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Winter/Spring 2001 UCLA
NEW HORIZONS
UCLA Office for Students with Disabilities
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
- A Word from the Director: Kathy's Korner by Kathy Molini
- Arline Halper to Retire
- Construction Update
- Annual OSD Student Art Show
- Winter Workshop - Test-taking Strategies: Multiple Choice Exams
- Graduate Disabilities Caucus
- Union for Students with Disabilities
- Searching for Scholarships
- Mobility Shortcuts by Ed McCloskey, Mobility Assistance Program Coordinator
- Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Disability
- Nadia Powers Scholarship
- Contacting OSD
- OSD Services
- 99-00 Annual Report Now Available in OSD
- Have You Moved?
- Alternate Formats
A WORD FROM THE DIRECTOR
Kathy's Korner
I can’t believe we are well into the Winter quarter. It seems as though I was, for the first time, meeting many of you who attended our New Student Orientation. I hope Fall quarter was successful for you. Many quarters are successful for students because they make arrangements for accommodations early. Be sure to make an appointment with an OSD staff member early as you can every quarter. It could make a big difference.
In the Fall issue of New Horizons (Fall 2000 Kathy's Korner), I announced that Ariel Smith, our Resource Room Assistant was leaving to attend school full time and that we would be announcing a new Assistant soon. It gives me great pleasure to announce that as of late September, 2000 Robert Ono joined our staff as OSD Resource Room Assistant. He is doing a great job in our very busy Proctor Service area. Many of you have already met Robert, if you received proctoring services during Fall quarter. If not, stop by 181 Powell Library and introduce yourself.
On another note, I would like to tell you about a relatively new State law. Assembly Bill 422 (AB 422) was signed by Governor Davis and went into effect on January 1, 2000.
"This bill would require every individual, firm, partnership or corporation publishing or manufacturing printed materials, as defined, for students attending the University of California, the California State University or a California Community College to provide to the university, college or particular campus of the university or college, for use by students at no additional cost and in a timely manner, any printed instructional material in unencrypted electronic form upon the receipt of a written request, provided that the university or college complies with certain conditions."
Further, "This bill would require that the computer files or electronic versions of printed instructional material maintain their structural integrity, as defined, be compatible with commonly used Braille translation and speech synthesis software, and include corrections and revisions as may be necessary."
In addition, "This bill would also require an individual, firm, partnership or corporation that publishes or manufactures nonprinted instructional materials for students attending the University of California, the California State University, or a Community College to provide computer files or other electronic versions of the nonprinted instructional materials for use by students, subject to the same conditions for printed instructional materials, when technology is available to convert these nonprinted instructional materials to a format that maintains the structural integrity of the nonprinted instructional material that is compatible with Braille translation and speech synthesis software."
"This bill would provide that willful failure to comply with these requirements would be subject to sanctions under the law relating to full and equal access of disabled persons to public accommodations."
The implementation of this bill has been slow, mainly because many publishers are unaware that it exits. Currently, there is a push by the author of AB 422, Assembly Member Darrel Steinberg along with individuals from the UCs, CSUs and community colleges to address this problem. As always, when you come to OSD to make your request for service, we will explore this approach as well as any other that will obtain your reading materials in a timely manner.
Should you want a copy of AB 422, please stop by the OSD.
Arline Halper to Retire
Dear Students and Colleagues,
It is with mixed emotions that I say "good-bye" to OSD, and to my students and colleagues at UCLA. These past nine years on campus as coordinator of the Learning Disabilities Program have been extremely rewarding. It’s unbelievable that I started working in the field of learning disabilities almost thirty years ago. At that time, "learning disabilities" was a new term. Educators were first beginning to identify a subset of bright children, who had tremendous difficulty learning to read, write, spell and/or calculate. Innovative techniques were developed. I began to teach individual children, as well as small groups of children using systematic and multi-sensory techniques. Progress was slow and steady, but the children did begin to learn. They also began to understand that they were not lazy, stupid or disturbed. Their disabilities were analogous to "short circuits" in the brain that resulted in slower processing of information, reading, and/or writing. The learning disability was not their fault, was often inherited and transcended all races, religions and nationalities. In fact, many notable leaders, artists and scientists, such as Thomas Edison were thought to have learning disabilities.
