When I lived in tech internship housing for the summer, I had a small “celebration” with friends when I realized that I had avoided locking myself out of my room for the entire summer. This was particularly impressive because I had struggled with locking myself out of my dorm when I lived on campus, with my low vision/visual impairment playing a small role. While the issue had improved as I discovered different strategies to avoid this problem, I was thrilled to have never locked myself out of my internship housing. Here are my tips on how to handle being locked out of a dorm, and how I would answer the question “what if I lock myself out of my dorm?”
TWO WAYS I’VE BEEN LOCKED OUT OF MY DORM
I’ve definitely locked myself out of my dorm more than twice, and even locked myself out twice in one day. But for purposes of this post, I’ll be sharing two different circumstances that lead to me locking myself out of my dorm, since I had to handle them in different ways.
STORY 1- TAKING OUT THE TRASH WITHOUT MY CANE
About once a year, I would lock myself out of my dorm room when I’m walking down the hall to take out the trash. Since I don’t take my blindness cane with me when I take items to the trash room, I tend to get very nervous when I lock myself out without my cane. Thankfully I never had to worry about being locked out after going to a hall bathroom/shower, but being without my cane does make getting locked out of my dorm more challenging.
STORY 2- GRABBING DONUTS WITH MY CANE
I had gone outside of my dorm building to grab some donuts from a friend when I realized that I had forgotten my key on my desk. The two bright sides to this situation are that I had my blindness cane in one hand and a tasty donut in the other one, but neither of those things can get me into my room.
OTHER WAYS I’VE LOCKED MYSELF OUT
I originally was just going to include these two stories, but my friend suggested I include some of the other funny ways I have locked myself out of my dorm:
- My brother was visiting for a sibling weekend event and we were getting ready to go to a show at the performing arts center. He didn’t know my bedroom door automatically locked, and my shoes were still in my room.
- I was leaving my dorm room in a hurry to go get breakfast before class and completely forgot to grab my key. Since I need my room key to get into the dining hall, I couldn’t get breakfast as planned (but the nice dining hall employee gave me an apple)
- I had a white desk surface in one of my dorms, and had to scan a copy of my room key/student ID, which was mostly white— the key blended into the desk surface and I hadn’t noticed it was out when doing a visual scan of my room. The card blended in with my desk, and I didn’t realize my mistake until I got to class and noticed my empty lanyard.
- My friend sent me a message saying to come outside, and I grabbed what I thought was my room key on my desk. It was an identically colored gift card, and I discovered the error when I went to swipe my card to get back inside.
- A short story, but somewhat funny: I dropped my key inside my dorm right before I closed the door
RELATED LINKS
- Seven Places I Don’t Take My Blindness Cane
- How To Choose A Dorm And Pick College Housing
- Dorms and Campus Housing: College O&M
- My Favorite Tips For College Sibling Weekend
- High Contrast and Low Vision
- Navigating The Dining Hall: College O&M
- How I Set Up My College Desk With Low Vision
- Hotel Familiarization and Low Vision
WALKING TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD DESK
The dorms on my college campus are organized into groups called neighborhoods, and each neighborhood has a central desk that students can go to if they lock themselves out of their dorm. I made sure this was one of the first places I learned to walk to when I started using a blindness cane to navigate campus, because I didn’t want to rely on someone else to get there. I practiced the route a few times so that if I had to navigate there without my cane, I could do so— it was basically a straight line on a well-lit path. If I have my cane like I did in Story 2, it’s easy for me to walk there alone.
In situations like Story 1, I frequently don’t have my cell phone with me (since I was only expecting to walk about ten feet), so I can’t call or text a friend to walk with me. I have to be very careful when walking to ensure I don’t hit any obstacles. If there is a huge crowd of people on the sidewalk or if it is super bright/dark out, I’ll ask someone at the neighborhood desk to walk me back to my dorm room if possible so I can use them as a human guide.
