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Kate Corbett Pollack, the coordinator of the Disability Cultural Center, said during Syracuse University’s “Disability History in America” event on Oct. 20 that many people are becoming more mindful of the need for accessibility.

“It is a learning process for them (people who don’t have disabilities),” Pollack said. “Do I need to have sign language? Is there a wheelchair ramp? Is the bathroom wheelchair accessible? Is there a place for somebody in a wheelchair to sit in the audience? We don’t want a lot of chairs in the way, just stuff like that is a really good start.”

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and university communities such as the Center for Disability Resources, the Disability Cultural Center and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion sponsored events this month to promote discussions about disability awareness on campus. Two of these discussions were held online and offered accessibility through real-time translation in communication, American Sign Language interpretation and captioning.

The last event of SU’s Disability Awareness Month, “Abolition and Disability Justice” with attorney, writer and artist Katie Tastrom, will be held online on Oct. 27 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. A Zoom link will be available for those who register.

During the “Disability History in America” event, Pollack led the first online lecture about disability history in America, which she described as a “not-so pretty” past on the topic. Social systems in the past included abuse and discrimination against people with disabilities such as epilepsy, deafness and blindness, Pollack said during her webinar.

“People did not think disability was a good thing, they thought it was a bad thing,” Pollack said. “And because of that kind of ideology, people did not really interfere with the family issue. Nobody wanted to do anything about it.”

At the end of the webinar, she highlighted the importance of classroom accommodations for students with disabilities. Pollack said it would have been “dehumanizing” and “demoralizing” if the students with disabilities are excluded from class engagement.

Paula Possenti-Perez, the director of the Center for Disability Resources, hosted “Rethinking the Disability Paradigm” on Friday for SU faculty and professors to learn how to better engage with people with disabilities. This event unveiled how the entrenched attitude of able-bodied privilege may affect the workplace culture and social beliefs.

Possenti-Perez said there is diversity within disabilities.Some members of the disability community identify with person-first language, while others use identity-first language, she said.

“Having this identity-first language is actually sort of taking back the word, because disability was meant, when it was socially constructed, as being medicalized for a deficit model,” Possenti-Perez said.

Possenti-Perez has led the workshop training with her colleagues for a couple of years now, which she hopes promotes a social justice model where disability is seen as “positive or neutral, and really to work towards reducing the stigma in the (social and institutional) barriers,” she said.

She is optimistic that the university is being intentional about its effort to include disability in a positive field within the entire diversity, equity and inclusion framework.

The Center for Disability Resources was completely online before the pandemic. It was able to continue operating and engaging and working with students because they were used to meeting virtually, Possenti-Perez said.

Mercy Xie, a student in the Doctor of Juridical Science in Law program, appreciates the Center for Disability Resources’ effort to create an inclusive environment for students with physical disabilities like her. One of the ways Xie, who has a prosthetic leg, notices the center doing this is by allowing students with disabilities to customize the transportation pickup time based on their needs or class schedule.

The law student is determined to study disability law and advocate for disability equity because the Disability Law and Policy Program creates a pathway for her to ensure that people with disabilities can fully participate in social life on the basis of gaining equality with others.The resources and services on campus have made Xie feel comfortable at SU, she said.

Other than the Center for Disability Resources, Xie also participated in employment skills classes from the InclusiveU program, which specializes in supporting students with intellectual disabilities.

“Having these disability programs set up is still not enough,” Xie said. “To involve every person including staff, faculty and students within the university in respecting the community of people with disabilities is ultimately crucial.”

The Center for Disability Resources aims to provide better interchangeable communication between students with disabilities and those who do not identify as having disabilities. The center is also planning the Disability Access and Inclusion Council to create a more inclusive space for students to feel a sense of belonging and know that there’s a space for them on campus, Possenti-Perez said.

“Shifting (disability awareness) culture is both at the micro level, in our engagements with your family, and with your parents and with your friends, and then more at a macro level the system changes,” Possenti-Perez said. “We are all striving for cultural change around disability.”

Published on October 27, 2021 at 2:07 am

Contact Mengyao: mwang62@syr.edu