Even “socialist” Europe doesn’t have the functional equivalent of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): An American student goes abroad in a wheelchair. And he’s making a movie about it:

The name of the film is Wheelchair Diaries: One Step Up. "One step up" means that everybody with a disability has that one step up they have to take. It's not a flight of stairs, it's not a $5-million dollar remodeling. It's a piece of plywood that allows them to get up. We all deal with it in different ways. But my message is that we need to realize where that one step is, and put that ramp up. That will make the world of difference for physical accessibility and social inclusion.

More about Nugent Hall at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, specifically designed for the accommodation of students with very difficult disabilities.

Each of the rooms on the first floor, which houses 17 disabled students and three personal assistants, has adjustable hospital beds and high-tech accessibility features. The rooms have a motorized ceiling-lift system, which some of the students use to move from their beds to their bathrooms. Students slide or are helped into a sling suspended from the ceiling; then, with a remote-control device, they or their assistants activate the lift, which runs along tracks built into the ceiling.

The building is designed to integrate students with and without disabilities. The top three floors include disabled students who are able to live more independently, as well as students without disabilities, and both groups share the dining hall. A cardio room includes exercise machines that a student can use from a wheelchair. Buses stop at the dorm every half-hour during class times to take students anywhere on the campus.

Here is more from the university website. 

The University of Illinois takes another step forward in its already highly-thought of effort to be accessible to differently-abled students. It's new dorm is state-of-the-art for limited mobility students, who live on the first floor of this new dorm, with 150 other students above them; some of them who will act as PAs (personal assistant) for the students on the first floor. So, this is far more than innovative interior design, it's an integrative program that addresses facilities, student life, and learning.

It helped that she moved into the university's first new residence hall in 44 years and the most user-friendly dorm in the country for students with severe physical disabilities. As Rozema wheeled into her single room for the first time Tuesday, a disability advocate showed off the features: a wireless pager that will call for help 24 hours a day and a remote-controlled ceiling lift system to transport her from her bed to the in-room bathroom.

They will live on the first floor, with about 150 other students on the floors above them, a number that will expand to 500 when the dorm is completed in two years. The building is connected to a new dining hall, convenience store and meeting spaces.

Down the hall from Rozema, Ben Fultz, 21, a transfer student with cerebral palsy, also moved in Tuesday. His mother, Ellen, was overwhelmed by the features, remarking how even the window blinds can be closed with a button. "It is truly better than what we have at home," she said.

The sinks, thermostats and light switches are at an accessible height. Dorm room doors open by waving a wireless card. Faucets are sensor-activated. And the roll-in showers come with chairs.

But most unique are the personal assistants, known as PAs, who live in the building to help students shower, use the bathroom and hook backpacks on their wheelchairs before leaving for class. Most are U. of I. students. After the Rozemas accidentally hit the pager while putting away books Tuesday, a PA arrived in under two minutes. "Did you buzz?" she asked.

Through the program, residents learn how to hire, schedule and manage their PAs. In a newsletter last year about the life-changing program, one resident observed that students could have conversations like, "Which PA wipes the best after you use the bathroom?"