Chloe B. Gonzalez/Asst. Entertainment Director
FIU’s Disability Resource Center provides disabled students with any programs, services, or accommodations they may need to succeed academically while working toward eradicating social stigmas about disabilities among nondisabled students.
“We are trying to challenge some of the norms about what society has taught us about what it’s like to have a disability,” said Amanda Niguidula, director of DRC.
The DRC –located in the Graham Center, room 190– attends to the needs of all FIU Panthers with disabilities. They specialize their services on a case-by-case basis to give a tailored fit and relevant accommodations such as note-takers, readers, adaptable furniture, and scribes, as well as extra exam time or computer software.
Additionally, students can receive coaching during their academic career from access consultants, and attend the Focus On Success and Blue Panthers workshops.
“We really think of ourselves as a type of one-stop shop … So we’re here to be sure that they have whatever supports or services they might need so they can fully participate alongside their nondisabled peers in the learning environment,” said Niguidula.
They also aim to work with all academic departments in the university community to teach them about disabled students and the services offered to them. The DRC wants to help them understand disabilities, spread awareness, and fix the misconceptions surrounding what it means to be a DRC student.
“There was a very big stigma that if you were a DRC student you were just trying to gain the system … One of the major highlights of the last few years is really showing professors how accountable we hold our students and how accountable they want to be held,” said Stephen Loynaz, access consultant manager for the DRC.
Loynaz commented that the relationship between university faculty and the DRC has become more trusting and there has been a change in the climate and attitude surrounding the DRC faculty over the years.
The history of FIU’s DRC dates back to the late 1970’s and since then, it has been constantly evolving.
Because of the flexibility provided by the re-initiation of the American with Disabilities Act, the department now helps over 2000 students, after starting out with almost 300 students.
They have also changed their approach to disability from the medical model, where they focused on the disability and a one-time academic adjustment, to a social model, where disability was seen as another difference and another part of a student’s identity, said Niguidula.
Today, the DRC continues to constantly change, improve, and work toward its goals for the future.
Niguidula explained that one of her objectives for the future of the DRC is to create a time when the needs of disabled students are incorporated in the classroom and when it’s no longer necessary to segregate disabled students from nondisabled students or take them out of the classroom for exams. She also wants to change the idea that disabled students don’t advance to pursue higher-level education after graduating with their bachelor’s.
Graduate student, Elcana Jean-Pierre, challenges that misconception. Since she was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at 13 years old, she has graduated from FIU with a Bachelor of Science in social work and is now in the first year of her master’s degree.
Jean-Pierre has been with the DRC for three years where they’ve helped her with accommodations such as a note-taker and scribe, special desks and extra time for exams. She explained that even though all those accommodations helped her, she learned that everything isn’t solely about her disability.
“[The DRC] made me feel like they were here for me … When they say you’re a DRC student, it’s not so much about focusing on your condition. They’re pretty much focusing on what they can do to make it easier for you to do what you have to do,” Jean-Pierre said.
“Our goal is to be sure that not just is the DRC providing the best services to students with disabilities but that FIU in general is the most welcoming and accessible university that we have for those students,” said Niguidula.
Image by CollegeDegrees360, retrieved from Flickr:
About Post Author
