WEBVTT 00:00:21.146 --> 00:00:24.626 Science is possible for everyone. 00:00:24.626 --> 00:00:26.376 DO-IT Scholars Can tell you how. 00:00:27.376 --> 00:00:33.456 It's real helpful for kids like us with disabilities when teachers are flexible. 00:00:33.457 --> 00:00:40.316 It is very important to include every student 00:00:40.317 --> 00:00:45.836 in an activity, if they be disabled or not. 00:00:45.837 --> 00:00:48.786 Just help out, give information when needed; 00:00:48.789 --> 00:00:50.136 I don't appreciate secretive instructors very much. 00:00:50.137 --> 00:00:54.796 I want them to know that... 00:00:54.796 --> 00:00:57.906 that I can do anything. 00:00:59.906 --> 00:01:06.076 DO-IT stands for Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology. 00:01:06.077 --> 00:01:09.056 Students in the program learn to be successful themselves, 00:01:09.057 --> 00:01:12.026 becoming experts on their own accommodation needs. 00:01:12.026 --> 00:01:16.286 Then, they share their experiences with others. 00:01:16.287 --> 00:01:19.596 Here, DO-IT participants show how students with disabilities 00:01:19.597 --> 00:01:22.306 and science teachers can work together in learning partnerships, 00:01:22.306 --> 00:01:26.356 multiplying the possibilities for academic and career success. 00:01:27.356 --> 00:01:31.236 Students can help teachers to develop creative alternatives 00:01:31.236 --> 00:01:33.016 for gaining and demonstrating knowledge. 00:01:33.016 --> 00:01:34.616 First, we'll look at: 00:01:38.596 --> 00:01:44.286 It's really important for a science teacher who has visually impaired students 00:01:44.286 --> 00:01:50.886 in their class, to, first of all, describe anything that needs to be described. 00:01:50.887 --> 00:01:56.666 So, if they draw something on the board or overhead, describe it as best as they can, 00:01:56.667 --> 00:02:05.286 and then provide the student with a copy of the drawing to either be drawn tactilely or enlarged 00:02:05.287 --> 00:02:07.186 so they can see it and see what the drawing looks like. 00:02:08.186 --> 00:02:13.186 The computer has made doing school work a lot easier. 00:02:13.187 --> 00:02:16.466 The computer I use has a voice output. 00:02:16.467 --> 00:02:22.206 It is also helpful for doing research over the network. 00:02:23.206 --> 00:02:29.906 The instrument that I use in school to do my work is a magnifier, 00:02:29.906 --> 00:02:33.856 and a binocular to see the blackboard. 00:02:33.856 --> 00:02:42.346 The overhead I won't be able to see well because of the light reflection. 00:02:42.346 --> 00:02:44.396 So, the overhead isn't really helpful. 00:02:44.396 --> 00:02:51.496 It's helpful if the teacher explains or says what he or she write on the blackboard. 00:02:52.496 --> 00:03:02.546 I have Muscular Dystrophy, and I use large print books to see the print better. 00:03:03.546 --> 00:03:08.736 When I am in any class, including science classes, I always inform the teacher 00:03:08.736 --> 00:03:14.896 or professor that I do indeed have a vision impairment and so they're not surprised if I ask 00:03:14.896 --> 00:03:17.696 for something a little different than normal. 00:03:17.696 --> 00:03:21.066 If they do have an extremely small handout, I will ask that it be enlarged. 00:03:22.066 --> 00:03:24.056 I have a hearing impairment. 00:03:24.056 --> 00:03:29.476 In a science lab, I prefer written instructions from the teacher, or handouts, 00:03:29.476 --> 00:03:33.676 so that I can virtually see it and not have to concentrate so hard 00:03:33.676 --> 00:03:36.556 on listening and get every single step. 00:03:37.556 --> 00:03:40.886 I also like it when the teacher writes instructions 00:03:40.886 --> 00:03:43.406 on the blackboard or overhead projector. 00:03:44.406 --> 00:03:48.706 It makes it a lot easier for me to understand what's going on in the class. 00:03:48.706 --> 00:03:52.046 Sometimes I need a sign language interpreter. 