Students came together at Memorial Student Union South on Tuesday evening to hold an open forum about topics regarding students at MU living with all types of physical and mental disabilities.
MU Student Exceptions, Sight Club and Delta Alpha Pi, a national honor society for students with disabilities, hosted the event.
The group of 15 students discussed becoming involved in on-campus organizations and ways students with disabilities can achieve greater academic success.
“Professors here are not used to teaching people with problems like ours,” said Gretchen Maune, president of Sight Club and a student who is blind at the Harry S. Truman School of Public Affairs. “I’ve had professors hand out pdf printouts to me and my classmates, that to me are just blank documents.”
Students with disabilities not visible to the naked eye also brought up the issue of barriers between students and student success in the classroom created by a disability.
“I have Anatomic Nervous Disease, which at any time could affect any of my organs, including my brain,” sophomore Andrea Davis said. “It affects one out of every 100,000 people, and I believe I am the only student here that has it. Because my disability is not obvious for anybody that sees me, professors do not know what to expect when they have me in their classes.”
With classroom success a key concern for most Tuesday night, the panel was asked how these issues could be solved.
“Make sure your professors learn about your condition, it helps a lot,” Davis said. “I find all of my teachers during their office hours before the semester starts, and talk with them about my disorder. A lot of times I even bring handouts or flyers, just to educate them a little bit further. They have always appreciated it, and have been willing to work with me if and when I encounter problems during the class.”
Gerald Mitchell, a graduate student who has multiple disabilities including Retrograde Amnesia, also stressed the need for more education for professors.
“I think that if professors and graduate teaching assistants met at least once a month and are taught by disabled people themselves, students with special needs would encounter much less problems in the classroom,” Mitchell said. “A lot of students with non-noticeable disabilities don’t speak up for themselves, so that would help.”
Gina Ceylan, a PhD student who is blind, presided over the discussion. Gina is the president of Delta Alpha Pi.
“At MU, we are not only here to represent ourselves and to achieve our own goals in life, but we are also representing everyone else out there that goes through what we do everyday,” Ceylan said. “Groups like MUSE, Sight Club and Delta Alpha Pi are great because it creates a community where people with disabilities can come together and hang out, as well as thrive academically.”
