Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
I came into the DRC for the first time
and went to the front desk.
Brenda was working
and I asked Brenda, you know, I would like to see
somebody to talk about using DRC accommodations.
And she said, 'Well let me get you a consultant!'
My name is Patty Bredehoft.
I'm an access consultant here at the Disability Resource Center.
So when students get registered
they meet with an access consultant
to make sure that they have reasonable accommodations.
Our overall goal as access consultants at the DRC
is primarily to look at access on campus
at the university from top to bottom,
in terms of how disability is impacted
by the way things are designed on campus.
My name is Sue Kroeger.
I'm director of Disability Resources
here at the University of Arizona.
I've been here for about 12 years.
I have been very excited to work at the University of Arizona.
This institution has a really long, rich history
of paying attention to disability and valuing it.
One of the major goals that we have here
at Disability Resources is to try to ensure
that disabled students have a comparable experience
to non-disabled students.
So we believe that it's really incumbent upon us,
the service office,
to not only reframe how people think about disability,
how they conceptualize it,
so, kind of move them from that deficit thinking
to one where this is a difference that has value
and that these voices are important and need to be here.
The first time I came to the DRC
I met with my access consultant,
but then when I had less time, or it's like a small question
and I don't necessarily need to come in,
I can e-mail my access consultant
or I can do a walk-in appointment,
or sometimes I can even call.
The Disability Resource Center's goal
is to reduce barriers in the environment,
the physical environment, as well as the learning environment.
That's a big part of what we do,
is to evaluate what the classroom looks like
and what the student's experience is in the classroom and identify what barriers they're experiencing
and try to change the classroom environment to be as accessible as possible, whenever possible.
When that's not possible then we have to implement certain accommodations
to make sure that students are still having an equal experience.
Accommodations might include extended time, note taking,
the use of assistive technology
such as a computer for typing up exams.
Dragon Naturally Speaking,
where you can speak into a microphone
and have your exams typed for you.
If a student goes to class and they have accommodations
we encourage them to communicate with their professors to their comfort level,
but if they feel they need any support or extra help, we always encourage them to come back and talk to us,
because we've been working with a lot of instructors to make sure that their classrooms are designed in a way that
the student won't need those accommodations, they're already built in for them.
So it's working with the students and working with the faculty
and helping them communicate,
with one another, that access is assured.
Instead of taking their tests here in the DRC,
I try to write tests where the students
have as much time as they need
in the classroom and then I usually, after the class, have a place where if they need extra time,
they can go and take that extra half hour.
So, depending on the size of the class, if it's a big lecture i'll do automatic online self-identification
and then I'll usually follow up with the professor
and say: I self-identified.
I want to make sure i'm on an even playing field during the exams.
Do you answer questions during exams?
So that I might be at a disadvantage taking the test at the DRC.
A lot of times, like in a foreign language
I'll identify online, but then I'll also talk to the teacher
and I've found that that's helpful, definitely, to take the test in class and the teacher will give you extended time.
So it just depends on the professor. What their comfort level is. How they usually accommodate students.
And if you run into any problems then you can go to the DRC and they can help you.
I think that anybody who's going to be using the DRC
should definitely reach out to look to the people that can really help you.
I think in college, one of the greatest things about being in college
is that all these people are here to help you.
So in high school it was very straight forward.
I mean, teachers would know all about your accommodations
even coming into the year and you would work with them one-on-one.
And when you get to college the DRC is really the organization
that is there for you to make sure that that gets organized,
because professors are busy a lot of the time.
We really want to let students know that are coming here for the first time
that it is going to be different.
That you're going to work with an access consultant
and you're going to have discussions about the accommodations that you had in your previous environment,
your high school or other colleges.
And then how that really looks like here on this campus.
So come in with all your syllabi. Talk with your access consultant.
Figure out a plan. Make sure that your all set up for your extended time and your accommodations
and understanding what the courses are asking from you and you'll be successful.