Students with disabilities forum

In the garden level of the Administration Building is the Services for Students with Disabilities office.  Students may claim to have heard of the office, but few know what it does or who it helps.
Allison West, coordinator of the office, and Jeremy Martin, a registered SSD student and SSD intern, have made it their mission to inform faculty and staff.  
Last year, West created the Brown Bag Lunch.  The lunch served as a platform to allow the students of the SSD office to share their stories and educated the campus about the purpose of the SSD.
On April 23, from noon to 1 p.m., a free lunch will be offered in Rodman Hall to all faculty, staff and students.  
Martin said, “The lunch is a way for the students to share their stories and help the JCU community understand what goes on in the office and actually understand what it is like to go through day-to-day life and live with disabilities.”
The five students selected to speak at this year’s Brown Bag Lunch will demonstrate a wide spectrum of the types of students the office helps.  Students sharing their stories of overcoming learning, mental, and or physical disabilities.
Martin said, “A disability can be a positive attribute.  It has helped me with things such as time management.  For instance I may have to start a paper earlier, but it helps create great work ethic.”
West stressed that even though they encourage their students to share their stories at the Brown Bag Lunch, everything noted at the forum remains confidential if students come to the SSD office.  
Students who register with the SSD office will be permitted to have accomodations in the classroom. However, the nature of their disability will not be publicized to their professor, only the specific needs for accomodations will be listed.
West said, “Students with challenges can prosper in the college atmosphere and we can help them succeed.”

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