Americans Are Generous, Kind, and Caring
Steffen Schmidt
Several years ago a French journalist who is disabled and wheel chair bound was invited to meetings in New York, his first time in the United States.
After his visit he gave a moving testimony in which he said how amazed and grateful he was to find New York and the US so disability friendly. He said he could go almost anywhere in New York in his wheel chair without any assistance something he could never do in Paris much less the rest of France. He said he felt liberated, truly free for the first time.
We often forget that after the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) the United States, state governments, counties, city governments and private institutions and companies embarked on a massive and very expensive agenda to make their facilities accessible.
In higher education as well as K-12 we have also made very effort possible.
I was reminded of this because this semester I was informed that I have a student who is deaf. I thought you’d be interested to see the lengths to which we go to accommodate students with disabilities so I’m sharing the notice that went to all the instructors teaching this student.
Dear Professor/Instructor:
Our records indicate that you currently have a student with a significant hearing loss registered for the above Fall 2010 class. He/she has been instructed to deliver her/his SAAR form for you to review/sign indicating the accommodations needed. If a SAAR form is presented, please review the requested accommodations and work with the student to provide the accommodations indicated.
In an effort to try to help you prepare for meeting the needs of this student, we have listed some possible accommodations for a student with a significant hearing loss:
Copies of lecture notes:
• If listed on the SAAR form please make sure this student is provided with timely copies of lecture notes for this class as this will be essential so they can have a written record of the lecture content (ie. Notes). You can provide a copy of your own notes or you will need to assign a note taker to provide timely and accurate notes for this student—this can be another student in the class.
Captioning of films/ media shown in class
• It will be necessary to show captioned videos/ films so this student can participate-- it may take 3-4 weeks for captioning to be completed. Instructions to request ISU Library Media with captioning (DVD or Video) is available at Captioned Media Request instructions at: http://www.dso.iastate.edu/dr/staff/CaptioningandParksLibrary.doc
Interpreter or Captionist
• A qualified sign language interpreter or captionist may be present in the classroom to provide those services for the student. Each will come prepared to communicate with the student in a manner that should not interfere with normal communication in the classroom.
• An interpreter will be positioned in an appropriate physical location that will allow the student to clearly visualize the signed material (ie. Your lecture). Please present your lecture in a manner that does not call attention to the student or his/her interpreter; however, you are encouraged to involve the student in classroom activities just as you do all students.
• A captionist may be seated in the classroom and utilize a laptop computer or other similar device to transcribe communication (ie. Your lecture) to the student. Please present your lecture in a manner that does not call attention to the student or his/her captionist; however, you are encouraged to involve the student in classroom activities as you do all with all students. In some cases, an off-site captionist is utilized—lecture/discussion is transmitted directly to your student from the remote location.
If you have other questions or need assistance please contact Student Disability Resources as soon as possible.
Thanks.
FYI - The charge for adding transcription to an existing video is pretty astounding at $3.70 per minute plus $110 for the first 30 minutes.
This is an amazing caring as well as legal compliance with disability laws. It is a tribute to the American commitment to being accessible and to spending substantial amounts of money to assist students with disabilities as you can see from all the services that will be provided. And this is just one of many, MANY students at Iowa State who require disability accommodations.
I have heard complaints especially from K-12 school board members that disability and special education services are costing schools a great deal of money.
As a nation we have made a commitment to our friends, neighbors, family, and customers with disabilities. Now we must make sure that we also continue making that commitment with our wallets. The Tea Party and others are clamoring for less government and less spending. Let’s remember where some of that spending goes.
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