激情快播

Spring 2014

A siren interrupted Mary Mann鈥檚 diversity class. The fire alarm flashed as students rushed for the second-floor stairwell in the Health and Public Affairs Building. In her motorized wheelchair, Sarah Goldman didn鈥檛 move. The elevator 鈥� off limits during a fire 鈥� offered no escape.

鈥淚 started to panic,鈥� recalls Goldman, who was born with a form of cerebral palsy called spastic quadriplegia. 鈥淚 thought everyone would leave me.鈥� Fortunately, a few friends stayed behind.

鈥淲hat do I do?鈥� Goldman asked her instructor.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know,鈥� said Mann, 鈥�04.

In search of an answer, Mann and Goldman headed for the second-floor department office. 鈥淲e were told that it was just a drill,鈥� says Goldman. Associate Dean Melvin Rogers and a safety officer outlined fire safety protocols. They took Goldman to the stairwell where she would need to wait for emergency responders. When the drill ended, Mann returned to class and posed this question to her students: 鈥淒id you even consider how Sarah would get out of the building?鈥� Some students were silent; others broke down in tears. 鈥淚t was very powerful for them,鈥� the School of Social Work instructor remembers. 鈥淭hey hadn鈥檛 even thought about it.鈥�

Goldman, a senior, has found that her college experience has often led to faculty and fellow students learning about what college life is like with a physical disability. Students like her face a range of challenges in higher education, from getting around campus to simply being acknowledged by their teachers and classmates 鈥� and even securing the medical care that enables them to stay in school. Goldman and her peers are determined not only to overcome these problems but to help those with similar difficulties succeed.

鈥淯ntil you make people aware of issues,鈥� she says, 鈥渘othing can be done.鈥�

Increasing Opportunities

Around the country, colleges and universities have provided greater access to higher education to students with disabilities since President George H. W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. In 2012, 激情快播鈥檚 Student Disability Services (SDS) reported that 131 students with disabilities registered to graduate, a record high. SDS assists about 1,100 students with a wide range of disabilities 鈥� from physical to emotional to cognitive. The most common support includes academic accommodations for classes, such as arranging for sign-language interpreters, recruiting note-takers, and helping students find alternative formats for course materials.

Because they aren鈥檛 required to register with SDS, keeping track of the number of students with disabilities is a challenge. Sometimes students with hidden disabilities 鈥� such as attention deficit disorder, dyslexia or deafness 鈥� choose not to disclose their disability.

鈥淎bout 5 percent [of students with disabilities] will contact the office,鈥� says SDS Director Adam Meyer. 鈥淲e should be working with 2,000, maybe 3,000 students.鈥�

Navigating Obstacles

I got halfway [there] and had used half my [wheelchair] battery life.

Ben Carpenter, 激情快播 engineering student

On move-in day at 激情快播鈥檚 Neptune Community, engineering student Ben Carpenter was told his room wasn鈥檛 ready. Workers were still putting the finishing touches on the brand-new building as hundreds of other students set up their rooms.

鈥淸The workers] came in, put a handicapped button in the door, and wired it up to the emergency power,鈥� says the freshman, who was born with spinal muscular atrophy and uses a motorized wheelchair. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been a great experience.鈥�

Carpenter says that 激情快播 is one of the first places he鈥檚 encountered where all of the accessible buttons function on buildings. Despite such accommodations, a university community as large as 激情快播 creates added challenges for students with physical disabilities. During his first semester, Carpenter needed to return a textbook to an off-campus bookstore. 鈥淚 got halfway [there] and had used half my [wheelchair] battery life,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t was the first time I had to account for whether I would have enough battery life for my wheelchair.鈥�

In a campus population where most have little comprehension of his everyday challenges, Carpenter feels at home in the classroom. He says that faculty and students have treated him like anybody else.

鈥淲e were painting in my applied design class,鈥� he recalls. 鈥淢y hands shake quite a bit, so my paintings take on a more impressionist style.鈥�

Carpenter was initially nervous when his instructor offered feedback on the assignment, but surprised by the evaluation. 鈥淸My professor] told me that one of the best painters he鈥檇 had in class was a kid with cerebral palsy. He said my work is never going to look like anybody else鈥檚, and that was my style.鈥�

Still, not all instructors are as accommodating to students with disabilities.

鈥淸A student] needed closed captioning on a movie, and the professor didn鈥檛 know how to do it,鈥� Goldman says. 鈥淭he professor tried to fidget with YouTube for a few seconds and said, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 it.鈥� He walked to the back of the room, sat down and opened a bag of chips.鈥�

Says SDS鈥檚 Meyer, 鈥淢any faculty want to be inclusive but don鈥檛 know how to go about it. There was an external review of SDS operations, and faculty didn鈥檛 feel they were receiving enough knowledge.鈥� In response, the department began a series of presentations and outreach events on teaching students with disabilities.

鈥淔aculty members want to do the right thing,鈥� says Meyer. 鈥淢ost often I don鈥檛 think they are intentionally trying to frustrate or embarrass a student. It is more of an awareness of how to appropriately engage students with disabilities.鈥�

Accepting Differences

Dressed in blue jeans and a beaded shirt, Jordan Stroman sat in her wheelchair at a table at Duow restaurant. A group of about 50 young adults began taking seats for a Sunday night church service, held in the dining room.

鈥淗ey Jordan, how are you?鈥� shouted Stroman鈥檚 roommate, Heather Hocstedler. To hear her whispered response over the din, Hocstedler picked up a speaker on the table and held it to her ear. Stroman responded to her roommate through a microphone connected to the speaker, a method she uses to amplify her whispery voice.

