Alex Watters, a graduate of Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, takes Roger Martin on an accessibility tour of his former campus. Watters damaged his spine soon after beginning his freshman year, which caused difficulties — physically and otherwise — upon returning to school, according to the piece. The article discusses everything from Watters’ accident to his advocacy for disability issues to his advice for future college students with disabilities.
One important note about the writer: perhaps in order to gain a better sense of Watters’ daily experience, Martin navigates campus in a manual wheelchair.
Melissa Sgroi, chair of the Communications Department at Misericordia University is doing a study on media workers with disabilities and is seeking media professionals with disabilities of any type who took at least one journalism or communications course in college (no degree required). They must have had a disability as a student and are now working in some facet of the media — TV, radio, PR, graphic design, advertising, etc.
The study is important because there is no literature addressing media professionals with disabilities who made the transition from college to work (and very little about students in journalism/mass communications education). Sgroi believes the results will shed light on their experiences and thus help educators and others improve these experiences in the future.
Full announcement below
Melissa Sgroi, a doctoral candidate at Wilkes University who is also a communications educator and former print and broadcast journalist, is conducting a research study titled “The Essence of the College-to-Career Experience of Media Professionals with Disabilities.” The study seeks to describe the experience of media professionals with disabilities who took course work in journalism or mass communications in higher education and successfully made the transition from college to the media workplace. A degree is not required.
Media professionals with disabilities are invited to share their perceptions of their experiences in college and their careers. This knowledge and insight may help educators, media professionals, and industry leaders improve the educational and workplace experiences of both students and workers. You must be willing to participate in an hour-long interview and submit a media product that you feel in some way represents your experiences. Some information in the interview may be considered sensitive or personal in nature. All information will be kept strictly confidential and your name will not be used in results or reports.
To qualify, you will:
Be a full-time, part-time, freelance, contract, retired, or currently unemployed worker in any business or non-profit organization in which your work directly contributes to the creation of media products.
Have a disability.
Have taken journalism or mass communications course work in postsecondary education at a two or four-year degree-granting institution in the U.S. A major or degree is not required.
Have had a disability as a postsecondary student.
Be a legally independent resident of the United States.
Be at least 21 years of age.
All participants will receive lunch at a restaurant of their choice with a maximum value of $20. Please contact Melissa Sgroi at melissa.sgroi@wilkes.edu or (570) 674-6744 to receive more information.
Several high school students listen attentively to the young man standing before them. Not long ago, Jesse Riddle, who has a learning disability, had been sitting where they are.
But with drive and determination, he is living his dream of helping people with disabilities find employment. In the process, he has become an inspiration for the students of Osceola County.
A girl sits on a couch, laughing and smiling frequently. Her colorful, bright dress matches her vibrant personality. A black Labrador, Olivia, is sprawled on the carpet contentedly. She’s never too far away from her owner, criminal justice sophomore Katherine Chavez.
In conversation, Katherine has a peculiar tendency to look above the head of whomever she’s speaking with, like she expects the person to be taller than he or she really is. It’s a rough subject to bring up, as if calling attention to the elephant in the room. But why does she do that?
I SPOKE at an AIDS conference not long ago, and after the talk, someone asked me how I had contracted H.I.V. “Well,” I replied, “sexually.” Staring at my crutches, which I have used since I got polio as a child, she exclaimed, “But how?”
Legislation that could require parents of blind or deaf children to pay additional school fees is causing a stir amongst advocates for those with special needs.
When someone hears that a child has a disability they may think of down syndrome or being physically disabled. But imagine having a disability that no one can see and others thinking you’re just plain difficult.
West High School graduate Christian Johnson was born with Cerebral Palsy. It’s a condition caused by brain injuries usually within the womb. While the severity varies, Johnson has had limited use of his legs for most of his life.
Pueblo City Schools didn’t violate the rights of a special needs student, who at times was unable to control herself, by repeatedly confining her in a restraint device, a judge has ruled.