USF Observes Disability Awareness Week
In an effort to educate the campus community about its disabled population and highlight the nature of disability, the University of San Francisco held its first Disability Awareness Week April 15-19.
Accessibility and resources for the disabled were also the week’s themes. Recognizing accessibility issues is the responsibility of every member of the campus community, said Nicole Bohn, USF director of disability related services.
“We’re working toward accessibility as a university-wide responsibility, the responsibility of each department, of faculty and staff, and not just the purview of the disabled student who is fighting all the time for their rights,” Bohn said.
With more than 350 physically or learning disabled students on campus, USF is like most college campuses nationally where on average 7 to 10 percent of students have some kind of disability. The number appears to be growing because more students are willing to ask for special accommodations, Bohn said.
“Nationally the number of students with learning disabilities is growing because this generation of students is the first to grow up under the protection of the Americans with Disabilities Act,” she said. That act, passed in 1990, requires schools to provide special resources and teachers for learning disabled students.
USF events during the week included an ergonomics demonstration with an occupational medical specialist and a disability information fair where students could learn about resources and various medical conditions. The main event was a discussion panel with disabled students and disabled community members. Panelists described their disabilities, the real meaning of being disabled, and how accepting their disabilities allows them to see their strengths.
Another panelist, first-year student Christian Dillon, described the importance of USF faculty attention and resources for the learning disabled. Dillon, 24, is still recuperating after being beaten into unconsciousness five years ago. Brain damage and lingering short-term memory loss make learning difficult. Like other students who have learning disabilities, he requires extra time during tests and often works with tutors from the campus Learning and Writing Center. Individual attention from faculty also helps, he said.
Specialized services such as sign-language interpreters or document conversion into Braille are available and given to students on a case-by-case basis, Bohn said.
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