I began to worry about the future of "my" children. Would they gain entrance to, and achieve in college? Would they succeed in adult life? This concern was the impetus to my interest in working with college students with learning disabilities. In many ways, they were the same bright children with unexpected problems with reading, spelling and/or math, only older. They were the students who worked harder and longer than others, but could achieve, often with significant honors, with proper support. They were our success stories. These years of working with this adult population have been some of the most satisfying of my career. I had the privilege of meeting many outstanding students. We have seen the program and the population grow over the years from 57 students in 1992, to over three hundred students with learning disabilities, ADHD, acquired brain injuries and psychological disabilities served by four LD Specialists, including myself. We have enjoyed the unwavering support of the UCLA community, with the common goal of assisting students. I will miss you all.
What now? Retirement is still a bit hazy in my mind, but I am looking forward to traveling with my husband who has been retired for some time, and having more time to visit my eleven (!) grandchildren who are scattered between Northern California and the East Coast. I want to learn new things, improve my tennis, and continue involvement in my field in some capacity. I thank everyone for making these years so very meaningful for me.
With fond thoughts and memories,
Arline Halper
Construction Update
Construction is underway at many places on campus. The biggest construction site is on the South part of campus for the Westwood Replacement Hospital. The boulevard from Med Plaza to Young Drive has been removed and Westwood has been re-aligned. The sidewalk on the west side of Westwood from the Police Station to the Med. Plaza will soon reopen for pedestrian use. Likewise, the sidewalk along Gayley near the construction site has been reopened. There is little impact to motorists and pedestrians at this large site at this time.
The Southwest Staging Building, in Lot 32, is underway. This building will be the temporary home for Dickson and the Dance Building when they undergo remodeling in about a year, All of Lot 32 has been reconfigured.
Construction will soon begin for the Physics/Astronomy Building off Portola Plaza, behind Powell and west of Knudsen. The access road from Westholme to the Math Science turn-around will remain in place but lie idle until large equipment and materials are needed.
The small parking lot just east of Knudsen remains closed.
Work continues at the De Neve Commons and at three of the housing clusters in this plaza area. Green construction fences are in place along the Dykstra access road.
The addition to the Wooden Center is progressing well with little impact to access.
For additional information regarding campus construction’s impact on accessibility, please contact Ed at the OSD or call the OSD Information/Construction Hotline at 206-0147.
Annual OSD Student Art Show
Scheduled for the Spring Quarter
For info about submitting your work
Please call Doug Gerow at 825-1501
Winter Workshop
Test-taking Strategies: Multiple Choice Exams
March 7th 5:00-6:30
A-255 Murphy
Call 825-1501 to RSVP
Pizza and other delicacies will be served
GRADUATE DISABILITIES CAUCUS INVITES YOU TO JOIN!!
The purpose of this organization is to provide a forum for addressing issues pertaining to disabilities curriculum, students with disabilities, peer support, and access issues on the UCLA campus. We welcome those graduate students with and without disabilities who have an interest in this area.
Our objectives include advocacy, education, resource management and referral, support, curriculum development, Americans with Disabilities Act compliance, and representation of students with physical, learning, developmental, and psychological disabilities to faculty, administration, Office of Students with Disabilities, Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Disabilities, and the UCLA student government bodies.
Union of Students with Disabilities
The mission of the Union of Students with Disabilities (USD) is to ensure full accessibility of educational opportunity for students with disabilities at UCLA. The USD also offers disabled peer support and plans programs and events aimed at raising the campus consciousness about disability-related issues. If interested in becoming involved, please contact the Mike Cohn at (310)206-8821.
Searching For Scholarships
The search for scholarships can be complicated and confusing, but the Scholarship Resource Center (SRC) is here to help guide you through the maze. The SRC maintains a scholarship database and library, and provides workshops and counseling. The SRC is located at 233 Covel Commons (206-2875).
The SRC is an extremely valuable resource to assist you in searching for scholarships including those based on a disability or any number of other criteria. You don’t have to have a 4.0 GPA to qualify for many scholarships. Now is the time to start looking for funding for next year.
Upcoming Workhops:
- Free Scholarship Search,
- How to Find Scholarships,
- Writing Personal Statements for Scholarships,
- The Scholarship Process, and
- Searching for Scholarships on the Internet.
The SRC also offers the U.S. National and British Merit Scholarships, workshops to provide UCLA students information about national scholarships such as the Rhodes, Churchill, and Truman Scholarship programs.
A great way to become familiar with the process is to sign up for one of the Free Scholarship Search Workshops. Check the SRC website for times and locations.
www.college.ucla.edu/up/src
Mobility Shortcuts
by Ed McCloskey, Mobility Assistance Program Coordinator
Many persons at UCLA may not know of ways to avoid some hills or inclement weather while traversing the campus. For students who use wheelchairs or crutches the following short cuts may be of great value.
