[NABS-L] creating a student organization on campus

Fri Apr 13 15:37:50 UTC 2018

Hi Ana,

I started a student group for students requiring accommodations. I kept the
word disability out of the constitution, and kept the focus on the
accommodations students require. The student organization was more about
advocacy, and working with administration to make the school more
accessible. I found that focusing on accommodation, rather than disability,
contributed to students perceptions of students requiring accommodations
being considered capable. I tried to focus on ability, more than
"disability" maintaining that students are able to contribute meaningfully,
providing they are given access to the material in a meaningful way. I
helped to identify what accessible material meant for administration, and to
educate guest lecturers about how to make presentations accessible.

I like your idea of incorporating mentorship. Hopefully you can create the
kind of organization that you would like to see.

All the best,
Ben 

Original Message
Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2018 09:42:05 +0000
From: Veronica R Gaspa <veronica.gaspa at student.shu.edu>
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
	<nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Ana Martinez <martinezana770 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [NABS-L] creating a student organization on campus
Message-ID:

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"

Hello Ana,
I understand the kind of thing you are thinking of, my school tried to do
something similar, but instead of it being an awareness group it turned into
a discussion group. Sadly we can't always change people's philosophies and
perceptions, as much as we may want to, but what you can do is put some
feelers out for people who may be interested in serving on the executive
board and see if you can all talk to get on the same page. If you know who
is interested sitting down and listening to where you all come from may help
form a common stronger philosophy. I hope this helps!
Best,
Vee Gaspa

-----Original Message-----
From: NABS-L <nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Ana Martinez via
NABS-L
Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2018 11:32 PM
To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Cc: Ana Martinez <martinezana770 at gmail.com>
Subject: [NABS-L] creating a student organization on campus

Hi all, hope everyone is doing good in this last months of the semester. So,
I would like to start a student organization here on campus. And I?m looking
for some insites. I would like to have an organization that creates
awareness and fosters understanding towards students with disabilities. The
purpose of this would be to include everyone on campus, I want this
organization to be a way to educate my college as well as the surrounding
communityabout the true capabilities of Disabled students. Besides the
education portion, I would like to create a mentoring program, where college
students with disabilities can serve as mentors to disabled high school
students around the area.
I believe that college is a place in which students constantly learn, and
challenge preconceived notions, opinions and ideas. This would then be a
great chance to challenge the general perception on disability, and provide
the students with a more accurate representation.
I think this could be a good idea, and that this organization could really
make a difference and educate my college community.
The only problem I have is, all the students I?ve met here on campus who
have a disability , have a very bad philosophy about people with
disabilities. Students here have a hierarchy of disability. For
example: students with learning disabilities often help students in wheel
chairs. And many disabled students think that those of us who are blind or
deaf are ?amazing because we are just doing things that every other college
student does, like going to class. My question is, how to first educate the
disabled students in my campus about other disabilities? I recognize I can?t
start this organization if students don?t have good perceptions about
themselves or others in the disability community. thanks.