Karson Brandenburg: Opportunities for Students with Disabilities at Ole Miss

All universities have wheelchair ramps to classroom buildings, and handicapped parking spaces. What truly makes a university accessible to students, though, are the opportunities provided and the chance for students with disabilities to perform on an equal playing field.

The Ole Miss office of Student Disability Services (SDS) works to serve the nearly 600 students with disabilities.

“What we provide is very individualized,” said Stacey Reycraft, director of SDS.

Reycraft said SDS works on a case by case basis and determines the necessary types of aid for a student based on the impact of the disability.

The office provides testing accommodations, use of technology, sign language interpreters, braille and electronic text and note takers. They do not offer personal services, though, including caregivers and class-to-class transportation.

Tonya Herron, a fifth-year senior political science major, had congenital glaucoma. She lost her sight at 8 years old because of a complication after a cornea transplant.

“It was something God allowed to happen,” said Herron. “And because of my blindness I started to speak out more.”

She became involved with the Delta Gamma sorority at Ole Miss. Though Herron is not a member of that sorority, the DG members became a source of support to Herron throughout her academic career, specifically by providing class-to-class transportation for her.

Herron currently works to “change what it means to be blind.”

During Disability Awareness Month, Herron worked with SDS to perform at a signing rave in the Ole Miss Student Union. She used her singing voice to show others that her blindness does not render her incapable of living.

In the future, Herron wants to be an advocate for disability rights and a consultant for the visually impaired.

Herron said her transition to college was easier than most students with disabilities because her parents supported her the entire way.

For students transitioning to Ole Miss, finding out what types of services will be required at college can be a difficult task. Obstacles are not always foreseen according to Christy Dunaway, executive director of LIFE (Living Independence for Everyone) of Mississippi.

“We serve as a liaison between the students and their communities,” said Dunaway. “The primary thing that we do is teach people how to live independently in their own homes.”

LIFE works with students to figure out what type of services they will require in their community and then helps the students to find the funding for such services through the SDS office or the Oxford Department of Rehabilitation Services.

Though LIFE of Mississippi no longer has an office in Oxford, Dunaway said that the organization is still ready and willing to help students in their transition.

“If there is a student that needed assistance from us that would not be a problem,” said Dunaway. “We serve every county in the state.”

Ole Miss Student Disability Services, in joint effort with many different consulting and liaison programs, makes sure that each student with disabilities obtains the services they require.

“Disability services makes sure to get you exactly what classroom accommodations you need,” said Herron. “They’ve been great.”

Disability Awareness month at Ole Miss provides students a way to get to know each other and see one another as equal persons, not limited by differences. The schedule for Disability Awareness month shows how to get involved.