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Disability Resource Center

The Inside Scoop - September 2007

Welcome back to those of returning and welcome to you new folks! Please email slqueller@ualr.edu if you’d like to reply to this message.

ANNOUNCEMENT

We have changed our name to Disability Resource Center (from Disability Support Services). This is part of a major reorganization and shift in approach for our department.

OPEN HOUSE

Please come visit us on Thursday, September 13. Drop in at 103 DSC any time between 1:00 and 2:30 for refreshments, to discuss all the exciting changes we have going on, and check out some of our resources that are available to you.

Can’t wait to find out what we’ve been up to?! Keep reading…

BIG CHANGES

We have undergone quite a transformation since earlier this year. In addition to the name change, we have a new mission statement, new web site, restructured staff positions, revised faculty letter, new syllabus statement, and new tag line.

So what is this all about? Here’s a brief explanation:

The medical model of disability is widely seen in many settings, including universities. In that model, the student with a disability is the locus of the problem, and that problem needs to be fixed or mitigated in some way.

The basic idea of the social model of disability is that the ‘problem’ resides in the environment, and not in the individual. Under this model, we are all working toward creating more usable, equitable, inclusive, and sustainable learning environments. For DRC, this means outreach to the campus community, partnering with staff, and collaborating with students and faculty to create learning environments that work for everyone.

Universal Design in instruction focuses on designing learning environments in such a way that many accommodations for disabilities will be unnecessary. For instance, if a professor posts notes from lectures in their course management systems for all students to access, then recruiting a notetaker for a student for whom a disability interferes with taking notes would be unnecessary.

To give you one example of a change we made during this paradigm shift, consider our old tag line: “The education you want, the services you need.” This implies that the student can’t access the educational setting without seeking out the “disability experts” who would have all the answers. Consider our new tag line: “Creative Solutions. Together.” This is more collaborative and positive, and does not put the student in the position of feeling needy. Solutions can be found with any of the players: the student, faculty, staff, administration, our office, or any combination of these.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

See you at the Open House!

Susan Queller, Director
UALR Disability Resource Center
103 Donaghey Student Center
Phone: 569-3143 (voice/tty)
Email: slqueller@ualr.edu
www.ualr.edu/disability

Updated 9.6.2007

The Lowdown - September 2007

Welcome back to those of returning and welcome to you new folks! Please email sadowns@ualr.edu if you’d like to reply to this message.

ANNOUNCEMENT

We have changed our name to Disability Resource Center (from Disability Support Services). This is part of a major reorganization and shift in approach for our department.

BIG CHANGES

We have undergone quite a transformation since earlier this year. In addition to the name change, we have a new mission statement, new web site, restructured staff positions, revised faculty letter, new syllabus statement, and new tag line.

So what is this all about? Here’s a brief explanation:

The medical model of disability is widely seen in many settings, including universities. In that model, the student with a disability is the locus of the problem, and that problem needs to be fixed or mitigated in some way.

The basic idea of the social model of disability is that the ‘problem’ resides in the environment, and not in the individual. Under this model, we are all working toward creating more usable, equitable, inclusive, and sustainable learning environments. For DRC, this means outreach to the campus community, partnering with staff, and collaborating with students and faculty to create learning environments that work for everyone.

Universal Design in instruction focuses on designing learning environments in such a way that many accommodations for disabilities will be unnecessary. For instance, if a professor posts notes from lectures in their course management systems for all students to access, then recruiting a notetaker for a student for whom a disability interferes with taking notes would be unnecessary.

To give you one example of a change we made during this paradigm shift, consider our old tag line: “The education you want, the services you need.” This implies that the student can’t access the educational setting without seeking out the “disability experts” who would have all the answers. Consider our new tag line: “Creative Solutions. Together.” This is more collaborative and positive, and does not put the student in the position of feeling needy. Solutions can be found with any of the players: the student, faculty, staff, administration, our office, or any combination of these.

FOR MORE INFORMATION