To ease the incline near the Northeast part of campus, use the AGSM (Andersen Graduate School of Management) and Parking Structure 5. The fourth floor of the AGSM leads to the sixth level of structure 5, which leads to the patio area between the North Campus Eatery and the north end of Rolfe. There are four elevators in the AGSM but none in Lot 5.
To avoid a greater part of the incline on Bruin Walk between the Residence Halls and Westwood Plaza use the elevator at the LATC (Los Angeles Tennis Center). This means using the top level of the Tennis Center seating area.
To avoid some of the slope of Bruin Walk between Powell and Westwood Plaza use the elevators in Ackerman to the connecting bridge between level 2 of Ackermann and the second floor of Kerchoff to the patio between Moore and Powell.
If you know of any other handy shortcuts let us know so we can pass them on to our readers.
Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on Disability
The CACD was established in 1982 as an advisory group by the Chancellor to create and maintain a more accessible campus environment. The CACD is comprised of student, faculty, staff, alumni, community, and ex-officio members. The Committee’s charge is to analyze and identify problems, propose solutions, and make recommendations on matters of particular concern to persons with disabilities.
Meeting Times:
The 2nd Tuesday of each month (except August and December,) 2-4 pm, Faculty Center
For more information contact the ADA & 504 Compliance Office at (310) 825-2242 (voice) or (310) 206-3349 tty
Nadia Powers Scholarship
$500 Awarded to a
UCLA Undergraduate or Graduate
For an outstanding project that furthers the understanding and study of people with disabilities
Projects must be faculty sponsored and may include: a research proposal, a research paper, field study report or architectural or 3-dimensional model/design. Possible subjects may include any of a wide variety of issues related to people with disabilities such as behavior, care, interactions, access issues, political power, etc.
Application Deadline
Tuesday, JUNE 5
Come by the OSD for an application or more information.
Contacting OSD
George Auletta
Programmer Analyst
gauletta@saonet.ucla.edu
794-5723
Chana Bell
Learning Disabilities Specialist
825-1501
Tony Buffo
Resource Room Assistant
tbuffo@saonet.ucla.edu
825-2651
Doug Gerow
Auxiliary Services Coordinator
825-1501
Arline Halper
Coordinator, Learning Disabilities Program
825-1501
Dan Levitt
Assistant Director & Coordinator of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Student Program
825-1501
Maria Martin
Payroll Administrator
memartin@saonet.ucla.edu
794-5731
Ed McCloskey
Mobility Assistance Program Coordinator
emcclosk@saonet.ucla.edu
267-2004
Kathy Molini
Director
825-1501
Julie Morris
Learning Disabilities Specialist
jmorris@saonet.ucla.edu
794-5732
Robert Ono
Resource Room Assistant
825-1501
Deb Owen
Budget Analyst/Supervisor of Technology, Planning & Training
dowen@saonet.ucla.edu
825-1501
Linda Stolt
Assistant Director/Proctor Services Coordinator
lstolt@saonet.ucla.edu
267-2008
Sharon Teruya
Learning Disabilities Specialist
825-1501
Powell Resource Room
825-2651
FAX
825-9656
TDD
206-6083
Van Line
825-2263
Web page
http://www.osd.ucla.edu
OSD Services
Whether you are a new or continuing student, the OSD is here to assist you. There are many academic support services that the OSD has to offer regularly enrolled UCLA students with documented permanent and temporary disabilities. These disability-based services include:
Notetaking
Provided for students with a wide variety of disabilities, there are three approaches to this service: ASUCLA Lecture Notes, Volunteer Stipend Approach, and Classroom Assistant. The approach selected for a particular student will be determined after discussion with the Auxiliary Services Coordinator and based on verified need.
Proctoring
As an academic adjustment, a student with a disability may need alternative test-taking conditions. Depending upon the disability documentation, faculty consultation and the requirements of the academic program, appropriate testing accommodations for students may include: the exam printed in large print or Braille; additional time for the exam; one-on-one assistance such as the proctor reading the test questions and/or writing the student’s answers. Please contact the Proctor Coordinator for further information.
Transcription
Provided primarily for eligible students with learning disabilities, visual impairments or disabilities impacting manual dexterity, this service involves the conversion of information in any format into another format (tape to transcript, text to Braille, handwriting to typed material, etc.).
Reading/Scanning
The OSD will first facilitate membership in RFBD (Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic) for eligible students. If the readings are unavailable through RFBD, then readings may be done live or onto a tape. Scanning involves using a computer to scan the material and convert it to a word processing program which can, in turn, be converted into Braille, large print or a speech synthesized reading program.
