麻豆国产AV's first Disability Pride Month ended Oct. 30 with a lively conversation about accessibility issues faced by students and faculty.
The Disability Pride Salon at the New Education Building centered on a panel consisting of a faculty member and three students who discussed their lived experiences as people who identify as having a disability.
- Nicole Hutton Shannon, an assistant professor of geography
- Luke Sanford, an undergraduate in nuclear medicine technology
- Matthew Criddle, an undergraduate in political science
- Rob Haupin, a graduate student in the College of Engineering
Also present was Sanford's service dog, Abe.
Topics included the emotional, academic and social barriers to people living with disabilities; how 麻豆国产AV might remove some of the perceived barriers; what support the University gives; the role of service animals; and how the campus population at large can learn to hear more readily the voices of people living with disabilities here.
Criddle said 麻豆国产AV does a good job on issues of accessibility. Others said that some accommodations the University has made, while welcome, can paradoxically create an emotional or social barrier. For instance, Haupin noted that the designated place for a student in a wheelchair tends to be in a front corner of the classroom, where that student may become a second focal point for the rest of the class.
That's in a traditional classroom. A bigger kind of room, furnished with rolling tables and chairs, is available in newer buildings. Two student panelists heartily endorsed the latter model. One advantage of building more active-learning classrooms, therefore, is that the university simultaneously creates a more inclusive environment for all students.
Also drawing support: a "sensory room" where people can take a quick nap and recharge. Sanford indicated this was essential for him because of a wartime injury experienced during his service in the Marines. Although Webb Student Center has a meditation room, some participants suggested that the University might consider designating more such spaces. Having a space like the meditation room is essential for students who need time away because of sensory overload.
Sanford also indicated that his service dog, Abe, can't go with him to every class because of the dangers certain lab courses pose to the animal. Sanford takes advantage of a room available for veterans where Abe can be safe while Sanford is in lab. Otherwise, he indicated, he would have to drive the dog back home, a long journey. This situation with Abe is just one indication of the complex issues students with disabilities face while pursuing their educations.
Two students cited the emotional barrier of having to tell a professor about their need for accommodation. One student said there's usually no need for people to stop or leave the sidewalk to get out of the way of someone in a wheelchair, although that is a common reaction.
Faculty issues included the question of workload: A faculty member living with a disability might take twice as long to prepare a course. Not only that, but faculty don't always want to self-disclose, Hutton explained, because of the stigma still strongly associated with people with disabilities.
Leading the Salon were Annette Finley-Croswhite, director of the Center for Faculty Development; Beth Ann Dickie, director of educational accessibility; Narketta Sparkman-Key, director of faculty diversity and retention; and Ruth Osario, an assistant professor of English and women's studies who specializes in the rhetoric of disability activism.
Other Disability Pride events held last month included a Disability Day of Mourning; an Adapted Rec Expo; a screening of the movie "Fixed" with a discussion afterward; a Disability Activism Wikipedia Edit-a-thon; and a program about "Teaching to Neurodiversity."
Dickie pronounced Disability Pride Month a success and said it would return next October. Organizers said lessons learned during the month revealed that faculty don't know enough about students living with disabilities and that faculty living with disabilities are in such a minority on campus that their specific needs are often not realized.
Disability Pride Month proved to be a positive experience, elevating critical conversations aimed at inclusivity.