00:03:52.046 --> 00:03:58.326 A lot of times I use a FM system which lets me hear the teacher only. 00:03:58.326 --> 00:04:03.396 And I have a receiver which goes directly into my hearing aids. 00:04:03.396 --> 00:04:08.346 I had a stroke, which paralyzed me on the right side of my body. 00:04:09.026 --> 00:04:14.096 And... just this whole thing affected my memory and just how 00:04:14.096 --> 00:04:18.246 to get concepts of things and stuff like that. 00:04:19.246 --> 00:04:28.296 If a teacher could give me visual things to look at and even touch, that helps me so much better. 00:04:28.296 --> 00:04:34.296 Lectures do not help at all, 'cause I need to see things. 00:04:34.296 --> 00:04:36.596 And just... that helps with the concepts. 00:04:37.596 --> 00:04:40.026 My disability is LD, which is a learning disability 00:04:40.026 --> 00:04:43.196 and it affects me in that I am a very slow reader. 00:04:43.196 --> 00:04:47.936 I read every single word individually and process it, 00:04:47.936 --> 00:04:50.286 and so obviously the speed does not increase. 00:04:50.286 --> 00:04:53.706 And so hopefully, the computer can sort of take over my mother's job 00:04:53.706 --> 00:04:56.756 in that I can increase the speed that it reads to me, 00:04:56.756 --> 00:04:59.036 and so I can increase the speed of my reading. 00:04:59.036 --> 00:05:02.576 When you have a disability like I have, it's hard... 00:05:02.576 --> 00:05:05.916 it's hard to write everything down that you need to write down. 00:05:05.916 --> 00:05:06.016 It would be nice if I could... 00:05:06.016 --> 00:05:11.826 if there were a computer at my disposal that I could use to write things down with 00:05:11.826 --> 00:05:17.106 and the that I could view things through instead of having to always have somebody pull something 00:05:17.106 --> 00:05:21.046 out for me or do something for me; I can just do it on my own. 00:05:21.046 --> 00:05:25.156 I am very interested in space. 00:05:26.156 --> 00:05:33.456 With the Internet, I can access NASA's big computers 00:05:33.456 --> 00:05:40.226 and get pictures from their telescopes in space. 00:05:40.226 --> 00:05:46.846 The main point that I think s really critical for a science professor to know is 00:05:46.846 --> 00:05:50.846 that a lot of the adaptations can be done right within the laboratory itself, 00:05:50.846 --> 00:05:57.096 and that the professor has the knowledge, with a little extra effort, to make those adaptations 00:05:57.096 --> 00:06:00.826 so that the laboratory is accessible. 00:06:00.826 --> 00:06:03.826 The teacher shouldn't feel like it's all up to them. 00:06:03.826 --> 00:06:09.126 It's very much a cooperation between the student and the teacher. 00:06:12.476 --> 00:06:15.096 There are many ways to gain information 00:06:15.096 --> 00:06:20.156 but the most important element is good communication between teachers and students. 00:06:20.156 --> 00:06:23.586 Learning styles and accommodation needs vary. 00:06:43.216 --> 00:06:47.366 Once lessons are learned, students have to show that they understand the material. 00:06:47.366 --> 00:06:51.436 For students with disabilities, there can be challenges involved in: 00:06:54.246 --> 00:07:00.346 Science labs are normally pretty difficult 00:07:00.346 --> 00:07:08.786 for me unless they have a shorter workstation and the microscopes can tip and whatnot. 00:07:08.786 --> 00:07:13.386 Like, I have had to have a stool so I can get up to the lab tables to work 00:07:13.386 --> 00:07:17.596 on the things., or to wear an apron, I couldn't wear one, so they had to staple and kind 00:07:17.596 --> 00:07:19.856 of hem up an apron so I could use it. 00:07:19.856 --> 00:07:22.886 But, that's all I really required. 00:07:22.886 --> 00:07:26.706 But often it's only little things that people require 00:07:26.706 --> 00:07:29.496 so that they can participate just like anyone else. 00:07:29.496 --> 00:07:30.796 I'm an amputee. 00:07:30.796 --> 00:07:34.616 And the main advice I'd give to a science teacher is to put me with a partner 00:07:34.616 --> 00:07:39.576 when we do labs, because some of the things I can't do, and they can help me out with it. 00:07:39.576 --> 00:07:42.976 I need less labs that deal with colors. 