[Music]
Narrator: Engineers design, create and innovate.
From airplanes and cars to robots and electronics,
engineers design products we use every day.
There’s a great demand for skilled engineers
with a strong academic background and work experience.
Increasing the participation of people with disabilities in engineering
can help to meet this demand.
Nils Hakansson: People with disabilities are problem solvers
and engineering is about solving problems
and improving quality of life
and designing environments and structures and devices to help people.
And we’re experts at that because we do it every day in our lives.
Cynthia: A lot of society isn't really built
to be accessible for a blind person so, throughout my life,
I either talk to role models about how they have solved a problem
or I have to figure it out myself.
I think that the problem-solving fits really naturally
into an engineering discipline.
Leyf Starling: So, just increasing, when you're thinking about putting together
the best possible team to work on an engineering problem,
you want as many different ideas coming to the table as possible.
Constance Thompson: You will find a lot of individuals
with varying levels of dis-Ability think differently about solving problems
because they have to
and just by inserting that into the conversation,
inserting that into the way that you practice engineering,
it's going to change the game.
It's a game changer
and we need that type of game changing attitude in the U.S.
to meet those innovation challenges that we're going to face.
Grace: It's important for people with disabilities
to go into engineering fields because they've experienced problems themselves
and they probably have ideas on how to fix that and what to do.
Narrator: Human ability varies across a wide spectrum
including individuals with visual impairments,
hearing impairments, learning disabilities,
autism spectrum disorders, attention deficits,
and mobility impairments.
Nils: I have a physical disability,
I ride a wheelchair.
Daniel: I have high functioning autism spectrum disorder.
Grace: I'm profoundly deaf.
I grew up with two hearing aids
and then last year, when I was 17, I got a cochlear implant on my right side
because I wasn't hearing anything through my right ear.
Billy Price: Yes, I'm in a wheelchair
but being in a wheelchair shouldn't have any impact whatsoever
on my ability to do my job.
So, in that sense, I'm just the same as everybody else
so I don't think I should have any sort of,
I don't think I should be treated any different.
I mean, there's a job that has to be done.
Yes I have an engineering background and
I can do it just as successfully as anyone else.
Kat Steele: I think one of the challenges for individuals with disabilities
is low expectations.
We all have different levels of ability but often, I think, people make assumptions
based upon whether you move a certain way
or if you use assistive technology during your daily life.
Cynthia: I don't meet enough engineers with disabilities.
For example, on my campus, I am usually the one person that people go to,
“Oh we need your feedback about this.
Is it accessible?”
I think that people with disabilities still have to make a concerted effort
to find role models who are engineers.
Narrator: Assistive technology and reasonable accommodations
can make it possible for individuals with disabilities
to successfully pursue education and careers in engineering.
Daniel: I was able to get more time on examinations,
which was extremely helpful.
Which gave me time to think on a problem,
not be compressed in a very short time span to complete a problem,
have a very low distraction environment.
I was in a room all by myself.
Grace: In school I use an interpreter, a sign language interpreter,
and also have a note taker for each of my classes
whenever I request one.
Leyf: So a talking calculator
it's a great tool not just for someone with a visual impairment
but for someone with dyscalculia who has trouble flipping numbers around.
Nils: I was even able to attend a machine shop class,
working with a lathe and end mill, non-computer controlled, hand controlled,
largely because the faculty who taught that class
were open-minded and really allowed me to dictate my limits.
Narrator: Instructors can make their classes accessible to all students
by applying universal design, designing their classes and lessons
so all students have equal access to the information.
Brianna Blaser: Captioning on videos,
not only is that great for students who might have hearing loss or are deaf,
but students who are not native speakers of English
often use the captions when they are watching a video
so you know that's a great example of universal design
that's benefiting all kinds of people.
Leyf: So for a student with a learning disability
in reading for example,
if they have the opportunity to gain the information
from an engineering design perspective instead of just reading a textbook,
they're going to excel more
and they're going to feel more successful in that area.
Kat: Many of the new educational techniques
that incorporate active learning
and involving many different types of educational material
really not only help individuals with disabilities,
but all students.
Each year as you teach a class you can introduce some of these changes,
hear how students respond, and over time,
create a more accessible environment
within your department and in your classroom.
Narrator: Many engineering assignments involve group projects,
and faculty can encourage classmates to be welcoming.
Cynthia: I think traditionally people with disabilities are sometimes marginalized
to,
for example, write the lab report rather than pouring liquids or using machinery
and that's where asserting one's self can really come in handy to say, “No,
it's just as important for me to learn how to use the shop equipment as you,”
and so I might need to touch the equipment or be instructed on how to use it,
but I still need to take part in that process.
I don't want a group member to make an assumption
about what I may or may not be able to do
or in what ways that I could use some help
so I have to be able to communicate my skills and say
“Well, this is what I can offer the group,
and here, maybe formatting the PowerPoint slides,
maybe that’s something
that someone else in the group could do.
Sheryl Burgstahler: The key there
is to make sure that every team member has a role.
And I suggest the first thing t hey should do
is ask the student with a disability
how they'd like to contribute to the group work
and often they'll come up with something
that maybe the faculty member or other students
wouldn't have even thought of.
Kat: Many of our new tools that we use on an everyday basis
such as CNC machines which are computer numerically controlled machines
where we use them for mills and lathes and drills,
a lot of them are controlled by computers now
and so that actually increases access
and makes it so that more people can easily build
the products that they're wanting to create.
Michelle McCombs: These are great students.
They have a lot to offer.
You will learn as much from them as they learn from you,
if not more.
And just the more you work with them,
it just really moves the field forward
in ways that you are not going to expect.