Spring 2000 Disability Services Newsletter

Faculty and Staff Handbook to be Published
Disability Services (DS) plans to publish the first CU-Boulder Faculty and Staff Handbook on Disability this spring semester. Funds for this publication were provided by the vice chancellor for student affairs. In addition, the campus Accessibility Guide is currently being updated and the new version should be printed soon. Both will be available in hard copy and on the web.

The handbook will provide information about the services of the DS office, as well as guidelines for being supportive of students with disabilities. It will also answer questions about the Americans with Disabilities Act and appropriate accommodations. DS hopes that the publication of these resources will help enhance the welcoming climate for students with disabilities on campus.

Terri Bodhaine Named Director
DS is pleased to announce the appointment of Terri Bodhaine as the permanent director of Disability Services. Terri has served as the interim director for the past year and was named director on August 6, 1999. She has been with the university since 1981, serving primarily as the Learning Disabilities Program coordinator.

New Staff Members Introduce Themselves
Karen Boyd, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Coordinator
I began serving as the interim coordinator of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing program last fall. I also keep busy as a faculty member at Metropolitan State College of Denver where I teach an American Sign Language course. My bachelor's degree is in community services administration. I am also involved in Deaf Olympics where I am the logistics/apparel coordinator.

Leslie Blankis, Interpreter Coordinator
I have worked as an interpreter on campus for the past year and a half. Now, as the interpreter coordinator, I have the opportunity to expand upon my experiences. I look forward to the opportunities offered here at CU-Boulder. After obtaining my interpreting degree, I completed a national certification from the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID). My career has primarily centered on education. Interpreting in a public elementary school for several years was both rewarding and challenging. Leaving the kids was the hardest part of coming to CU-Boulder. Mentoring interpreting students in the educational setting has been an exciting piece of my career that I wish to continue. It is gratifying to see some of those interpreters also make education the focus of their careers. In my "free" time, I like to be with my husband. We are involved in a variety of volunteer activities, helping older ones care for themselves and their homes. I also enjoy various crafts.

Kathy Bowman, Disability Specialist
As a new disability specialist, I would like to express my pleasure in having the opportunity to work with such a fine, professional staff in DS. It has been an exciting few months for me, learning my way around CU-Boulder, as well as getting to know many students, staff, and faculty. I have many years of experience, both at the community college level and in the public schools. I have also done some postgraduate work in career development and counseling. In addition to assisting students with strategy development to help them become academically successful, I am interested in helping students with disabilities make informed career decisions.

In my leisure time, I enjoy skiing, hiking, camping, and canoeing with my husband and two daughters. I also enjoy tennis and reading. I am pleased to be part of the DS staff.

DS extends a warm welcome to Karen, Leslie, and Kathy!

Student Recommends Involvement
Wesley Herrin, an open option sophomore, transferred from Baker College in Michigan last September. He is actively involved with the College Democrats and was recently elected vice president of that organization. He also participates in two other campus organizations: National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL) and SaneAlter-natives to the Firearms Epidemic (SAFE Students).

Wesley believes in the importance of involvement. He feels that his experiences in these organizations have been personally rewarding. By participating in these groups, Wesley states that he feels more self-assured, has met many interesting people, and has learned a great deal. He recalls that he was initially intimidated by the idea of joining an organization; however, he now feels very comfortable in a group. He believes others often feel the same reluctance to get involved, or they may believe they cannot make a difference. His experience as vice president of the College Democrats has also helped with a decision about his future. He has decided that he will minor in political science and perhaps run for political office some day. DS congratulates Wesley on his election as vice president of the College Democrats!

Author Georgina Kleege to Speak
Georgina Kleege, author of Sight Unseen (Yale University Press, 1999) will speak to the CU-Boulder campus community on March 23, 2000. The presentation will be held in the University Memorial Center, room 157, at 7:00 p.m. Ms. Kleege, a noted disability studies essayist and fiction writer, is currently assistant professor with the Department of English at Ohio State University.

Legally blind since the age of 11, she draws on personal experiences to offer an unprecedented body of meditative work on blindness and contemporary culture. Her numerous readings and presentations have received critical acclaim for their observations on manners, rhetorical morals, form and color, and the physiology of sight.She represents the world of blindness with a newly defined authenticity.

DS invited Ms. Kleege to campus in order to highlight the importance of representing people with disabilities across the curriculum.

