Students with Disabilities Welcomed into the Halls of Colleges

College life is extremely different today from almost two decades ago. This writer has plans to enter the January 2008 spring semester in the fine arts program. During the initial phone call to find out what information I needed to bring and who I must visit in order to get this idea off the ground, I learned there is now a disabilities counselor on staff who helps students setup what is commonly referred to as an individual education plan. Fortunately, I already spoke with the instructor of the ceramics program, which is where I want to begin.

He has no problems teaching a blind student to work on a pottery wheel despite the fact it will require close proximity where I can feel his hands as they move over the clay on the wheel in a correct manner so I can copy it. The instructor does not have a problem with my blindness, the fact I have two autoimmune diseases, or the fact I am a southpaw, or a lefty in other terms. He assured me this would be a great class and I would learn all I needed for ceramics II.

The oddities began when the disabilities counselor gave me a verbal list over the phone as to information he had to have before I would be able to use any adaptive changes or privileges due to having an eye disease, optic nerve condition, SLE (systemic lupus erythematosus), and Sjogren's Disease. It requires a letter with testing from the specialist involved in the diagnosis of my case as well as information about the eye disease.

In addition to all the information necessary concerning my health conditions, I learned that I must request transcripts from another college, a university that taught classes on this college's campus. The records were once in the local college's files though it is no longer the case; today, I have a long drawn out case to find my transcripts and have everything sent back to the initial college where I attended the classes. It only makes me wonder what else is going to be different. I know the college is now on the semester system versus the quarter system so the class times are longer.

There is now a recreational room, cafeteria, lounge, and a nice track to walk around for exercise. The part that worries me is the fact the financial aid employees seem to have little to any inclination to assist students in filing for financial aid. If these employees do not want to do the work, then why are they there in the first place? Not every student who walks through the doors fit neatly into the profile forms for financial aid. I am one such student.

The years I spent working were long ones and I began working as a taxpayer by the time I was barely a teenager. It was not until I hit my mid-twenties when I learned I was going blind. Fortunately, I had enough credits to file for disability and draw SSDI (social security disability income). Taxable earnings are too small to qualify for filing a tax return with SSDI and the meager earnings as a freelance writer yet the FASA form requires one to fill in tax information from tax forms. What do those without income tax forms do in this scenario?

This is the job financial aid employees should be taking care of instead of pawning the student off on a computer in the financial aid department to fill out the forms anyhow without any assistance unless the student becomes a bit gruff and demands assistance and the employee to do his/her job. No student should have to stoop to such levels to obtain assistance within a financial aid office but it is becoming the rule versus the exception these days. This is the only true downfall this writer found so far.

Computers are wonderful though not all computers are adapted for the disabled, particularly the blind. Most forms require additional forms for disabilities such as blindness to have further explanation not shown on standard forms. This is where employees of the financial aid office need to be working hardest at their jobs. Most students, disabled and not, have little knowledge of the sheer number of scholarships and grants available. It should be the job of the financial aid office to make these students aware of the programs available. These employees are at desks supposedly working anyhow. Why can they not be locating various extra grants and funding for students? It is their job after all.

The advantages that keep me going are few but worthy of making this new dream come alive. There is now financial aid available for people with disabilities and that financial aid is not as discriminatory as it was two decades ago, intentional or not. This is a major change in the most positive sense for all disabled high school students with dreams of attending a real college instead of some vocational rehabilitation center run by the state where one cannot learn all that is necessary to work in a given field most of the time.

The colleges now have disability counselors who are available to assist students with disabilities in many aspects such as adaptive learning environments, changes in classes when the disability itself makes a specific class impossible and an alternative solution is necessary. A primary example of when an alternative solution must be available is when a given curricula requires a photography class yet the student in question is blind. It is impossible for the student to learn photography when one does not have vision to see to take photographs.

One other example of where having a disability counselor available proves most helpful is with students who suffer debilitating and chronic diseases/disorders that will lead to absences beyond the students' control. Granted, it is impossible for one to complete a class without participation but the existence of a wider buffer for students in such a position is a nice change from the past.

Overall, the colleges today are better equipped to handle students with disabilities, which is always a major push in the right direction. It does not matter if the college is an Ivy League university, a state university, private university, or community college. All colleges must adhere to specific laws that state without question, "Disabled students are welcome within the halls of learning without hindrance or discrimination."

It is unknown to this writer if some new teaching policy requires teachers to take so many semesters in learning to teach the disabled or not; however, if this is the case, kudos to the teaching programs. It is my hope that every disabled student entering the halls of learning in the upcoming year will receive the same courtesy extended to me. It is nice to feel welcomed and normal to have a disabled student learning alongside an able-bodied student without feeling as if the disabled student is an outsider or would be better off somewhere, anywhere besides the college classroom. Great strides are taking place with adaptive aids, elevators, and wheelchair ramps so disabled students have better access all around. Disabled is not a dirty word. It gives me a warm bright feeling when I think about how the colleges are changing to meet the demands of the disabled who want nothing more than what able-bodied students strive for and that is an education. Since the only constant is change, it is wonderful to know the college administration boards across the country are learning this important lesson and growing with the times.

Welcome to a new year of college!