Fall 2000 Disability Services Newsletter

Spring Retreat
The DS staff spring retreat focused on revising our vision, mission, and strategic plan. It was five years ago that the DS staff completed its last strategic plan, so it was time to look ahead at framing our future to meet the changing needs of our students. Also, changes within DS necessitated an examination of where we are and where we need to be.

Technology has created some of the most significant changes in DS. These have included the establishment of the Assistive Technology Lab and the implementation of C-Print for students who are hearing impaired. Coupled with technology changes have been personnel changes in DS.

During the retreat, the DS staff rewrote our vision, mission, and strategic plan. DS seeks to be a recognized leader in providing cultural, educational, and service support to our constituents. As we focus on providing students with the tools and support services they need to participate fully in the academic community, we also want to enhance an environment that is both physically and culturally sensitive. Our individual goals include building partnerships and enhancing access on campus. With a new strategic plan, mission, and vision, DS is ready to meet the needs of our students in the future.

Student Finds AT Lab Helpful
Anita Gray, a psychology major from Great Britain, uses the Assistive Technology Lab (AT Lab) on a regular basis. She appreciates the support she has received and states, "Disability Services couldn't have been more helpful." She particularly thanks Howard Kramer, the lab coordinator, and Cindy Donahue, a disability specialist.

Anita has chronic overuse syndrome that affects the use of her arms. She states that although she can work for short periods of time, eventually her disability causes a problem. In the AT Lab, Anita has used Dragon Naturally Speaking to dictate her written work. She also uses the lab to transfer recorded lecture notes to the computer. On occasion, she has checked out one of the lab's laptop computers. In addition, she uses DS's proctoring services and reports that having a scribe for her examinations has been a great help.

As a result of her overuse syndrome, Anita has had difficulty with employment. Since she has connected with Disability Services, and Judith Moore of Career Services, she now feels much better about her career choices. Anita advises incoming students to find out what types of support they may be able to receive. She recalls that initially, she was reluctant to seek assistance but discovered that it was a great relief to get the help. Anita says that she now feels like a contributing member of the college community.

Employer Panel Well Attended
In April, the Career Program for Students with Disabilities (CPSD) hosted an employer panel for interested students and alumni. Representatives of four Boulder County businesses presented valuable information about employing people with disabilities and the benefits to their organizations. The employers also advised students about disclosure of disabilities, effective accommodations in the workplace, and interviewing strategies. Students had the opportunity to ask the employers questions that prompted some useful discussion and advice. All of the employers strongly encouraged students to take advantage of opportunities to participate in internship programs. CPSD is a cooperative program between Career Services and Disability Services, offering training and work experience to CU-Boulder students and recent graduates. Another employer panel will be presented on November 14, 2000.

Admission to CU-Boulder for Students with Disabilities
DS often receives queries regarding the admission process. As of September 2000, there will no longer be any special admission process at CU-Boulder for students with disabilities. Students with disabilities are expected to meet the same admission requirements as all other applicants. All application information should be submitted to the Office of Admissions by February 15.

If the applicant is interested in receiving the services of DS, documentation should be sent directly to Disability Services.

Campus Purchases Lift for Special Events
A portable lift to provide access to stages or platforms for individuals with mobility impairments was purchased this spring. The funding came through a budget request from Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Ron Stump. The portable lift is available to any unit on campus. DS was instrumental in facilitating this purchase and is pleased that campus accessibility is improving. Information concerning the lift will soon be available to the campus community through a Buff Bulletin. Contact the Facilities Management service desk at 303-492-8656 to check out this new portable lift.

New C-Print Technology Now on Campus!
Although Disability Services supports students of many different disabilities, a population that is rapidly increasing is the Deaf and hard of hearing (D/HOH). There are 14 D/HOH students on the CU-Boulder campus today and DS is responsible for providing communication accommodationsfor these students.

One method for providing communication access is realtime captioning, a form of transcription borrowed from courtroom stenography and multi-media display technology. The system uses a courtroom stenographer in the classroom to transcribe the lecture.The stenographer's notes are displayed for the student as readable text on a display screen or laptop. The lecture is also available to the student on disk.

Because this system uses courtroom-trained stenographers, there have been several problems in its application to the educational setting. One issue is cost and another is that the stenographer is trained to transcribe 98 percent of the spoken word. Although this may seem ideal, in a classroom lecture there are numerous repetitions and some unimportant comments. When all the information is translated, the result is more work for the student who must sort through a great deal of irrelevant information.

The National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) at the Rochester Institute for Technology (RIT) in New York has developed another system, "C-Print," especially for use with Deaf/HOH students in the classroom. In C-Print, a typist trained in special word abbreviation software replaces the courtroom stenographer. The lecture is transcribed onto a laptop with software that converts abbreviated transcription into print that is read by the student on a second laptop.