00:07:42.976 --> 00:07:47.926 A lot of the labs say, you know, watch for the color change. 00:07:47.926 --> 00:07:49.476 I can't do that. 00:07:49.476 --> 00:07:55.006 So, change of shape, or heat, or texture I can do easy. 00:07:55.006 --> 00:07:59.416 They would make science, you know, a lot more interesting for me. 00:07:59.416 --> 00:08:04.956 The hardest part in a science lab is writing the information 00:08:04.956 --> 00:08:08.906 down about the lab and lab results. 00:08:08.906 --> 00:08:18.266 It's better if I have time to go home that night and do that on my computer, 00:08:18.266 --> 00:08:21.126 or have someone else write it for me. 00:08:21.526 --> 00:08:26.986 The computer helps me because it has a spellcheck and a grammar check 00:08:26.986 --> 00:08:32.246 and can be read easier than my handwriting because my handwriting's bad. 00:08:33.246 --> 00:08:39.066 I can't write at all with my hands, so I use the computer 00:08:39.066 --> 00:08:45.126 to write my papers and communicate to other people. 00:08:46.126 --> 00:08:50.176 A lot of the time I get my, like, worksheets and stuff like that for school 00:08:50.176 --> 00:08:56.416 on Braille or on tape, and if I could get them over the computer, it would be a lot easier; 00:08:56.416 --> 00:09:02.566 if teachers would just send me, for example, over email, a worksheet. 00:09:02.566 --> 00:09:06.916 I could work on it with the computer then send it right back. 00:09:06.916 --> 00:09:12.616 My disability is Lyme disease and it's affected my immune system 00:09:12.616 --> 00:09:19.806 and my energy level a lot, so it's been hard going to school; and in the past I've had 00:09:19.806 --> 00:09:24.026 to be home-schooled a lot; and about the only adaptation I need 00:09:24.026 --> 00:09:29.666 for a science lab would be flexibility in the scheduling and a flexible teacher, 00:09:29.666 --> 00:09:35.026 because I may need a different time than the class set time. 00:09:35.026 --> 00:09:38.056 I take at least twice as long. 00:09:38.056 --> 00:09:41.276 Whenever a teachers gives a quota of the amount of time you should spend on homework, 00:09:41.276 --> 00:09:45.100 I automatically double it because I know it'll take that long. 00:09:49.436 --> 00:09:52.096 In a written test or a lab situation, 00:09:52.096 --> 00:09:56.316 each student will have individual challenges involved in proving knowledge. 00:09:56.316 --> 00:09:57.576 Some common arrangements could include: 00:09:59.276 --> 00:10:01.146 alternatives to standard equipment, 00:10:05.236 --> 00:10:09.446 It just takes a little bit of creativity, patience, 00:10:09.446 --> 00:10:13.106 and common sense to allow every student to participate in class. 00:10:14.000 --> 00:10:19.000 A lot of the time, the student has to prepare ahead of time so that he 00:10:19.000 --> 00:10:24.476 or she knows what to expect and then to sit down one on one with the instructor and to go 00:10:24.476 --> 00:10:29.516 over the points and see how they can adapt the experiment ahead of time. 00:10:29.516 --> 00:10:35.196 And it's important that the professor tries to come up with ideas as well as the student. 00:10:35.196 --> 00:10:38.086 I can do it, just be patient, I can do it. 00:10:38.086 --> 00:10:40.646 And I really enjoy it. 00:10:40.646 --> 00:10:43.986 And so just be aware of what's there and work with it. 00:10:43.986 --> 00:10:47.476 And so far my teachers have been really great about that. 00:10:47.476 --> 00:10:52.126 I think it's very important that science teachers understand that people 00:10:52.126 --> 00:10:55.256 with disabilities can do science. 00:10:55.256 --> 00:11:00.426 We have the intelligence and the capabilities to do it. 00:11:00.426 --> 00:11:07.246 And it's important that we're exposed to science just like people without disabilities are 00:11:07.246 --> 00:11:13.536 so that we can better make choices about the rest of our life, like what career we want 00:11:13.536 --> 00:11:16.426 to go into and what we want to study.