Program assists, welcomes disabled students

The college currently accommodates approximately 500 individuals with disabilities. Ensuring those individuals are served properly is one of the college’s key initiatives.

“We are exemplary in that regard,” said Carla Dodge, adviser, Access Services. “We have the support of the entire college from the president on down.” Access Services is one of the first stops for individuals with disabilities when they choose to attend classes on campus. Access Services is responsible for the college’s adherence to guidelines spelled out by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The ADA was signed into law in 1990 and provides public and private institutions with legal obligations for persons with disabilities, such as parking spaces, ramps, elevators, interpreters, note-takers and more. Dodge said the college exceeds far beyond the minimum requirements.

“We do much more in the way of services that we offer, such as offering one-on-one tutors,” Dodge said. “The college wants people with disabilities to learn as comfortably as possible.” Michelle Benjamin, a student who qualified to utilize Access Services during her recent two-year tenure at the college, agreed.

“The services here are actually phenomenal,” Benjamin said. “I didn’t realize how good they were until I attended another college. When I began here, I was told the goal was to help me with my education by any means necessary. And that’s what happened.”

There are four coordinators in Access Services who help find the assistance individuals with disabilities may need. One coordinator is Jenny Mahieu, who supports students with hearing-impairments. “We work with an average of 30 – 50 individuals who might need interpreters.
Not all are accustomed to working with interpreters, so we help with that, too,” Mahieu said.

Other coordinators in Access Services work specifically with students requiring tutors, note-takers, or books on tape. The ADA’s definition of a person with a disability includes anyone with a condition that affects an essential life function. Categories include physical or medical problems, traumatic brain injuries, hearing or vision-impaired conditions and more.

The ADA relaxed its guidelines in 2005, to include persons with a history of disability. As a result, Dodge said the college is seeing more students with disabilities such as autism, attention deficit disorder and psychiatric issues.

The college faces some challenges in its support of people with disabilities. Under ADA guidelines, students need professional documentation to qualify for disability services. That documentation can vary according to the disability.

“Sometimes students don’t know how to get their disability documented or have the funds for medical, psychological and academic testing,” Dodge said. “We try to advise them so they can come back for our assistance.” Additionally, non-English speaking students are sometimes referred to Access Services as their lack of language skills can be confused with academic problems.

Those students are not covered under the ADA, so the department refers them to areas where they can receive language instruction. Students with test anxiety are also challenging. “Text anxiety is a very real condition that affects test-taking and therefore, grades, but according to the ADA, it isn’t a disability in and of itself,” Dodge said.

The department provides those students with guidance and suggestions on overcoming their negative thoughts toward testing. The ultimate goal is to develop better test takers. The college relies not only on the Access Services staff but also the eyes and ears of all college personnel.

Toward that end, new faculty and staff are given training on available resources for students with disabilities. However, peer students are also a valuable resource, Dodge said. “Many times individuals with disabilities
rely on their fellow classmates. The students here are very sensitive to their peers with disabilities,” Dodge said. “They seem eager to pitch in and help with note-taking, physical assistance or whatever is needed.”

The college continues to redefine its policies supporting and assisting students with disabilities. “We will always try our hardest to accommodate students with disabilities,” Dodge said. “We never say never to any disabled student who wants to be educated here.”

Mary Bush is special to The Ledger.