By: Ian Brehaut
How can accessibility services help provide services to its students? The goal of the accessibility services is to provide students with equal access of accessibility and resources in a supportive environment. Another goal is to provide students with adequate accommodations to help aim to improve student success with access to everything. This fair was designed to help raise awareness of the accessibility services on campus. The aim of the fair was to also provide students with real-life scenarios of how people with disabilities live on a daily basis.
“The Challenge Experience and Resource Fair… makes sure that students with disabilities know what resources were available to them to get support in the community…” Michael Bailey the Director of Accessibility Services stated.
The Wheelchair Experience provided students with the challenges of moving around in a wheelchair.
When a student entered the boardrooms, students were presented with multiple outside accessibility services that are provided in Pasco County. Eight accessibility service providers were at the event and were ready to answer students questions. At the event, Counseling Services were present and had talked to students about the signs of struggle. Some instances of struggle include having depression, being scared, and having anxiety. Counseling services recommend that students should take the time to talk to a counselor. These sessions are confidential, compassionate, and are free of charge for students.
In any given situation, students who feel that somebody is emotionally struggling, should take the time to reach out. When services are not available, students should check out ULifeline.org and HaldofUS.com. These websites provide students with ways on how to help provide counseling for themselves in most given situations.
The Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services of Florida was also present at the event and had presented students ways to communicate more easily with someone who is deaf. They provided students with equipment to help improve students learning experiences. Some other services they provide include teaching sign-language, brail, and text-to-speech calling services. The Division of Blind Services were also present at the event and had offered ways students can better improve their education by using equipment to better combat their visual impairments.
The Dining Hall offered its services alongside accessibility services to help students with dietary restrictions. At the event, students had the opportunity to taste either a “Sun Buttered Cookies” (peanut free) and were able to try a “Fudgy Black Bean Brownies” (gluten free). Students loved these treats and couldn’t tell that they were peanut or gluten free.
The bags challenged students to be blind folded and tell what objects are in the bags that were moved on them.
The Center for Autism and Related Disabilities provided ways to help people of any age by offering counseling to students. Next, the Pasco’s County’s Veteran Services showed students with services how veterans can be helped with most anything that happens in their daily lives.
The first experience table was a wheel-chair obstacle course. This provided students with a real-life situation where you might not be able to move around easily. This was designed to show the issue of inaccessibility some students face around campus.
The goggles provided students with ways to replicate how the blind sees.
The second table showed how just putting socks on your hands makes it harder to open a bag of candy. The third table challenged students to make a PB&J sandwich blind folded. This was designed to replicate how people who are blind need to memorize where items are placed. The fourth table challenged students to be blind folded and tell what objects are in the bags that were moved on them.
The last challenge encouraged students to replicate a star and draw it on paper without looking at the paper. The star was projected on a screen and students had to look at the screen. The purpose of this challenge was to show how some people don’t have the ability to draw perfectly.
