Volume 124 Issue 124
kansan.com
Friday, March 30, 2012
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
UDK
the student voice since 1904
SCHOOL
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Accomodating people with Disabilities on Campus
Providing equal opportunity and equal access. //MEGAN HINMA
Recently, the University created a new position on campus to better accommodate people with disabilities. Jamie Simpson started her work as the director of Accessibility and ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Education on March 22. She will coordinate campus-wide activities to promote the ADA and she will be the go-to person for ADA compliance. She will also help professors better accommodate students with disabilities on more personal level, like suggesting ways to work with each student's individual disability in class.
On the search committee for that position was Glen White, who is a professor of Applied Behavioral Sciences, director of the Research and Training Center on Independent Living (RTCIL), and a wheelchair user. He says Simpson will be
PHOTO BY TRAVIS YOUNG
Elizabeth Boresow, senior from Overland Park, has austism but knows her rights are the same as any other person's.
the person for professors to go to when they don't know how to best educate a student with a disability. "If I had a student that was blind, and I didn't know what to do to accommodate that person," White says, "she could give me some ideas about Brailling or when I do my presentations, describe what's in the pictures."
White advocates for all people with disabilities. The RTCIL is meant to help people with disabilities fully participate in society, and that includes students. "We have a lot of students with disabilities on campus," White says. "I think the key thing is to try to provide equal opportunity, equal access for all students so they can compete on equal footing." One of those students is Lauren Wismer, junior from Overland Park, who is deaf.
If you didn't already know, you probably wouldn't be able to guess that Wiser is deaf. She can read lips and speak to people who don't know sign language, but in classes, it's difficult for her to try to read every word her professors say and take notes at the same time.
Two years ago, before her hearing loss "bottomed out," as she says, she could use hearing aids. Now, the hearing aids don't help much because she can't hear noises that are less than 120 decibels, which is as loud as a chainsaw. Anything much higher can cause pain in an average ear.
Wismer must only focus on her sign language interpreters, which she uses in all of her classes, tutoring sessions and advising appointments. It can be very confusing to switch her thoughts from speaking to signing, Wismer says. Because of this, she also uses in-class note takers. And, the fire alarm in her dorm flashes to alert her to the sound she can't hear.
However, Wismer doesn't want people to think that her accommodations are giving her more help than necessary. "The accommodations that people with disabilities get are to make the playing ground equal. It's not to make things easier for us than it is for other people," Wismer says. "We're not just getting it easy." Wismer is in the majority of students with disabilities on campus who have non-obvious disabilities. Of the approximately
700 registered students with disabilities, about 85 percent of them have non-obvious disabilities, says Andrew Shoemaker, director of Disability Resources. Non-obvious disabilities include learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), psychiatric, health or medical issues.
In the other 15 percent of those students are the ones with mobile disabilities. A person in a wheelchair cannot use a single one of the hundreds of stairs on campus — Strong Hall alone has 595 stairs, inside and outside combined, according to KU Info. To accommodate for the stairs, every building has a wheelchair accessible entrance.
Because it can be so difficult to climb the hill using a wheelchair, if a person who uses a wheelchair requests to have his or her classes moved to more easily accessible buildings (for example, all along Jayhawk Boulevard), the University makes every effort to accommodate that request. Similarly, when an elevator breaks, the Disability Resources office notifies the students who have reported mobility disabilities, and then works with the Registrar's Office to try to relocate the class, Shoemaker says.
Anyone who wants accommodations on campus must provide the appropriate documentation of his or her disability to Disability Resources. Then that person and Disability Resources work together to determine the appropriate accommodations, Shoemaker says. The most common accommodation for a person with a disability to receive is extended time on tests, followed by an in-class note taker, like Wismer has.
Elizabeth Boresow, a senior from Overland Park with autism, receives less common accommodations. Loud noises and commotion make her uncomfortable. When a fire alarm goes off, she is excused from class for the rest of the day to calm down. When she becomes distressed or tired, she is unable to communicate verbally and must use sign language. "It makes me a little different, but I think it's okay," Boresow says. "People with disabilities can do everything other people can."
