December 3rd was the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. You might not have even noticed. There wasn’t a lot of buzz. Sometimes when we see articles that include “international” or “worldwide” in the title we lose interest. Those macro level issues can seem too large and overwhelming.
It can seem more doable to make a difference locally. The recent panel discussion held by the Traverse City Human Rights Commission made that perfectly clear. Local people with a variety of physical disabilities told their stories to a full room of onlookers. The best part of the night came after the event while the room was being cleaned up and reset for the next day. Connections were being made, contact information shared, and people seemed hopeful that their stories made a difference to someone.
Personally, I was most impacted by the speakers who have low vision. Their experiences varied from awesome and welcoming to downright discriminatory. I may have been drawn to their stories because we are expecting several new students on campus who have low or no vision. This link to the American Foundation for the Blind contains helpful tips for interacting with people who have vision loss.
As an instructor, you can continue to make your electronic documents accessible by following the guidelines EMT has developed. And, purchase only accessible products from your vendors. Students who are blind will rely on a screen reader to access everything online. Classroom activities will need to be adjusted if the assignment relies on sight. Once I know what classes these students have chosen I’ll contact each instructor. Also, I am hosting a high school student next semester who is fluent with screen reading technology because he depends on it himself. It will be a work/study experience for him and I hope to have several departments take him under their wing for a couple of weeks (6 hours per week). More to come as plans develop.
Thank you for making NMC a welcoming place for all of our students.