When choosing a dorm building each year, I would make sure that it was a straightforward route to the neighborhood desk and that I wouldn’t have to cross traffic or busy streets to get there. Some friends chose to live in the dorm building that was attached to the neighborhood desk area so that they wouldn’t have to go outside if they got locked out.
RELATED LINKS
- Campus Addresses Every Student Should Know: College O&M
- Navigating Campus In The Dark: College O&M
- Disability Accommodations For Fluctuating Eyesight
- Smartphone Apps For Orientation and Mobility
- How To Be An Effective Human Guide For People With Vision Loss
CALLING THE DESK FOR HELP
In general, students cannot call the neighborhood desk to have someone come bring them a temporary key, as students are expected to come down to the desk and pick up the key themselves. However, if a situation like Story 1 was to happen at night where I was outside without my cane, I would call the neighborhood desk and explain that I have low vision/am legally blind and do not have my cane with me, and someone would come down to let me in. One of my friends also said that they were able to get someone to come down and let them in after they were locked out following a shower.
If the neighborhood desk does come down to let you in, be prepared to wait. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but they are very busy and likely need to find someone who can come help. The last time this happened, the resident director for my building came to let me in after about twenty minutes.
Related links
- Tips For Keeping A Dorm Room Clean With Chronic Illness
- Creating Accessible Bulletin Boards For College Dorms
- How To Create Dorm Door Signs and Decorations For Low Vision
- Seven Things I Tell My College Suitemates About My Disability
HOW TO NOT GET LOCKED OUT OF YOUR DORM
Here are my tips for preventing dorm lockouts and how to avoid (or at least minimize) getting locked out of your dorm:
PUT YOUR KEY ON A LANYARD
I would keep my dorm key inside a cool lanyard I bought, and bring the lanyard everywhere on campus. This wasn’t one of the freshman orientation lanyards, it was a “fancy” lanyard I had purchased from Charming Charlie, and the higher contrast gold accents made it easy for me to locate it inside of a backpack or against a wall. The lanyard was placed on a command hook next to my door.
Instead of a lanyard, another option is to use a retractable badge reel or ID badge reel, which can clip onto a jacket, pants loop, or similar. I used this for my tech internship badge, which was stored in my backpack when not in use.
HAVE IT NEXT TO YOUR CANE
I keep my key next to my blindness cane, which I will automatically reach for before I leave to go somewhere. Other alternatives include having it near your phone or other important item— I don’t really like the folio phone cases that can store ID cards because I’m worried about the cards falling out.
TAKE IT BEFORE EVACUATING
If the fire alarm starts going off, make sure that you grab your key to get back in your dorm and don’t lock yourself out. Many students forget to do this and end up having to walk to the neighborhood desk after a fire drill.
If the power goes out, you might be temporarily locked out of your dorm. In cases like this, you should monitor the campus alert system or talk to staff members for further instructions
DON’T TRY TO MAKE A COPY OF YOUR KEY
I know that having a copy of your key can be very helpful, but most colleges don’t let students make copies of dorm keys for security reasons. Likewise, they won’t issue copies of keys to your parents or anyone other than the people that live in your assigned space. However, keys can be replaced if they truly are lost, with replacement fees ranging from $10 to $75, depending on the type of key.
RELATED LINKS
- Twelve Blindness Cane Storage Solutions
- Choosing A Backpack With Low Vision
- Mainstream Technology and Low Vision: Covers and Cases
- Dealing With Dorm Fire Alarms: College O&M
- How I Decorate My Dorm Room With Low Vision
MORE TIPS ON HOW TO HANDLE BEING LOCKED OUT OF A DORM
- At my college, the neighborhood desk is staffed 24/7 and students do not have to pay for temporary keys or after-hours lockouts. However, this policy may vary between colleges.
- One of my friends locked themselves out of their dorm when they left their dorm to do laundry and accidentally placed their room key inside the washing machine. Learn more about navigating dorm laundry rooms in Tips For Doing Laundry In College With Low Vision
- Want to make your dorm key easier to use? Check out Adapting Keys For Vision Loss
Published June 13, 2019. Updated January 2025