Resources for Disabled Students

Support Resources for Disabled Students

 

Resources for Disabled Students (RDS) is supported through the university but like other departments, we have more things we would like to do than we have the funds to do them. 

Your help in accomplishing any of the following items from our "Wish List" would be greatly appreciated.  To make a donation to RDS, please click on the "Give Now" button below to find out how best to do that.  When making a donation to Colorado State University, please specify it is for RDS.  Thanks!

What We Could Do With Your Help....

RDS Wish List

Disability Rights Leadership Program
Academic Coaching Program
Peer Mentoring Program
Tutoring Support
Disability Awareness
Disability Studies Certificate
New Offices and Location
Disabled Students Lounge and Computer Lab
 

Disability Rights Leadership Program
New leaders with disabilities are needed to carry on the legacy that began in the 1970’s when groups of individuals with a variety of disabilities came together to demand equal access to full participation in society. This program would provide the leadership skills needed for disabled students to continue to meet the challenge of ensuring social justice remains a top priority for those with disabilities.
 
Academic Coaching Program
Students with specific types of disabilities may find it more difficult to adjust to the academic rigors of college, due specifically to their disability.   Students with Asperger’s, for example, may need more intensive support to learn how to negotiate the social climate of campus as well as learn the skills necessary to achieve consistent success in their academic pursuits. This program would provide an academic coach who would be able to provide long-term individualized support in learning the key personal and academic skills needed to ensure success.
 
Peer Mentoring Program
Making the transition from high school to college can be overwhelming for some students.  A peer mentor can help ease that transition by providing a connection to someone who has been there and done that.  Students with disabilities would act as peer mentors and be able to share their secrets and strategies of success.
 
Tutoring Support
Students with specific disabilities often find some classes more difficult to master than others. This difficulty may be due to how the class is taught or the way a particular disability affects a person’s ability to process information. Academic tutoring can help provide that extra support to the learning process when it is geared to an individual’s learning style and particular need. This program would help fill in the gaps for students who are not able to find adequate tutoring support through other campus resources.
 
Disability Awareness
What is assumed about people with disabilities is often the root cause of behavior that limits their access to opportunities. Educational programming that celebrates disability as part of the human condition helps to normalize disability as simply another diverse characteristic rather than as an abnormality.
 
Disability Studies Certificate Program
Many disciplines have disability as part of their curriculum but there is no unifying program of study that comprehensively looks at disability from a social model perspective. An interdisciplinary certificate program of study would help individual students explore the concept of disability from this perspective and enrich the body of knowledge about this diverse human characteristic.
 
New Offices and Location
Resources for Disabled Students is slated to move from its current location to an addition to the building now housing The Institute of Learning and Teaching (TILT).  This move will be completed once funding is secured for the additional wing to the building. This move will be the first time RDS is able to design its space to fit its needs rather than having to fit RDS needs into a given space. It will hopefully provide better testing accommodations as well as adequate space for a growing staff.
 
Disabled Students Lounge and Computer Lab
Students with disabilities rarely have the opportunity to interact with each other. This lack of interaction is a detriment to developing a sense of community as a recognized group of students. As part of the move to The Institute for Learning and Teaching building, RDS plans to create a specific student Lounge for students with disabilities. This Lounge will be designed to provide a home-base for students to meet one another, to study or simply ‘hang-out’ as well as providing another computer lab equipped with assistive technology for a variety of student needs.

   

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