LAUREN MABRIE – The Corsair
Pensacola State College’s Disability Support Services is no longer. The name was recently changed to the Student Resource Center for ADA Services.
“We are trying to make the name more user friendly,” said Shelly Lawson, coordinator of the center.
ADA is the Americans with Disabilities Act. Created by Congress in 1990, the law prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities.
Employees in the center fear that people who need their services will be shy because of the name. “The word ‘disability’ may scare them away,” Lawson said.
What is it that students would miss by being too shy to ask for help?
A lot, according to Pensacola State student Amanda Nelson. “It would be a nightmare if these services were not available to me,” she said.
Nelson takes advantage of accommodations such as extra time on tests, books on CD, large print books, carbon copy notes, and tape recorders. Accommodations such as isolated testing, preferential seating and note takers are available according to a student’s need.
Lawson and center director Becky Adkins are willing to work with any person who needs help. Whether it is someone with a physical disability, a visual disability, or a psychological disability, there are accommodations that can help the student have a successful college career.
Nelson loves Adkins and her staff and is making good grades thanks to their helpfulness. “If I didn’t have it, it’d be more difficult,” she said.
The Student Resource Center for ADA Services is in room 603 of Building 6. Students are urged to stop by and fill out confidential application forms for assistance and services.
More information is available online at https://www.pensacolastate.edu/students/services/dss.asp