Before it started, artists and galleries worked individually. Murphy said the art community is now coming together, and there is more emphasis on community projects.
"This sort of energy is good for Lawrence, and it is a more cohesive night for everybody." Murphy said.
This Friday, 26 businesses and galleries downtown will take part in the event. Lost Space Art, 845
Lawrence Art Center, Downtown Lawrence Incorporated, the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, art galleries and artists collaborated in August 2010 to create the monthly event.
Among the local artists who participate in the event, University students have taken advantage of showcasing their work during the event.
In 2011, Jessie Kelley, a senior from Wichita, curated a gallery specifically for 16 college students.
downtown every month.
"Final Fridays gets people in the store," said Irene Walker, an artist and employee at BDC Tattoo. "Sometimes there are people who would never step foot in a tattoo shop that have come in."
"A recent economic impact study shows that Final Fridays are bringing in at least $85,000 each final Friday to restaurants and businesses around the locations," said Final Fridays Coordinator Molly Murphy.
"We've had anyone from KU professors, to people who ship their art in from Seattle," said Summer Bradshaw, an intern at Wonder Fair Art Gallery, 803 $ \frac{1}{2} $ Massachusetts Street.
5. SIGNS OF LIFE (722 Massachusetts St.)
6. THE LAWRENCE ART PARTY (718 New Hampshire St.)
12. FOXTROT
(823 Massachusetts St.)
Edited by Corinne Westeman
14. DOWNTOWN UPSTAIRS (824 1/2 Massachusetts St.)
13. LOVE GARDEN SOUNDS (822 Massachusetts St.)
CRYPTOQUIPS 4A
OPINION 5A
7. TELLER'S RESTAURANT UPSTAIRS
(746 Massachusetts St.)
8. PACHAMAMAS (800 New Hampshire St.)
SPORTS 1B
SUDOKU 4A
Artists from around the country, as well as those from the Lawrence area, have benefited from Final Fridays.
15. PHOENIX GALLERY (825 Massachusetts St.)
Like many downtown galleries, its busiest day of the month is on the last Friday.
Art.
9. SMILING MAD DESIGNS & INKELLO
LETTERPRESS
(8011.5, Suite 3 Massachusetts St.)
"The place gets pretty packed," Flinders said. "The town is on fire on Final Fridays."
3. THE ELDRIDGE HOTEL (701 Massachusetts St.)
4. LAWRENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY (707 Vermont St.)
17. THE BOURGEOIS PIG (6 E. 9th St.)
16. LOST ART SPACE (845 Massachusetts St.)
Big Daddy Cadillacs Tattoo, 938 Massachusetts Street, features one artist a month. This Friday, they are showing Erin Brazler's "Fatties on Parade" exhibition, which are marker-drawn portraits of humorous cartoon characters.
18. Z's DIVINE DOWNTOWN ESPRESSO (10 E. 9th St.)
CLASSIFIEDS 2B
CROSSWORD 4A
ies, such as the Fox Trot shoe store. 823 Massachusetts Street, also participate in Final Fridays. Owner Caroline Mithias said the event brings in a lot of foot traffic into her store, and it supports the art community.
ing Corp.
is a bad
genera
E 7A
Index
ting Corp.
21. LAWRENCE ARTS CENTER (940 New Hampshire)
22. KANSAS SAMPLER
(921 Massachusetts St.)
23. THE GRANADA (1020 Massachusetts St.)
24. AIMEE'S CAFE' & COFFEE SHOP (1025 Massachusetts St.)
25. WATKINS COMMUNITY MUSEUM
(1047 Massachusetts St.)
contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2012 The University Daily Kansan
26. 1109 GALLERY
(1109 Massachusetts St.)
6A
7A
Today's Weather
Continuing student enrollment begins for summer and fall semesters, 2012. For more info, see Office of the Registrar, www.registrar@ku.edu.
Skies will be clear with a warm temperature and a calm north wind.
Everyone can see you sweating.