While many students complain about the length of seminar classes, for some, paying attention for three hours is more than they can bare. Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is just one of the many learning disabilities that make seemingly simple tasks, such as taking notes in a lecture and participating in class discussions difficult undertakings for some students.
An estimated 150 students on campus have some form of disability, according to Sandra Baer, coordinator of Academic Services for Students with Disabilities. Few of these disabilities are physical, and the most-often diagnosed disabilities are ADD and dyslexia.
Tufts provides many resources for student with such disabilities. After submitting proper documentation, students can meet with Baer to discuss solutions. They can get books on tape, note takers, and peer tutoring, in addition to academic counseling and support from the ARC. Baer's office can also contact professors to obtain extended test time for the student and can alert them to the fact that the student has a learning disability.
While these services are helpful, some feel that they are not ample. Senior Mara Schanfield, who has ADD, is working on an independent study project about disabled services at Tufts and says they could use some improvement.
"The improvement is two-fold. One is a student focus, having students come together with similar problems, and the other is educating the entire Tufts community," she said.
For students who experience hearing and sight difficulties, note-takers are available. It is possible for students to employ professional stenographers to take notes on everything the professor says have that text fed into a laptop computer, but few students choose this option. Most of the time, a fellow classmate is asked to take notes for someone with a disability.
Some students come to Baer because they are experiencing these issues for the first time. Often, they were able to "get by" in high school on hard work, but that became impossible with increased lecturing and reading.
Diagnosis of learning disabilities can be tricky, however, because they are often "invisible," and neither the student nor the professor may realize the source of academic problems. Students may also feel some amount of embarrassment in reporting difficulties.
Schanfield hosted an orientation event as an informal place for students to ask questions and let them voice their concerns. She proposes that a support group for disabled students would be a significant help and comfort for those students.
According to Baer, having a student, not administrator, start such a group, would encourage much more involvement from people embarrassed or shy about their problems.
"An important goal is to raise awareness of both faculty and students," Baer said.
As part of Schanfield's project, she organized a screening of "Ennis's Gift," a movie that chronicles some famous cases of people with learning disabilities - notably James Earl Jones and Ralph Winkler - on Oct. 15.
"It really was great way to see some interest in the problems of disabled people at Tufts," Schanfield said. "Many professors need to be made more aware of people with problems."
When a disabled perspective student is considering matriculating to Tufts, Baer encourages him or her to ask other students who are disabled about their experiences on campus and to take a look at the campus before making a final decision. According to Baer, students with disabilities don't always list Tufts as their first choice school because of the hill and the lack of handicap accessible buildings.
Students who have physical disabilities - both permanent and temporary - are entitled by law to have access to classrooms. Should a student break his leg, for example, he can submit a request to have a class moved to another location to accommodate his ability to move.
Students interested in contacting being part of a student group about learning disabilities should contact Mara Schanfield at mschan01@emerald.tufts.edu<$>
@s:Landscape makes life difficult for handicapped students
