October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and about one in four people in the United States has some type of disability according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As many as 80% of disabled individuals have invisible disabilities that can include ADHD, learning disabilities, psychological conditions or mental health concerns.

These statistics also apply across college campuses, where students are preparing to enter the workforce amid learning environments where accessibility has become a more routine aspect of the classroom.

“Students arriving at college campuses now have grown up with the idea of inclusion,” said Deborah McCarthy, director of USF’s Office of Student Accessibility Services (SAS). “They’re used to the reality that someone in a wheelchair was in their kindergarten class, or that someone with autism was in their math class. They view accessibility as a communal responsibility and are eager to be proactive. This new viewpoint creates an exciting opportunity.”

And yet, many students with disabilities still do not seek help for various reasons, including stigma. That represents a complex challenge for student accessibility leaders like McCarthy.

Below are some ways USF works to support student accessibility, reduce stigma, raise awareness of available resources and empower individuals with disabilities to share their experiences and concerns.

Student Accessibility Services

McCarthy’s office serves approximately 3,100 students across the three USF campuses—around five times the number it served in 2009—and provides them with services and support from enrollment through graduation.

SAS works with faculty to accommodate students through Universal Design for Learning, a framework meant to ensure that course materials and activities are accessible and inclusive for all students, regardless of their abilities, backgrounds or preferred learning styles.

This can include providing accessible textbooks, Braille, American Sign Language interpreters, extended time testing, note-taking technologies and transcription services.

When the COVID-19 pandemic sent colleges online in 2020, the shift to platforms like Microsoft Teams to connect faculty, staff and students brought unexpected benefits, such as improved captioning for students with hearing impairments.

McCarthy said the pandemic sped up efforts at USF and across the nation to increase the use of technology that supports accessibility and helped people think about what an in-person university means and what accommodations still need to be made.

SAS also serves as a resource for the broader campus community with a goal of promoting an environment where accessibility and Universal Design are central to the USF experience.

“Disability advocate Alice Wong points out that accessibility is really about hospitality,” McCarthy said. “You don’t invite someone into your home for dinner if you’re not sure they can get into your house. It’s not just ramps and curb cuts. It’s about what it means to be hospitable.”

SAS encourages all students, faculty and staff to participate in AccessiBull, a series of disability awareness events to help educate the USF community and reduce stigma. The office also annually administers the Johnson Scholarship for Students with Disabilities to provide financial support.

Presidential Advisory Committee on Accessibility

Formed in 2021, the USF Presidential Advisory Committee on Accessibility is chaired by McCarthy and advises President Rhea Law on matters pertaining to ability, accessibility and disability for faculty, staff and students.

The advisory committee also evaluates and monitors the university environment for related problems and issues, and it’s a way for multiple areas of USF to come together to embrace accessibility.

Since its inception, the committee has partnered with USF’s Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning to enhance accessibility and training for online courses and faculty trainings.

The committee co-sponsored USF’s second annual production of “This is My Brave,” a student performance about mental health and disability, and is focusing on updates to USF’s Americans with Disabilities Act policies.

Employment Support

SAS and partners like USF’s Center for Career & Professional Development offer a variety of resources to assist students with employment opportunities.

Information about the U.S. Department of Labor’s Workforce Recruitment Program is available through the SAS website. The program, managed by the Labor Department’s Office of Disability Employment Policy and the U.S. Department of Defense, connects employers with postsecondary students and recent graduates with disabilities. The apply date is Oct. 12.

The USF Center for Career & Professional Development offers articles and videos sharing tips and advice for students with disabilities who are entering the workforce, as well as resources such as career coaching and, on USF’s Tampa campus, 15-minute drop-in visits for students to answer basic career-related questions.

Recent campus career fairs offered a half-hour exclusive time slot with access limited to students needing accommodation so they could navigate the fair without crowds and with minimal sensory overload.

Student Government Accessibility Task Force

Last year, USF students Simone Till and Kevin Moore urged student government leaders to create a Campus Accessibility Task Force. Their intent was to enhance the disability culture at USF by raising awareness and empowering students.

Till and Moore spearheaded the creation of a survey last fall asking students to share their experiences and concerns and received 182 responses. The findings will help student government look for ways to guide more students toward resources available through SAS and advocate for increased support for disabled individuals.

Till arrived at USF three years ago with an acute understanding of the challenges facing students with disabilities. She experienced hearing loss during her childhood that eventually led to her use of hearing aids.