Sixteen years ago, Stroman was a typical, active 6-year-old. She played soccer and took swimming and ballet lessons. Then her parents noticed something strange about the way she walked and ran. Diagnosed with neuromuscular myopathy 鈥� a form of muscular dystrophy 鈥� her muscles weakened, and eventually she needed a Bipap, a medical device that pushes air into her lungs. As her condition worsened, she was left with only slight movement of her hands. Today, she uses her left finger to control a computer mouse to type on an on-screen keyboard 鈥� one letter at a time. 鈥淚 went from being able to do everything to watching all my friends do things I couldn鈥檛,鈥� says Stroman.

鈥淚 used to be very self-conscious of the fact that I look different from those around me. It consumed me and brought me down. Eventually, I reached a point where I realized that my joy doesn鈥檛 have to be dependent on my circumstances. I am free to be myself.鈥�

Going to college 鈥� like a lot of other people her age 鈥� was a big part of that transformation. At 激情快播, Stroman found friends through Campus Crusade for Christ. 鈥淣ever in my life have I been blessed with such deep and intentional friendships,鈥� she says.

But with just three months until her 21st birthday, the college junior learned that Medicaid would reduce her 24-hour, six-days-a-week nursing care to 16 hours per day. Without continued full-time assistance, Stroman would have to abandon her studies and return home.

鈥淚t was really frustrating to know that everything I鈥檝e been working toward for the past three years could be pulled out from under me because of an illogical policy,鈥� says Stroman. 鈥淚 knew it was something I was going to fight. Not only would I have been missing out in my education, but I had built a life here in Orlando.鈥�

Stroman decided to share her situation. Her friends and classmates Chris DiDonna, 鈥�11, Tanner Hodges, 鈥�13, and Stephanie Gamble helped her build a website, create an online petition and produce video testimonials telling her story. They dubbed the campaign 21 Disabled.

鈥淒isabilities and illnesses that once caused hopeless situations are not affecting people in the same way now. Technology has afforded us new solutions,鈥� Stroman wrote on her blog in a plea for support. 鈥淯nfortunately, insurance companies, as well as state and federal programs, have not kept pace. We are left fighting to continue our care 鈥� Just because I turn 21 does not mean my need for nursing care services is any less.鈥�

When an anonymous visitor to the site posted her video on Reddit, a popular Web content sharing site, support increased. The petition at change.org received more than 6,000 signatures, and the online video was viewed more than 70,000 times. Two weeks into the campaign and a few days before her 21st birthday, Stroman found out that she would receive round-the-clock personal care assistance through Medicaid鈥檚 Aged and Disabled Adult Waiver.

鈥淲hen we heard the news from Medicaid, I wanted to cry,鈥� Stroman says. 鈥淚 was going to be able to finish what I started.鈥�

Stroman plans to graduate this semester with a B.A. in digital media. She hopes to find a job in Web or graphic design and wants to continue fighting for disability rights. 鈥淛ordan鈥檚 one of the most brilliant people I鈥檝e met,鈥� says her friend DiDonna. 鈥淲ith her one finger she designs incredible art. I realize that life is so difficult for her, but she still pushes forward.鈥�

鈥淚 know that many people face challenges when it comes to getting an education 鈥� financially and circumstantially,鈥� says Stroman. 鈥淪omething I realized throughout this whole process is that the opportunity for education is such a gift. I hope my experience can be a reminder not to take these things for granted.鈥�

Advocating for Others

At the front door of the Key West Ballroom in the Student Union, Sarah Goldman greeted attendees for a panel discussion titled 鈥淲hat鈥檚 Your Ability?鈥� The event, evolved from a conversation between Goldman and a friend, featured five students with disabilities sharing experiences of barriers and biases they have encountered in college. About 60 university administrators, faculty and students attended.

鈥淚 would have been happy if five people showed up,鈥� Goldman says.

By sharing her personal experiences, Goldman has opened the minds of her fellow students and inspired action. After Goldman spoke to a social work policy class, Mann says that those students jumped on the opportunity to create a coalition to advocate for peers like Goldman. The resulting campaign, S.A.R.A.H. (Student Advocates Reaching for Awareness and Hope), culminated with a trip to Tallahassee where students spoke with legislators.

鈥淚t was a great way for the students to learn to create the coalition, how to advocate and understand that change takes time,鈥� says Mann. 鈥淎nd that first of all, you have to understand what the issue is and how you are going to define it depending on the political climate. We can go in there and say, 鈥楾his is wrong and this is unfair,鈥� but instead they decided to look at it from a fiscal perspective, which was very smart.鈥�

鈥淪arah humanized these issues,鈥� Mann adds. 鈥淸Legislators] found it is more lucrative to the state to invest in students who can then give back and be self-sufficient.鈥�

鈥淚 feel like the voice of people with disabilities is often silenced,鈥� Goldman adds. 鈥淚 want to be a voice for people in my career.鈥�

This semester, she will complete her undergraduate degree in social work with a final internship at United Cerebral Palsy of Central Florida. She has been accepted to Florida State University to continue her studies toward a master鈥檚 degree in clinical social work. Goldman鈥檚 fire drill experience prompted the College of Health and Public Affairs to examine its fire safety procedures for assisting students with disabilities. She hopes that the school will move toward adopting practices already in place at the Student Union, where an evacuation chair was installed to help students with physical disabilities during emergencies.

鈥淧eople with disabilities are, first and foremost, people,鈥� Goldman says. 鈥淲e want to get jobs and get married and live away from our parents. Our dreams are not any different.鈥