The Advocate - Volume 5, Issue 3 Fall 2012.

Welcome to Austin Peay!

The Office of Disability Services' (ODS) primary mission is to ensure access for students with disabilities to all curricular and co-curricular opportunities offered by Austin Peay State University.

Save The Date:

Please join the Office of Disability Services for free cupcakes and buttons as we celebrate National Disability Employment Awareness Month on Wednesday, October 10, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. in the MUC lobby. Come learn about the importance of “Bee-ing Inclusive!”

The Office of Disability Services encourages involvement from their students. One way to become involved is to “Like” us on Facebook. The ODS Facebook page is a fantastic way to meet and connect with other students on campus and is a good way to find out about events and training sessions ODS may host throughout the semester.

There are ample opportunities to volunteer within our office, especially as a note-taker. Please give our Accommodation Specialist, Nicole Jamen, a call or stop by to visit with any questions you may have for this program. The Office of Disability Services would like to introduce you to our newest staff member Janet Norman. Janet is our new Associate Director and comes to APSU with many years of experience in disability services and higher education - previous tenures include Vol State and MTSU. Janet has served for several years on the Board of Directors for the Tennessee Association of Higher Education And Disabilities.

Meet our staff:

Director: Lynette Taylor

Associate Director: Janet Norman

Adaptive Technology Coordinator: Philip Voorhees

Accommodation Specialist: Nicole Jamen

Administrative Assistant II: April Williams

Graduate Assistant: Erin Young

Information Central:

Common questions when transitioning from high school to Austin Peay State University with a disability:

Do I have to inform Austin Peay that I have a disability?

No. However, if you would like for us to provide reasonable accommodations, you must submit a request for reasonable accommodations and identify yourself as having a disability to ODS. In any event, your disclosure of a disability is always voluntary.

What accommodations might Austin Peay provide?

Accommodations may include academic adjustments and auxiliary aids to ensure equal educational opportunities. Some examples of accommodations: note takers, recording lectures, extended time for testing and our Universal Access Workstation initiative. In providing accommodations, Austin Peay is not altering or modifying any essential requirements. For example, although you may receive extra time on an exam, the substantive content of the test will not be changed.

Will Austin Peay charge me for receiving accommodations?

No, in addition, we will not charge students with disabilities more for participating in programs or activities than student’s who do not have disabilities are charged.   

October is National Disability Employment Awareness month. Throughout September and October, there are various conferences and job fairs designed to help individuals with disabilities find their niche in the competitive and unstable job market. Some National Resource Links: AbilityLinks is hosting a virtual job fair Monday October 1 to Friday October 5, 2012. Sign up today, http://www.abilitylinks.org/, http://www.diversityworld.com/Disability/recruit.htm, http://www.hirepotential.com/, http://www.abilityjobs.com/

Disability Employment Awareness Month Regional Highlight:

Employment Event:

Event: Williamson County Career Fair

Date: Tuesday, September 25, 2012 at 10:00-2:00 PM

Location: Williamson County Public Library, Brentwood, TN

Description: A local job fair that will host different employers who are hiring in the Nashville and Franklin areas.

Disability Employment Awareness Month National Highlight:

JAN (Job Accommodation Network) Information:  

JAN is the leading online job search resource for individuals with disabilities. JAN offers consultants that are able to give one-on-one guidance on workplace accommodations, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and related legislation, and self-employment or entrepreneurial opportunities.  For more JAN information: http://askjan.org/index.html

Important Dates:

September 27, 2012, Peay Read Keynote Speaker-Wes Moore 7:00 PM, Dunn Center - a meet and great will be held from 3 to 4PM

October 3, 2012, Wellness Class: Stress Management, Foy Center

October 15-16, 2012, Fall Break

October 22-27, 2012, Homecoming Week: “True Colors.” For more information visit: http://www.apsu.edu/student-life/aphomecoming

October 29, 2012, G.H.O.S.T, 4:00-7:00 PM in the MUC Plaza 

November 12, 2012, Veterans Day -- No Classes

November 22-25, 2012, Thanksgiving Break -- University Closed

December 14, 2012, Commencement

December 24-January 2, 2012, Year end break -- University Closed

Famous people with disabilities:

September

Salma Hayek- Salma Hayek was born on September 2, 1966, in the oil boomtown of Coatzacoalcos, Mexico. Hayek has freely admitted that she and her brother, Sami, were spoiled rotten by her well-to-do Lebanese-Mexican businessman father and her Mexican-born opera-singing mother. After having seen Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) in a local movie theatre, Salma decided she wanted to become an actress. Her education included a stint at a New Orleans convent school, where she pulled pranks on the nuns by setting their clocks back three hours. She was soon expelled. Only after attending Mexico City's Universidad Iberoamericana did she feel ready to pursue acting seriously. Salma Hayek, in spite of being fluent in multiple languages, struggles with Dyslexia. www.imdb.com

October

Alfred Nobel - Alfred Bernhard Nobel (October 21, 1833, Stockholm, Sweden - December 10, 1896, Sanremo, Italy) was a Swedish chemist, engineer, innovator, armaments manufacturer and the inventor of dynamite. By the time of his death he held more than 350 patents and controlled factories and laboratories in 20 countries. William Gordon Lennox wrote that "Nobel was subject to migraines and convulsions from infancy." Nobel had epileptic seizures as a young child, which later made him write of convulsions and agony in a poem. The foundations of the Nobel Prize were laid in 1895 when Alfred Nobel wrote his last will, leaving much of his wealth for its establishment. Since 1901, the prize has honored men and women for outstanding achievements in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and for work in peace. Disabled World - Disability News for all the Family: http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/epilepsy-famous.shtml#ixzz26viSB11a

November

Leonardo DiCaprio - Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio (born November 11, 1974) is a three-time Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe Award-winning American actor who garnered worldwide fame for his role as Jack Dawson in Titanic. Leonardo DiCaprio has revealed he suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. The 'Titanic' star says he has to force himself not to step on every chewing gum stain when walking along and fight urges to walk through a doorway several times, because he doesn't want his condition taking over his life. Disabled World - Disability News for all the Family: http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/famous-ocd.shtml#ixzz27Uix65Q6

December

Walt Disney - Walter Elias Disney (December 5, 1901 - December 15, 1966) was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Disney is notable as one of the most influential and innovative figures in the field of entertainment during the twentieth century. Walt Disney had dyslexia, which is a learning disorder characterized by reading difficulties. While Walt Disney was attending high school he also went to the Academy of Fine Arts. This caused him to have double the school work than an average student on top of the fact that he also dealt with being dyslexic. Disabled World - Disability News for all the Family: http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/article_2130.shtml#ixzz26MrefRYF

Tech Corner

ODS provides individual, group and open Assistive Technology orientations for AT available on campus. For open orientation dates and times go to the Announcements and Events link on the ODS web site. For individual and group orientations please contact the Adaptive Technology Coordinator at ods@apsu.edu to schedule a date and time.