a small rise. Sidewalks may also be uneven. Ecuador has recently passed a law requiring that new construction be accessible, but progress is slow.  This law also allows people with disabilities to go to the front of waiting lines at businesses.

CONADIS strongly recommends that students NOT come in power wheelchairs.  Using a manual wheelchair may require assistance, but will provide much more flexibility for effective access.  Assistance with mobility, if needed, should come from someone other than the host family.  The Youmans and/or CONADIS can assist in recruiting a helper or helpers, whom students should be prepared to pay.

Transportation presents a challenge in Cuenca.  There is NO accessible transportation that would allow someone to stay in their wheelchair.  The law says that bus drivers are supposed to help people with disabilities onto the bus, but there are no lifts.  Students must decide for themselves whether they can safely transfer, with assistance, to the seat of a car or taxi, or climb bus stairs with assistance.

The city recreation complex includes a basketball colleseum with ramps to the seating area, and a therapeutic riding program.  The building that houses the swimming pool has a ramp at an alternate entrance.  Advance arrangements are necessary to enter via the ramp and receive assistance in entering the pool.  CONADIS can provide instructions on how to make these arrangements.

The entry to the shopping mall at Plaza de las Americas is accessible, as are many of the businesses within the mall, including a supermarket and a Western Union office.  Various other businesses in town are accessible.  CONADIS can provide assistance in locating accessible businesses.

Three local hotels provide varying degrees of access. 

• El Dorado Cuenca has an elevator, which can be accessed from the parking lot.  Lobby and room floors can be reached by elevator.  There is one room that is particularly suited to people with disabilities, with a wheel-in shower, handheld shower head, accessible sink, grab bars, and an accessible closet.  If those features are needed, reservation requests should specify this.  The hotel restaurant is currently inaccessible, but planned renovations will change that at some point.  Email: ventas@mercureeldorado.com.ec.
• Pinar Del Lago has an alternate entrance to accessible rooms.  The bathroom is accessible, but contains a bathtub.  Handheld shower heads are available upon request.  The main dining room is not accessible, but there is a seating area near the accessible rooms at which guests can be served upon request.  Email: pinarlag@impsat.net.ec
• Hotel Oro Verde has a hallway recently modified with ramps.  You may enter through the main entrance, and have access to the main dining room.  Breakfast and lunch are usually served in a downstairs room, but can be served in the accessible main dining room upon request.  Some rooms which they regard as “accessible” have a step up off the hallway to the entry area, and a step up to the bathroom.  There are rooms that are truly accessible, but you should specify no steps to room entry or bathroom.  If you need a bed for a companion, you must inform them of this.  Bathrooms contain a bathtub. 
  Email: asven_cue@oroverdehotels.com.