Creating Your Vision

What is your vision for the campus and/or community?

I want students with disabilities to become more integrated into college life. I envision that college campuses would facilitate the integration into society (politically and economically) of students with disabilities. It is not just about accommodations in the classroom or in public facilities. It is about participation to the fullest extent possible in the political, economic and educational aspects of society.

Assessing Your Campus and Community

What campus/community problem does your blueprint address? What structures, practices and policies institutionalize the problem?

There are no clubs or support networks addressing the needs of students with disabilities. There are no available means of obtaining information about issues that affect disabled students as a group in a centralized place that is easy to access and use.

What communities will you work with?

• Campus community
• Local community
• Statewide community
• Nationwide community

Setting Goals and Deliverables

• Goal 1: Increase the sharing of information and support among students with learning disabilities on college campuses and facilitate and improve lines of communication.
• Create website.
• Feature movies about the personal experiences of students with disabilities.
• Goal 2: Use a website as a means to integrate students with disabilities on campuses to college life and to orient them to available resources and sources of information.
• Provide links on the website to organizations where students can become involved with or integrate themselves to causes or obtain information.
• Host an online bulletin board/blog where students with disabilities can post messages or blog about what is happening on their campuses or what issues they are confronting so that other individuals can join in the discussion or become involved in the activities.

What is your primary approach? Idea Creation

Why did you choose this approach?

Students with disabilities are not as numerous as some other groups, are not homogeneous and are not located in one particular geographical location. It is unclear how monolithic or diverse this group of students may be in terms of economic status or political views. The website will be a useful tool to help discover common issues and interests and also to help organize the group of students around those common issues, on behalf of particular concerns and/or for or against particular legislation or regulation.

What will your tactics and activities be?

Make personal contacts and network with potential allies/interested individuals and entities at meetings, workshops, conferences and through the use of e-mail and phone calls. To date I have made contact with the faculty adviser of Active Minds on campus. I also made contact with the director of Educavipro, the group in Puerto Rico that provides rehabilitation services to people with disabilities to try to integrate them into the work force. I have interviewed one college student with Asperger syndrome who studies at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras campus. I am in the process of setting up an interview with a Juniata College student. All of the organizations and students that I have spoken with so far have been very receptive to and excited about the possibility of participating in the web project.

Connecting Back to Vision

How does your strategy contribute to your vision for your campus and/or your community?

My strategy contributes to my vision by bringing together, through a website, resources and key players that can help college students with disabilities become more integrated socially, financially and politically with other college students with disabilities on college campuses across the country and in their local communities.

Resources and skills you will need

What skills do you need for this approach?

I will need organizational skills, people skills, research skills and technical assistance in the design and maintenance of the website.