Nick Astor, a 19-year-old with cerebral palsy from Park Slope, claims SUNY Purchase is refusing to accommodate him and his longtime caregiver with a larger dorm apartment while he attends the university starting this fall. (SUNY Purchase)
He can’t dress, bathe or feed himself — and now even his hard-fought dream of going to college may be over.
Nick Astor, a 19-year-old with cerebral palsy from Park Slope, says SUNY Purchase is refusing to accommodate him and his longtime caregiver with a larger dorm apartment while he attends the university starting this fall.
“I just won’t be able to go to school. That’s it,’’ a dejected Astor told The Post.
The teen excelled in high school with the help of his ever-present aide, earning him a spot at the college. While his limbs sometimes buckle, Astor’s resolve was solid as steel, winning the respect of his classmates at Millennium Brooklyn HS.
But just days before he should be packing for college, Astor’s dream might be derailed after SUNY denied his request for a place big enough to provide a separate room for his caregiver.
Without his caregiver’s steadying hand, even getting out of bed in the morning for class would be impossible, according to Astor. He can’t even use the restroom without assistance.
His father, former Associated Press reporter Michael Astor, said he and his son explained the situation to SUNY, but the college insisted that Nick and his helper share a single room.
“That’s not reasonable,” Michael Astor told The Post.
The distressed dad said that having his son share a small room with the aide would be unhealthy and cramped — and that the helper had understandably declined the arrangement.
Nick — an aspiring political science major who fearlessly dabbles in stand-up comedy while leaning on a walker — said SUNY’s stance violated “human decency.”
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