Because of her long hair, Till’s hearing aids aren’t readily visible. Her sister, however, has cerebral palsy, causing speech and mobility challenges that make her disability more apparent.

“Growing up helped me understand that when you approach disabilities, it’s really a huge umbrella,” Till said. “You have to think about it from a very holistic standpoint.”

Jillian Heilman, the task force’s faculty advisor at the time, credited Till, Moore and other student government leaders for responding to what they saw and heard from peers and pushing to make the task force a reality.

“Students started to reach out to us,” said Heilman, an adjunct professor in the USF Rehabilitation Counseling and Disability Sciences Program who researches disability impact, advocacy and awareness. “It was a grassroots effort that solidified students’ need to be heard.”

Till and Moore graduated in May, and one of the students taking over leadership of the task force is Chrissy Zimmer, a College of Public Health graduate student who has utilized accessibility services because of a spinal condition.

Zimmer calls Heilman “a remarkable advocate,” and says McCarthy’s team at SAS has made “phenomenal improvements to its website,” including the addition of webinars and other resources.

She said the task force is planning another survey this fall. There are also plans to create a peer-to-peer mentoring platform and promote a greater student body presence at events focused on access and raising awareness.

“The task force would love to get students more involved and make them aware of services available to them, and to help able-bodied students learn how they can become allies,” Zimmer said. “These are small ways that we can ignite change.”

Story reposted from USF Newsroom

The post USF works to increase awareness, support for students with accessibility needs appeared first on College of Public Health News.

Renya Maku, a second-year MPH student at USF’s College of Public Health (COPH), has recently joined the Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) of Forward Pinellas, the county’s land use and transportation planning agency. 

Forward Pinellas provides a forum for countywide decision-making on transportation and land use issues. It assists Pinellas County’s 24 cities and unincorporated Pinellas County with technical support, regional coordination and policy advice/guidance when it comes to transportation and the use of land. The CAC, whose members are appointed, provide Forward Pinellas with public input on the group’s plans and policies.

Maku, who’s concentrating in epidemiology, says she’s always been interested in the built environment and how it impacts quality of life and well-being. 

“Tampa Bay, for example, is a very vehicle-centric area, and there aren’t many safe, accessible or robust bike lane systems or sidewalks that link people to other communities or services,” she said. “In fact, in 2021 Pinellas County was the most dangerous county for bicyclists and pedestrians based on fatality data.”

It was a public health course—Translation to Public Health Practice, to be exact—that prompted Maku to get involved in community improvement.

“This class and the experience of a semester-long project with a large group made me realize I want to get involved in something that has the potential to shape my community and greatly impact its health and quality of life,” she said. “I looked into committees and boards at Forward Pinellas and similar organizations and that is how I found the CAC.”

As a CAC board member, Maku helps inform Forward Pinellas about public opinion. “My role is to help guide the group’s work developing a community-focused, modern and safe transportation system that provides equitable access and efficient transportation options promoting health, sustainability and economic growth,” she explained. “Expanded and safer transportation options are a community-wide benefit that can boost the local economy and create sustainable growth, increase job opportunities and access to health services, make us healthier and improve our quality of life overall.”

Maku sees public health and safe transportation as intricately intertwined. 

“Robust, safe and accessible transportation options have been associated with improved access to services, education, healthy food options and stronger local economies—as well as decreased rates of chronic diseases like asthma or obesity due to lower air pollution and increased physical activity,” she noted. “The investments don’t necessarily need to be in public transportation, they can be in active transportation like bike and walking options. If we make bike lanes safer by, for example, painting them a different color that creates contrast on the road that a distracted driver will see, we may improve injury and fatality rates. Similarly, if we consider requiring motorcyclists and/or bicyclists to wear helmets, just as seat belts are required for drivers, we may prevent injuries and fatalities that are generally high in our community.”

Given the explosion of growth in the Tampa Bay area, Maku says the time to get involved is now.

“Let’s learn from the shortcomings of other growing cities like Austin, Tex., which has a had a difficult time keeping their infrastructure up with population growth,” she said. “Tampa Bay is also experiencing growth, so why not plan and stay ahead of any possible barriers to a beautiful, healthy and vibrant community?”

Story by Donna Campisano, USF College of Public Health

The post COPH student works to build more accessible, safer communities appeared first on College of Public Health News.