Universal Design in Academia: A Capacity Building Institute took place April 11, 2012 in Auburn, Alabama. Its overall purpose was to bring together a select group of national experts to help Auburn University faculty and staff reduce barriers and optimize levels of challenge and support to meet the needs of all learners.
My name is Diana. I graduated last year from Georgia State University (GSU) with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration in Computer Information Systems and a Certificate of International Business. The IT field is always changing, and I excel in dynamic environments, so computing was a great fit for me.
The Workshop for Emerging Deaf and Hard of Hearing Scientists was held at Gallaudet University on May 17-18, 2012, with support from AccessComputing. The workshop brought together 97 participants, including high school, college, and graduate students as well as K-12 educators, sign language interpreters, university professors, and government staff involved in STEM fields.
What might be the first response of a professor when a student who is deaf enrolls in her computing class? Would she look forward to the unique perspective this student brings to the class, or only be concerned about what accommodations might be necessary? An important step to creating a classroom environment that is welcoming to all students is to value diversity in all of its many forms—to see, in this case, differences in hearing abilities as a normal, interesting part of the human experience.
AccessComputing's new video, titled IT Accessibility: What Campus Leaders Have to Say, features university presidents and chancellors, chief information officers, and other information technology (IT) leaders sharing their thoughts and strategies related to IT accessibility in higher education.
AccessComputing has funded over 140 internships for students with disabilities to work on research as well as lab, technical support, and other computing projects. Through these experiences, students have learned how to request reasonable accommodations, communicate with supervisors and co-workers, collaborate with others, and manage priorities. As one student shared, "despite being visually impaired, I can continue to work toward a degree in software engineering. My confidence level has increased along with my determination."
Research projects include:
Since 2006, the Alliance for Access to Computing Careers (AccessComputing) has supported activities nationwide in order to increase the number of people with disabilities, including post-9/11 veterans, successfully pursuing computing careers.
I believe that early work- and career-related experiences play crucial roles in people's abilities to have successful full-time careers, especially when they have a disability. Over the years, I have had the opportunity to do a number of different internships and attend conferences and professional workshops, which have given me the experience necessary to be successful in my career.
Growing up is an ongoing process; no matter how much one knows there are always more lessons to learn and more avenues to explore. I was born in Madison, Wisconsin where I lived until I was seventeen when I moved to Tacoma, Washington to attend college. I am an only child. A few months after I was born my parents discovered I was blind. My exact condition is called Leber's Amaurosis, which affects the vision-related nerves more than the eye itself. In short, the doctor who diagnosed me compared my eye to a camera where the picture is taken, but the image never appears on the film.
Young people with learning disabilities enjoy a wide spectrum of talents and capabilities, because. in most situations, the "invisible" disability is not obvious to other people. It is difficult for some people to understand why these bright children struggle with tasks or thought processes that come easily to their peers. They get labels like lazy, non-compliant, defiant, impertinent, and stubborn.
