By Cheryl Fogle
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Students with disabilities should be more involved in curriculum planning, classroom design and student government at the UA, one student said following a national teleconference on education and disability yesterday.
"We can give our input, and then we can vote on proposals," said UA arts and sciences graduate student Judith Schneider, who uses a wheelchair.
Staff members from the Center for Disability Related Resources and Career Services, the UA sponsors of the event, agreed.
"We need to focus on what we can do," said Jane Hodgson, a counselor for blind and visually-impaired students at CeDRR. "Most accommodations don't cost anything."
Accommodations include building wheelchair ramps and providing blind students with bulletin boards, tacks and string to construct graphs for algebra classes.
The UA was one of 130 universities and community colleges linked to the National Association of Service Personnel Administrators teleconference, "Educating Students with Disabilities: a Shared Responsibility."
Career specialist for employment development Noel White said she would like to see campus offices provide information in alternative formats like Braille and large print.
"I'm not visually-impaired, but I prefer larger print," White said.
Ellen Walters, a counselor for learning-disabled students at CeDRR, said that the university should have a more positive outlook on accommodations because disabled students are active in the community.