How are Colleges Making an Impact on Disabilities
Caesar Villagomez
We live in a society where everyone isn’t born equally. Some are hard of hearing, some can’t see, some can’t eat, and some can’t use limbs we were intended to have. But we can all agree that it’s a normal presence in our population. And being a normal presence, the best thing to collectively do is to accommodate all these people with disabilities so that we could all have the same opportunities in life, A quick visit to the Disability Resources and Educational Services office revealed to me that here at CSU Northridge, We have the largest enrollment of deaf students nationwide. In the past, deaf students would need to go to specific schools tailored for their needs. But with the inclusion of assistive technologies for the deaf in public schools, we’ve become the best school to handle the influx of students. This is an outcome of the American with Disabilities Act of 1990.
When the Act of 1990 was enacted, The discrimination of both the mentally and physically disabled was prohibited across the country. The bill made sure in include that schools needed to provide accommodations to its students and staff such as building ramps to access all areas of the campus with the inclusion of expanding classrooms to include students with hidden disabilities such as ADHD or Deafness. So it seems natural to assume that after 2 decades of being a federal mandate, all the problems regarding disabilities and their discrimination would cease to exist. Assistive technologies have become prevalent across the country in the form of interpreters, online classes, specific accommodations for instruction and exams, and even medication in order to support the students in the pursuit of a higher education. And it certainly is a step in the right direction, But colleges nationwide continue to lack in doing enough to integrate students with disabilities. That’s okay, these things take time “ Designs for educational change are created out of experience that comes in part from experimentation.” Came from Kaufman’s journal about experiments changing the educations system.
Mental disabilities are just as prevalent as physical ones. Accommodations are necessary in order for these students to be integrated well with the rest of their class.The graph contains the percentages of all americans who go onto pursue a post secondary education.
The survey was conducted by the U.S Department of Education and also goes on to represent the variety of disabilities that are prevalent in the population. But what’s common with every demographic is that given their disability, Over 60 % of young adults want to pursue post secondary education. That’s a population too large to ignore and furthermore a population too large to discriminate. Yet we hear stories today like the one posted in the article Bring Down the Barriers- Seen and Unseen that goes on to say, “A student with epilepsy at Colorado Mountain College was asked to drop a class after she had a seizure that was deemed too distracting to other students.” (Rachel 178). This is a terrifying demonstration of a school tolerating and accommodating it’s non-disabled students when it should be the other way around with the student being integrated more efficiently into the classroom because while the girl’s seizures may have been disruptive, It was out of her control. Nonee of us are born equal. A better environment could have been provided such as an online classroom but the school did no such thing. Forcing the girl to sacrifice her education at the sake of others who just happened to be lucky enough not to be born with a disability like her’s.
A large part that is hindering the expansion of support for disabilities as a whole is the rampant abuse of the services provided for the disabled being used by students that aren't disabled with anything. I’m not discussing about the harmless abused acts where students take elevators instead of taking the stairs. Or where student’s press the big blu button placed on the side of a wall that activates the doors instead of pushing open the doors because they are lazy. I'm talking about student’s who are faking disabilities in order to get extended test times, extended due dates, extended one on one teaching from the professor, or even access to prescriptions drugs like Adderal which puts these students at an academic advantage over the rest of the population which isn’t fair. Melana Vickers from the Pope Center on Higher Education even comments on the issue saying that “The rise in LD (Learning Disabled) and ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) has stirred controversy. One reason is evidence that some diagnoses are illegitimate. Various news organizations including ABC News and Usa Today have reported that for a price it’s possible to secure an illegitimate diagnosis.”
It’s expensive for schools to hire new staff such as interpreters and offices designated for the disabled. As well as keeping existing staff on campus for more hours in order to present more instruction time for the students who need it. That’s why the government provides subsidies to schools nationwide for them to provide these necessary services. But when schools don't properly utilise these funds to accommodate students we end up with instructors like the one at County College of Morris, in New Jersey that went on to tell a young man who had a problem with stuttering, “Not to participate in class discussions” because the instructor found his severe stutter to be disruptive.(Melena 178)
To view a school which has integrated students with disabilities successfully, as well as properly utilising the funds received by the national government, take a look at CSUN. We’re a public campus which has taken a successful approach in integrating the population of students with disabilities, with the population without any disabilities. It helps us stand out when CSUN’s services don’t seek to only tolerate these people, but to actually welcome them. The commentary in The Chronicles of Higher Education aids my statement even more when the author said, “When our campuses tolerate, but do not welcome, people with disabilities, they undermine the values of democracy, justice, and intellectuale freedom that are the core values of a higher education” (Rachel 180).
There are shining examples of what’s possible when integrating students with disabilities is done correctly. If anything, it’s a major loss for the colleges unsuccessful welcoming students with disabilities. It’s stated perfectly in The Chronicle of Higher Education, “When we regard students and colleagues with disabilities as nuisances or disruptions, we lose the opportunities they provide to think critically, with fresh eyes.” ( Rachel 180).
It’s inherently obvious that within the last 25 years, the awareness and assistance that schools are providing for the mentally and physically disabled has increased significantly. And the progress that came after the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 wouldn’t have been possible without it. That being said colleges haven’t gone far enough in accommodating students with disabilities. There’s a large margin, or large void full of errors that need to be corrected in colleges across the nation. But we’re certainly on the right track.
N.d. Edweek. Web. 4 Nov. 2015. <http://www.edweek.org/media/2015/05/26/33dc-college1-c1.jpg>.
Adams, Rachel. "Bring Down the Barriers-Seen and Unseen." The Chronicle of Higher Education (2011): n. pag. 6 Nov. 2011. Web.
Vickers, Melana Zyla. "Accommodating College Students with Learning Disabilities." For Higher Education Policy (2010): n. pag. The John William Pope Center. Web. 10 Oct. 2015. <http://www.popecenter.org/acrobat/vickers-mar2010.pdf>.
Vanbergeijk, Ernst, and Paul Cavanagh. "Federal Government Continues Its Drive to Include Students with Intellectual Disabilities in Higher Education." The Exceptional Parent (2015): n. pag. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.
Hoffmann, Kathy. "Advising Students with Disabilities." Research and Teaching in Developmental Education, 26.2 (2010): 46.
Adams, Rachel. "Bringing Down The Barriers-Seen And Unseen." Practical Argument. 2nd ed. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 178-80. Print.
Exceptional Children. Oct/Nov90, Vol. 57 Issue 2, p109-115. 7p.