Technology Resources for Students with Disabilities
The Office for Students with Disabilities maintains a Resource Room in Powell 181 that is used by students for distraction-free testing and use of special adaptive equipment and devices. There are several computer workstations with adaptive software that are used for scanning, reading, editing, large print, voice recognition and other activities. In addition, there are computer labs throughout the campus available to students who do not need adaptive technology.
The Office for Students with Disabilities maintains a close working relationship with the Disabilities and Computing Program which researches and field tests adaptive technology as it comes out and makes recommendations to students and campus departments. Students can receive and advice on the most useful software for their individual needs. Students may contact this program (206-7133) on their own or be referred by the Office for Students with Disabilities.
Priority Enrollment/ Registration Assistance
Priority enrollment is available to undergraduate students whose disability impacts their ability to get from class to class quickly, students who need to arrange for service providers or students who must take a reduced course load. Students requiring disability-based registration assistance may contact the OSD for more information.
Mobility Assistance Program
On-Campus Van Service
This service offers academically-related rides to students with mobility disabilities which impact their ability to travel around campus. Van service is provided from 7:20am to 5:40 pm, Monday through Thursday. Friday hours are 7:20 am to 5:00 pm. Contact the OSD to ask for the Campus Transportation Options flyer which contains information regarding evening and weekend rides and much, much, more.
Parking
All students with permanent or temporary disabilities or medical conditions must apply for parking directly at the OSD. Please contact the OSD by phone (267-2004) in order to arrange for an appointment. Students with Department of Motor Vehicle Disability Placards or Plates must bring their placard ID to their appointment.
Students without DMV disability plates or placards must have a Disability Verification Form completed by a health care professional in order to apply for parking. This form can be obtained from the OSD. Parking is granted only if a disability-based need is stated in the documentation.
The Mobility Assistance Coordinator will authorize appropriate parking. The application then needs to be taken to Parking Services for payment, processing and issuance of a permit and gate key.
Campus Orientation
Students with visual impairments may request a campus orientation and mobility session with the Mobility Assistance Coordinator.
The student will learn to traverse the campus as he/she would during a regular day - - going from the classroom to labs, lecture halls, or bus stops.
Program for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students
Interpreting/Captioning
In order to participate fully in classes and activities, students who are deaf may receive Sign Language interpreting or real-time captioning. Interpreters use American Sign Language to interpret what the teachers and students say. Realtime captioning allows deaf students to read the verbatim lecture on a laptop computer as the professor lectures. Real-time captioning uses the same method and equipment used by court reporters.
Program for Students with Learning Disabilities
The Learning Disabilities Program serves students with documented specific learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, acquired brain injury, and students with psychological disabilities. Based on their disability-related needs, students may receive extended time for exams, notetakers, tutorial services, textbooks on tape, adaptive technology, alternative testing format, disability-related counseling and may participate in learning strategies workshops, support groups and the peer mentor program.
Technology for Students with Learning Disabilities
Reading machines and voice-synthesized editing programs are available in our Resource Room, Powell 181. These aids may be used to compensate for reading and writing difficulties. The following assistive technology is available for student use:
Bookwise and WYNN reading programs: These are "friendly" reading programs that use a voice synthesizer to read aloud to students. Popular features of this software include a dictionary to define unfamiliar vocabulary, easily adjustable reading rates and a selection of computer voices. Bookwise also allows you to edit the scanned document.
Openbook: Openbook is a "scan-n’-read" computer program. It will scan a full page in less than 15 seconds and read aloud to students. Text can also be saved on disk for reading at a later time.
Please contact a Learning Disabilities Specialist to determine your eligibility to use this assistive technology, and for a demonstration.
Other Services at the OSD
Other services offered by this office include: Housing Assistance, Tutorial Referrals, Disability Management Counseling and Information and Referral, among others.
99-00 Annual Report Now Available in OSD
HAVE YOU MOVED?
Please remember to let the OSD know each time you change your address in order to continue to receive the newsletter and other important mailings regarding priority enrollment, proctoring, van transportation, etc.
Changing your address with the Registrar’s Office DOES NOT change your address with OSD. You can call the office, e-mail us, or come in and fill out a "change of address" slip.
Alternative Formats Available
New Horizons is available in Braille, on tape cassette and on the OSD web site. Contact the OSD to request a copy in an alternative format.
New Horizons is published quarterly by the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD). The views expressed in this newsletter by individual contributors are not necessarily the views of the OSD. The OSD welcomes material submitted for publication which may be of interest to its readers such as brief articles, essays, or poetry. We reserve the right to edit the material as needed. Contact the OSD for deadline information.
UCLA Office for Students with Disabilities
A-255 Murphy Hall
Box 951426
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1426
(310) 825-1501
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