Students with disabilities receive accommodations from the college

''

by Sean Hull

Features Editor

mhudso27@jccc.edu

College is stressful for many people, but some students at the college face additional challenges in class. Students with disabilities may require accommodations to ensure they receive equal access to education and opportunity.

The college ensures equal access through two methods. First is the Access Services program that guarantees equal access to courses and opportunities for students. The program assists roughly 500 to 600 students a semester according to an estimate by Holly Dressler, the faculty chair and access adviser for access services. Also, Rick Moehring, the dean of learner engagement and success, makes sure everything complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act by resolving any concerns that students may have about accessibility on campus.

Access Services provides students that may not be able to learn in the traditional manner with various accommodations facilitating them in class.

“[Students] will provide us with documentation showing that they have some kind of disability, and that it will limit them in some way in the classroom, so we talk to the students about what kind of accommodations will help them,” said Dressler.

Note-takers are one of the most common accommodations. They are students hired to take notes for those who may have difficulty keeping pace with class. Access Services makes testing more accessible by authorizing additional test time or providing a distraction-free environment.

A more specialized accommodation is interpreters for the deaf student body. Interpreters will accompany students in class and interpret the lecture in American Sign Language in real time. Gigi Doubrava, a deaf student in the federal work study program, works as an office aid in the Access Services department. She uses the interpreting services and occasionally note-takers in her classes. She said she was “absolutely” satisfied with the services she receives.

The college also addresses any physical accessibility needs low-mobility students may have. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that universities ensure equal physical access to classes. A wide range of accommodations are made for students, such as making more handicapped parking spots, so it’s easier for low-mobility students to make the trek from the parking lot to their class, or simply removing some desks from a room so that a student in a wheelchair can more easily navigate the class.

“We work on [physical access] a lot. Someone will get here and they’ll say ‘I don’t think there’s enough handicap spaces right by my class over in ATB.’ Well,  we’ll work it out. We’ll do our best,” said Moehring.

Rex Hays, the associate vice president of campus services and facility planning, works with Moehring to resolve accommodation requests, and also makes sure any new construction or remodeled facilities stay up to ADA standards.

“Anytime we do a renovation, we try to look at ADA issues and see if we need to bring an existing building up to code,” said Hays.

Currently the restrooms on the third floor of the OCB are being renovated and brought up to current ADA standards. Previously a stall had to be 3.5 feet wide, but that width was increased to 5 feet.

The college has long worked with students that have disabilities to ensure that they receive the accommodations they need to earn an equal education.

“Our college has always been so committed to serving students with disabilities that in 1972, we started providing services for students with disabilities. It was a year before there was any legislation in place that said we needed to,” said Dressler.

Access Services is located on the second floor of the Student Center.

Corrections made to this article from the print edition. In the print edition, a quote is attributed to “Mead.” The correction was made to correctly attribute the quote to Holly Dressler.

''