Creating A Welcoming Environment
Last November a diversity forum, Teaching, Learning, and Disability at CU, was held. It was cosponsored by the Arts and Sciences (A&S) Diversity Committee, the A&S Council, and the A&S Student Government. Speakers included students Kim Thompson and Larisa Wilder, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Ron Stump, and DS Director Terri Bodhaine. Professor Dennis Van Gerven moderated the event. In spite of poor weather conditions, faculty turn out was especially impressive. Ron Stump opened the forum by encouraging the group to create a welcoming environment on campus for persons with disabilities. Students spoke about their personal experiences at CU-Boulder. Terri Bodhaine then presented the philosophical beliefs of Disability Services and discussed DS's response to students in accordance with legal obligations. An open discussion followed the speakers' presentations. Members of the audience raised issues about academic accommodations and exam proctoring.

Thanks to Our Contributors!
Disability Services depends on the contributions of parents and former students to provide many of the high quality services that are currently provided. The DS Writing Lab is a wonderful example of the use of gift monies that directly support students using the program. Two highly qualified instructors, who are knowledgeable both about good writing and disabilities, offer two lab sessions a week. They meet individually with students to assist with the development of their ideas or to critique rough drafts. Gift funds are also used to keep the DS staff updated about the latest information in the field by funding journal subscriptions and conference attendance. Donations to the program have also paid for an outreach to the new transfer student population, the Career Program for Students with Disabilities, and assistive technology such as a dubbing machine for taped text books. DS also uses gift funds to provide scholarships for tuition and books for students with disabilities who have financial need. Recently, the Donner Foundation and the Metzgar family provided significant contributions to Disability Services. Disability Services wishes to extend a sincere thank you to all contributors to the program. Each contribution makes a significant difference for students.

DS Hosts Second Annual Assistive Technology Conference
About 100 participants from the CU-Boulder campus and around the country attended CU-Boulder's second Annual Accessing Higher Ground: Assistive Technology in Higher Education conference. The conference, which took place on the CU-Boulder campus and in Longmont, aimed to educate post secondary faculty, students, staff, and the community on the availability and potential benefits of assistive technology in education, particularly in the university setting. Funding for the conference was provided by the Parents Association and other campus sources.

Over 20 workshops were presented, several by speakers with disabilities, on topics including Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, legal and policy issues, and accommodations for students with learning disabilities, visual impairments, and physical disabilities.

During opening remarks, Bobby Schnabel, the vice chancellor for academic and campus technology, talked about the university's commitment to technology, and the campus' goal to make it's electronic resources and academic programs more accessible for students with disabilities. Keynote Larry Goldberg, director of the National Center for Accessible Media, WGBH, Boston, talked about the current ability to make media and the Internet accessible and the future of interactive media and the Internet. One of his demonstrations included an interactive version of Arthur, the popular children's television show. With this version of the program, viewers may stop the action of the program to answer questions posed by show's characters or select options for a variety of accessibility features: closed captioning (in English or Spanish) for viewers who are hearing impaired, video description for blind viewers, or a simplified version for early readers. According to Mr. Goldberg, the obstacles to access are not always technological. "This technology is available now. It's not the technology that's holding us back [from making media accessible]. It's the awareness and the initiative." Approximately 22 CU-Boulder web programmers attended a hands-on class on Accessible Web Design, presented by Mike Paciello of Webable Solutions! Specifically for CU-Boulder programmers, the class addressed a common issue on many web pages —excellent visual user interfaces, but lack of access for visually impaired users who use screen readers (programs that convert text elements to audio via a synthesized voice). Mr. Paciello, who helped start the Web Accessibility Initiative (of the World Wide Web Consortium), presented for a full day on strategies and programming techniques to make Web pages accessible.

Other sessions at the conference included Making Distance Learning Accessible by Ron Stewart of Oregon State University; Can Technology Help Compensate for Reading Disabilities? by Katherine Myers of Wright State University; and Creating and Maintaining an Accessible Library by Lisette Volkmar of Arizona State University.

The conference concluded with an AT User Panel discussion. Two current students and one recent graduate from CU-Boulder talked about access to assistive technology on campus and obstacles in accessing academic programs and information technology. For David, a blind student, screen readers and e-mail have greatly enhanced his ability to communicate and exchange information with his professors. Larisa, a student with dyslexia, discussed how technology can be a two-edged sword. She explained how she uses voice out put to proof her papers. However, professors often focus on her spelling errors, so reliance on e-mail, as opposed to face-to-face contact, can be an obstacle to communication. Larisa explained how she initially tried to educate her teachers about her disability so they would not judge her writing mistakes as simply the result of carelessness. However, this seemed to cause confusion rather than understanding, so now she does not discuss this with her instructors.

For information about accessible web design and conference workshops (including handouts), visit the Accessing Higher Ground Web page. Or contact Howard Kramer at hkramer@colorado.edu or 492-8671 (tty).