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UCLA

Office for Students with Disabilities

ANNUAL REPORT
2008-2009

Office for Students with Disabilities

A Department of Student Affairs

University of California, Los Angeles

P.O. Box 951426
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1426
A-255 Murphy Hall

310) 825-1501 (voice)
(310) 206-6083 (tty)
(310) 825-9656 (fax)

www.osd.ucla.edu

The Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) is a campus resource that assists the faculty and the University in meeting the mandates of Federal and State law and University Policy to provide academic support services and programmatic access to students with disabilities. The OSD also provides information to faculty about academic accommodations for students with disabilities. The philosophy and mission of the office focuses on encouraging independence, assisting students in realizing their academic potential and facilitating the elimination of physical, programmatic and attitudinal barriers.

Disability Demographics

During the 2008-09 academic year, a total of 1,639 students with documented disabilities received one or more academic support services and/or parking assistance (an increase of approximately 3% from last year). Of this number, 1,443 students received services other than parking (an increase of approximately 11% over last year) and were identified in the following categories:

Services Provided 2008-09

The OSD provides a variety of services including registration assistance, disability parking, on-campus van transportation, campus accessibility, assistance with housing appeals, tutorial referrals, adaptive equipment loan and the following:

A total of 196 students requested and received only parking assistance. The graph on the next page demonstrates our overall distribution between parking only and academic service users over a five-year period.

OSD Staff "Out and About"

Staff of the OSD attended conferences and seminars throughout Southern California this year including:

• Audio Conference: ADA Restoration Act (August, '08)
• CAM (California Alternative Media Program) Training (August, '08)
• "Legal Issues Related to Deaf Embryo Selection" (October, '08)
• Teleconference on Veteran's Issues (December, '08)
• CAM/BookShare Webinar (March, '09)
• UC CAM Evaluation (April, '09)
• Conference given by Insurance & Risk Management on Disability
• BookShare "Getting Started" Webinar (May, '09)

Presentations were made or information was disseminated to the following groups:

• "Linguistics of American Sign Language" (October, '08)
• "Transition to UCLA for Patients of UCLA's Kidney Clinic" (November, '08)
• Interpreter Evaluator for Santa Monica City College (year round)
• Advisory Committee Member at SMC (year round)
• UC OSD Directors Meeting (October, "08)
• Nursing School Orientation (July & August, '08)
• Veterans Orientation (July & August, '08)
• Foundation for the Junior Blind (July, '08)
• Undergraduate Admissions (August, '08)
• CAPS (Counseling and Psychological Services) Interns (September, '08)
• AAP Tutors/Mentors (September, '08)
• Residence Life (December, '08)
• Athletics (November, '08)
• Orientation Leaders (April, '09)
• TA Trainings (September, '08)
• Counselors for the Center for Community College Partnership (CCCP) (June, '09)
• Student Retention and Readmission Program (SRRP) Mentors (June, '09)
• Workshops presented through CAPS (year round)
• AAP Transfer/Freshman Summer Programs
• Family Orientations (July & August, '08)
• Law School Orientation (August, '08)
• Graduate Student Fair (August, '08)
• New Graduate Student Panel (September, '08)
• New Veteran's Reception (October, '08)
• Bruin Family Fest (October, '08)
• Transfer Achievement Program (TAP) Conference Fair (November, '08)
• "Disclosing Information about Your Disability for Employment and College Applications" Workshop (January, '09)
• Student Transfer Opportunity and Mentor Program (STOMP) Conference (April, '09)
• Community of Learners Mentor (year round)

The Learning Disabilities Program

Students continued to meet individually with LD Specialists to review specific skill strategies, most often in the areas of reading, writing and time management. Celeste Phelps joined our staff working with students in the LD Program and other students with disabilities. She also led the AD/HD Support Group. Dr. Halle Aten developed a new support group for students with Bipolar Disorder as well as a support group for students with Asperger's Syndrome that was co-sponsored with CAPS. The LD Program continued its ongoing relationship with Alliant International University by providing supervision and training for an intern who conducted learning disability assessments for UCLA students screened by the office. This has been a mutually-beneficial exchange as students with limited financial resources have the opportunity to undergo a comprehensive evaluation while the intern gains relevant training in the field. There was continued interest from campus departments and offices for presentations about the Learning Disabilities Program. These included presentations to departmental teaching assistants, Academic Advancement Program, athletics, health education, Ashe and other offices and departments around campus.

Technology Resources

The Office for Students with Disabilities has a Resource Room at Powell Library that is used by students for distraction-free testing and for use of special adaptive equipment and devices. There are several computer workstations with adaptive software that are used for scanning, reading, converting materials to Braille and other activities. In addition, there are computer labs throughout the campus available to students who do not need adaptive software. The Office for Students with Disabilities works closely with the Disabilities and Computing Program (DCP, located in Math Science 4909). The DCP provides adaptive technology and information access training, support, and services for students, faculty and staff with disabilities. Web accessibility evaluations and recommendations along with voice synthesis, Braille, large print, and voice recognition technologies are available, as are consulting for individuals and departments. Students can contact the DCP directly at 310-206-7133 or be referred by OSD. Also see the DCP web site at www.dcp.ucla.edu. The College Library Instructional Computing Commons (CLICC) offers a variety of instructional software as well as adaptive software including Kurzweil 3000 and ScanSoft OmniPage Pro. Student consultants are available to assist with questions. Contact CLICC at: (310) 206-0271 or www.clicc.ucla.edu.

