Obstacles Students With Disabilities Face On Campus

“There are days even I underestimate what I can do,” said LaTonya Herron, a visually impaired student. “I’ve seen that the challenges that I have had to overcome have made me stronger and a better person.”

Did you know that April is Disability Awareness Month? Many people around the Ole Miss campus are unaware of the daily obstacles students with disabilities face.

Specialized tools and resources are vital for students with disabilities. Between navigating the challenges of getting to class and succeeding in normal student environments, many different aids help students with disabilities.

These students have disabilities ranging from numerous things. Each student with disabilities has a unique way of overcoming the everyday obstacles in college. What are these resources that aid students with disabilities?

LaTonya Herron, a visually impaired student, described everyday life as her “normal.”

“I have overcome many of these tough things just from doing them over and over again,” Herron said. “It is not always easy, but it will never stop me.”

Visually impaired students like Herron use computer programs to complete schoolwork online. Writing papers, reading class material, and many other vital course activities are accomplished through these programs.

“I use a program called JAWS that helps me to still do online work,” Herron said. “It reads back to me all of the words on the screen from display menus to what I am typing.”

There are many other programs students with disabilities use, such as hearing aids, more time during tests, etc.

Are students with disabilities offered all of the resources they need to carry on through college?

The faculty members of Student Disability Services on campus are also available to aid every student with disabilities in their courses.

“An environment may be accessible to one person with a certain type of disability but not accessible to someone with a different kind of disability,” said Stacey Reycraft, director of Student Disability Services. “The university has made incredible strides in the last decade or so on the physical accessibility of the campus and it continues to work on this issue.”

“LaTonya has always been very patient and willing with the resources she uses,” said Ronald Herron, LaTonya’s father. “It is not always easy for her to navigate the campus and what not, but she still does like you and me.”

After all, these students are just students like anyone else.

“People with disabilities are just like everyone else except even braver,” said Emily Morris, a sophomore. “I cannot even imagine the battles they have to get through every day.”

What else can be done to improve students with disabilities time in college?

“The biggest obstacle that students with disabilities face here and on other college campuses is a lack of understanding that they are students just like everyone else,” said Reycraft. “There is a lot of stigma and misinformation about students with disabilities and I think that is the most difficult obstacle to overcome.”

In lieu of Disability Awareness Month, challenge yourself to remember that all students at Ole Miss have unique stories and challenges.

“One of my quotes that I like to say is ‘Mountains come to give you strength not make you weak,” Herron said. “The challenges I have overcome have made me a better person.”