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Paula Dias-Costa

Holly Batty

English 101

22 May 2019

The Obstacles of Being A Student with Disabilities

Students with disabilities are types of students who struggle on specific

areas. As a part of this group, I can easily relate and understand the struggles they go

through. I’ve undergone my fair share of problems and have observed others who

have done the same. Though not everyone has the same mindset, accepting the

College’s services proves to be a good way to seek help for improvement with the

disability, especially if you’re one who seeks a higher education level. While students

with disabilities have countless options in terms of getting help, not all of them decide

to accept the services, something of which in itself is optional. Using the SSD

(Students with Disabilities) Office is just one option that Valley College offers its

students to get better adjusted in their classrooms.

One problem stems from the mindsets of students, especially those who feel

like they may be weaker than those who take regular classes, just because they’re in

an evironment that accommodates their disabilities better. Which isn’t the case at all,

considering how you’re still getting the same education as those in the regular classes,

the accommodations are just meant to facilitate things for you. As a kid, I always

knew I had an issue and it wasn’t until I decided to get a diagnosis at Kaiser that I

found out my suspicions were correct. However, it wasn’t until I seeked help for my

diagnosis that I found out how much easier it was to handle the issue, which is why I

recommend that others do the same.

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Furthermore, asking for help is not weakness, despite the belief of others.

Setting accommodations for classes are meant to help strengthen your own learning

experience in your own terms, and it’s up to you to follow through with the

accommodation plans each year. Sometimes the simplest things can be most helpful,

like extra time for testing, a quieter room or maybe even someone to take notes for

you could work wonders. I understand that it may take some time to get used to the

idea, but it could make for a much more pleasant working environment. I just believe

it to be more of an advantage than a burden, as these services are meant to benefit you

and give you a better understanding of your abilities rather than to make it harder on

you. This experience definitely becomes more comfortable with time. Even so, there

are still some students that disagree entirely and feel like these programs aren’t as

beneficial as regular classes would be, and would just rather resume with them

anyway.

A reason why some students would view this as a problem would deal with

how they see the situation all together. There are many different kinds of perceptions

on the matter, and are highly influenced by the people around them. Close colleagues,

but especially family members might do just that- such as ableism- in regards to some

people. Ableism may be seen as a burden due to the inability to function like those

who don’t have “disabilities”, which may be unsettling. In turn, this mindset might

explain why some view it as weakness rather than helpful as others might perceive it.

These types of experiences may be what shape a few disabilitated students to think

this way. Of course, passing regular classes with the disabilities still intact is possible,

if only you apply yourself, but that just proves to be more difficult to handle without

the resources.
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LAVC offers plenty of on-campus programs that are meant to provide extra

help for students with disabilities. Entering a program can help benefit your

experience by strengthening weaknesses and overall just helping you develop better

skills on various subject matters. STEM would be one such program, but it focuses

mainly on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Though academically

focuses, it still makes makes good practice for future study purposes leading to

graduation.

Through the STEM program, a few challenges still arise for students with

disabilities in accordance to the article titled, “Disability in Postsecondary STEM

Learning Environments: What Faculty Focus Groups Reveal About Definitions and

Obstacles to Effective Support”. Furthermore, that may be because students with

disabilities “lag behind their peers in success outcomes related to access to,

persistence within, and completion of postsecondary degree programs.” (Genia

Bettencourt et. al 2) This is something that isn’t very uncommon, considering that

those without disabilities just have a better time functioning in general without those

challenges in their way. Even so, according to the research, STEM members have

plenty of options to help them get through these tough times, including undergoing a

study within “four focus groups” of which explore “both a range of individual

opinions and group consensus.” (Genia Bettencourt et. al 2) Upon undergoing the

study, the purpose is to collect data in a more understanding way, including that of

“reported attitudes and behaviors of STEM members”. In doing so, this helps with

“structure evidence-based interventions toward more supportive and less stigma-laden

postsecondary learning environments for students with disabilities.” Resulting in

teaching STEM students with disabilities to better handle themselves around

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uncomfortable situations they may as well come across in the future, by using proper

techniques.

The “Disabled Student Programs and Services, 2018 Report” states that

“California Community Colleges served 2.1 million students in 2015-16 and 2.1

million students in 2016-17.” Making it the “largest system of higher education in the

nation,” especially with all 115 colleges and 73 districts up to par. Furthermore, these

programs and services are working so well that many students get “full and equitable

access” to this experience. Which is all thanks to the Board of Governors of the

California Community Colleges whom worked hard to provide “state-funded

programs and services for disabled students on each campus at least every five years."

With so many students taking advantage of all the services and programs, I think it’s

safe to say they are consistently seeking help and working harder to improve and

achieve whatever goals they set their minds to.

In conclusion, I strongly believe that students with disabilities could very

well benefit more from the Valley College programs and accommodations provided

should they apply themselves properly to the tasks, rather than not to do anything

about it. In terms of programs, it would definitely be more manageable to follow

protocol and use what they learned to their advantage in order to achieve a better

success rate. Whereas with accommodations, from a semester basis, depends more on

your willingness to make these things happen. At the end, a mix of these two options

are what I think would ultimately lead you to succeeding with graduation and your

long term goals in life.

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Works Cited

Battencourt, Genia, Ezekiel Kimball, and Ryan S. Wells. Disability in Postsecondary

STEM Learning Environments: What Faculty Focus Groups Reveal About Definitions

and Obstacles to Effective Support. University of Massachussetts Amherst. December

2018.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329813505_Disability_in_Postsecondary_S

TEM_Learning_Environments_What_Faculty_Focus_Groups_Reveal_About_Definit

ions_and_Obstacles_to_Effective_Support

Palmer, David S., Kathy Fuller, Tina Arora, and Marianna Nelson. Taking Sides:
Parent Views on Inclusion for Their Children with Severe Disabilities. April 2001.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/001440290106700403

California Community Colleges, Chancellor’s Office. Disabled Student Programs

and Services, 2018 Report. 30 November, 2017.
https://eric.ed.gov/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=ED592983