Mobility Assistance

A total of 322 students with documented disabilities affecting their mobility were issued disability parking permits. Placards from the Department of Motor Vehicles or letters from physicians were accepted forms of verification. Permits were issued to 196 students who requested no other services from this office; permits were issued to an additional 126 students who received other academic accommodations.

A total of 7,911 on-campus van rides were given to 315 students with documented mobility impairments. This represents an increase of 12% in the number of rides and an increase of over 15% in the number of riders over last year.

Comparisons to Other Students

The OSD continued to work with the Registrar's Office to compare the academic progress of students who receive services from this office with all other UCLA students.

Overall, students with permanent disabilities averaged just .03 grade points below all other UCLA students. The greatest differences were noted at the freshmen level, where OSD students averaged .09 grade points higher than other UCLA freshmen, and at the professional level (medical, dental and law school), where OSD students averaged .11 grade points below other professional level students.

Students with temporary disabilities had similar comparisons. The overall average was .01 grade points below all other UCLA students with most levels averaging slightly higher than their non-disabled counterparts. The exceptions were found within the freshman and professional students who ranked .11 and .01 below their counterparts, respectively.

All ten UC campuses are tracking graduation and retention rates for students with disabilities.

Evaluation

An evaluation of services is sent each year to all students who have received academic support services from the OSD and who have addresses in our database. Based on comments received, changes may be made in the way service is delivered. Students who choose to identify themselves on this evaluation can request a followup on their comments. A total of 1,074 evaluations were sent out. The survey return rate was approximately 15% (133). A 5-point rating scale is used. 5-Excellent, 4-Good, 3-Acceptable, 2-Fair and 1-Poor. With that in mind, the ratings are indicated below:

*Indicates fewer than 10 people responded to this item this year.

The comparison to the results from 2007-08 show some areas significantly different but, due to the small number of respondents in any category, even one or two extreme scores could skew the result. All scores indicate a high degree of satisfaction with OSD services.

Several things were noted that could have some affect on these results. At least one respondent completed the survey twice (the student self-identified both times) and several students rated services which they did not receive (they indicated by written comment that they didn't get a particular service but decided to rate it anyway or more people rated a service than we served in that area). Even with these "glitches", we felt that the overall ratings were indicative of student satisfaction levels.

Resources Outside the Classroom

Programmatic access is provided by campus departments for all campus activities including student organizations, sporting events and extra-curricular activities. Contact the UCLA Access Web at www.ucla.edu.

The UCLA Libraries provide many services to students with disabilities. www.library.ucla.edu/service/disability.cfm.

Support Group for students with learning disabilities and another one for students with AD/HD offer opportunities for personal growth. (310) 825-1501.

Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) and the OSD co-facilitate a support group for students with psychological disabilities. Contact the OSD for more information on this group or www.counseling.ucla.edu.

The Disabled Student Union (DSU) is an Associated Students special interest group. (310) 794-4109 or www.studentgroups.ucla.edu/dsunion.

University Committee on Disability (UCOD) is made up of students, staff, faculty, alumni and community members. (310) 825-2242.

The Chancellor's ADA/504 Compliance Office assists the University in recognizing and acting upon access and compliance issues. (310) 825-1514 or www.ada.ucla.edu.

The Career Center provides career counseling and other services. (310) 206-1025 or www.career.ucla.edu.

Cultural & Recreational Affairs - Adaptive Rec. provides therapeutically-based recreation programs for people with cognitive and physical disabilities that expand their access to opportunities that promote physical fitness, health and wellness, increased self esteem, and greater functional independence. 2131 John Wooden Center, (310)825-1059 (voice), email: jhoffman@recreation.ucla.edu, Website: www.recreation.ucla.edu.

OSD Staff

• Kathy Molini, Director
• Dan Levitt, Assistant Director/Coordinator of the Program for Deaf & Hard of Hearing Students
• Ed McCloskey, Assistant Director, Relations and Services
• Deb Owen, Budget Analyst/Supervisor of Technology Planning and Training
• Linda Stolt, Assistant Director/Proctor Services Coordinator
• Dr. Julie Morris, Coordinator, Learning Disabilities Program
• Dr. Halle Aten, Learning Disabilities Specialist
• George Auletta, Programmer/Analyst
• Chana Bell, Learning Disabilities Specialist
• Tony Buffo, Alternative Format/Assistant Proctor Coordinator
• Christian Limon, Notetaker Services Assistant
• Maria E. Martin, Payroll/Personnel Administrator
• A.J. Mason, Resource Room Assistant
• Celeste Phelps, Learning Disabilities Specialist
• Melodie Stuart, Staff Captionist

Student Workers:

• Lindsey Argueta
• Cassandra Chavez
• Sue-Lan Chene
• Iris Garcia
• Jasmine Goindi
• Jason Hong
• An Le
• Brad Munns
• Kelli O'Dell
• Thomas Post
• Andrew Wang
• David Wardell
• Lisette Williford