C-Print involves less equipment and also costs less since the captionist is not "borrowed" from a highly trained legal field. It also produces more usable notes since the captionist screens out redundancies rather than transcribing verbatim. This system is being used at RIT with all levels of hearing impairment, and RIT reports very high student satisfaction. Surveys show that the students feel they are receiving an increase in both quantity and quality of information, and that, with C-Print, the lectures are more understandable when compared to either notetakers or stenographer-based captioning. They report feeling more connected because they are reading the lecture from the screen as it is takes place. They are also pleased to receive the notes on diskÑwithout the redundancies.

Disability Services began using C-print during the fall 1999 semester. Cynthia Ocken, our C-Print captionist, who also works at speech, language, and hearing sciences, has completed the training in Rochester, New York. Funding for the laptops was provided by the Student Computing Initiative. During the first year three students used the system and reported high satisfaction. One student (who also used the stenographer based system) said that he definitely prefers C-print because of its higher reliability and ease of use.

This summer the C-Print pilot project is moving into its second phase as we recruit and train four or five more captionists. RIT will be conducting the training workshop here in July. Disability Services is also pleased with this new technolgy. Since captionists are campus employees, DS has more control over costs, equipment maintenance, reliability, and quality. This new technology is proving to have multiple benefits for all concerned.

Spring 2000 DS News Briefs

• Terri Bodhaine, DS director, oversaw the completion of the Disability Services Faculty and Staff Handbook, which was distributed to over 400 members of the CU-Boulder community.
• Cindy Donahue did a wonderful job as acting director for DS while Terri was on leave.
• Spring additions to the DS web site include: the DS Faculty/ Staff Handbook, Campus Accessibility Map, disability parking information, revised documentation requirements, and revised vision and mission statements.
• DS welcomed Allen Wood as a new AT Lab assistant.
• Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services Coordinator Karen Boyd has been working with the university to improve access to TTYs and amplified phones on campus, as well as developing a campus map showing their locations.
• DS, in collaboration with CU-Boulder's Emergency Manage-ment Operations Group, has implemented a "model" fire and evacuation plan.
• The Assistive Technology Lab hosted three open houses to demonstrate assistive technology hardware and software capabilities.
• DS staff attended several conferences: PepNet, Learning Disabilities Association, a teleconference on ADA and legal concerns, and an ADHD symposium.
• Disability Specialist Jim Cohn's recent book, Sign Mind: Studies in American Sign Language Poetics (Museum of American Poetics Publication, 1999), was reviewed in the Rochester, NY, newspaper Deafwaves.
• DS delivered presentations to several groups, including the Women's Resource Center, Boulder Valley School District, Employee Development, and a journalism class.
• Karen Boyd and Leslie Blankis presented training to the Facilities Management staff on how to work with Deaf and HOH staff.

Exciting Additions to Our Conference!
This year our conference, Accessing Higher Ground: Assistive Technology in Higher Education, has some exciting additions. Last year, Mike Paciello from WebABLE Solutions presented a hands-on class on web accessibility that was very popular. Because of the popularity of Mike's session, this year we have added another hands-on workshop. Dan Clark from Henter-Joyce will discuss the screen reading software, JAWS for Windows.

New technology in real-time captioning for Deaf and hard of hearing students and alternate formats for people with visual impairments will be featured. Pam Francis from RIT will speak on C-Print technology and Viki Vogli-Phelps of Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB&D )will discuss the new Daisy digital talking textbook program.

Technology for students with cognitive disabilities will be emphasized this year. Mary Ann Keatley, who works with people with brain injuries, will present on "Technology for Cognitive Retraining." Marcia Norris will return with a workshop on assistive technology for students with learning disabilities.

The Assistive Technology Conference 2000 promises to be on the forefront of technical access. Plan to attend. You will not want to miss it! See our enclosed flyer.

Welcome and Information Sessions Offered
Rather than offering an orientation meeting during the week of August 21, 2000, as in the past, students and their parents or guardians are invited to meet individually with the specialist to whom they will be assigned. Two dates are available: August 24 from 1:00-5:00 p.m. and August 31 from 1:00-3:30 p.m. Call DS now at 303-492-8671 for a 30-minute appointment.

Disability Services Staff

Blankis, Leslie, Interpreter Coordinator	V/TTY 303-492-4125
Bodhaine, Terri, Director	303-492-5613
Bond, Catherine, Receptionist	V/TTY 303-492-8671
Bowman, Kathy, Disability Specialist	303-735-2998
Boyd, Karen, Deaf/Hard of Hearing Coordinator	TTY 303-492-4124
Cohn, Jim, Disability Specialist	303-492-5602
Colcord, Ann, Office Manager	303-492-8671
Donahue, Cindy, Disability Specialist	303-492-5614
Fieirtag, Ruth, Writing Lab	303-492-5606
Gardine, Suzanne, Work-Study	303-492-8671
Kramer, Howard, Assistive Tech Lab Coordinator	303-492-8672
MacArthur,Jayne, Coordinator, AAR Program	303-492-5612
Wood, Allen, AT Lab Assistant	303-492-8672
Yonkerman, Tom, AT Lab Assistant	303-492-8672