[nabs-l] Student orgs related to disability

[Kaiti Shelton]

Hi all,

In case anyone was interested in swapping ideas or was interested in
an update, here it is.

We had our info-session on Tuesday.  Including the other girl and
myself there were ten people in attendance, but the group was pretty
diverse.  We heard from another 6 who really want to be involved but
had conflicts with the meeting time.

Last night I got together all the information and submitted it online
through OrgSync-which is our online portal.  Now we're just waiting
for approval from the Center for Student Involvement (CSI).  We now
need to work on a constitution and elect a set of officers, but
everything else is in order including our faculty adviser.

Here are some of the brainstorming ideas we came up with.
Some "Everybody Counts-esque" experience outside in the Fall Semester
when it's still warm.  Expose students to different simulations of
disabilities.  Also try to add in a social component so the students
experience a taste of some of the things disabled people might see in
reactions from others (possibly implimented by confederates who act it
out), and add in a competetive aspect to entice students.  Doing
obstacle courses under sleep shades with a cane and a wheelchair
scavenger hunt.  We also will encorperate the social aspect with
confederates possibly, or putting people in situations where they
experience limitations and need to ask for help.  (E.G, ask the
participants in the scavenger hunt to go to the campus deli and get
something we know is on a higher shelf).
Comedy night.  Charge a small admission fee and have students from the
club test their stand-up skills.  Possibly will try to bring in
another more established comedian with a disability from the area.
Fundraisers.
Mentoring program with students with special needs in local schools.
Partnering with Best Buddies and the Counsel for Exceptional Children
on campus for joint events.
Reaching out as a support system on campus.

These are great starts, and I think will be wonderful ways we can work
to reach out to those on campus with and without disabilities.

On 4/3/15, Roanna Bacchus via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> I work with the Center for distributed learning ECF to make sure the online
> courses are accessible to students with disabilities I really enjoy doing
> this it's very rewarding sometimes
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
>> On Mar 31, 2015, at 2:26 PM, Derek Manners via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>> One thing students are doing is meeting with the President and or Provost
>> of colleges and telling them how they are doing good on accessibility and
>> how they can improve. This is something the NABS board is actively trying
>> to work with students to make happen. Let me know if this is something
>> that interests you.
>>
>> Best wishes
>> Derek Manners
>> NABS board member
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>>> On Mar 31, 2015, at 2:12 PM, Kaiti Shelton via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> I am excited to report that after meeting another blind student on my
>>> campus she and I are working to establish a student organization for
>>> students with and without disabilities to discuss accessibility, raise
>>> awareness of disability issues, etc.  We were particularly struck by
>>> the fact that we would have never met had a professor we've both had
>>> not thought to encourage both of us to join an ensemble this semester;
>>> we have spent the past 2 and a half years of our college careers
>>> separately thinking we were the only blind student on campus.  We have
>>> since found out we were both in the same dorm building our freshman
>>> year, and I even had a friend I visited frequently on her floor.
>>> While we understand the need for the disability services staff to
>>> maintain confidentiality, it was striking to find out that we were
>>> experiencing the exact same problems on campus and because there
>>> wasn't a united front nothing was being done to fix them.
>>>
>>> We wondered if this was effecting anyone else on campus, so we
>>> approached our DS office about faculty sponsorship for the
>>> organization.  They agreed to it, but have let the other girl and I
>>> spearhead things.  They're providing the space and possibly some light
>>> refreshments for an info session in a few weeks.
>>>
>>> We have a few ideas in mind for the club, but I'm interested in
>>> getting input from other students.  We know we want to do some
>>> outreach on campus and possibly form a fundraiser by selling something
>>> to raise awareness of disability issues.  We know we'd like to
>>> affiliate with Delta Alpha Pi, the international honors society for
>>> students with disabilities.  Since she and I both have experience in
>>> martial arts we'd also like to make a membership activity in the
>>> future a self-defence workshop aimed towards people with disabilities.
>>> Any other ideas?
>>>
>>> --
>>> Kaiti
>>>
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-- 
Kaiti