WADE MANNS
The Corsair
In 1990, then-President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law, and thus made life easier for disabled people in the United States.
The law basically made it illegal for employers or owners of establishments to discriminate based upon disability, just as similar protection existed against discrimination based on sex, race, or religion.
It also requires owners of establishments or employers to make reasonable adjustments or provisions that enable access to handicapped or disabled persons, such as on college campuses.
The Disability Support Services department at Pensacola Junior College exists today as a result mainly of a forerunner of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which served as the foundation of the anti-discrimination laws which would be further codified within the ADA.
Becky Adkins, who has been with the department since 1984 save for two years, is the director of the DSS at Pensacola Junior College, which serves the Milton and Warrington campuses as well.
“[The department] was founded early on in the history of the college, designed to meet a need that we saw among students with disabilities,” Adkins said, although she adds that the motivation to create the department was combined with that need as well as federal mandates such as those created by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
In the early days of the department, it was called the “Handicap Services,” but that was deemed too politically incorrect in modern times, so it became known by its modern name.
Adkins, who answers directly to Dr. James Martin, vice president of student services, is also the ADA compliance officer; her responsibilities range from resolving difficulties that may arise among individual classes, to making sure there are enough interpreters for deaf or hard of hearing people in the college, to ensuring that there are ramps for handicapped people to access all the buildings on campus.
One of the services that DSS provides includes allowing students extra time to take tests, a service enjoyed by Amanda Nelson, a student at PJC.
“I decided to take advantage of DSS because I need accommodations,” Nelson said.
Nelson also takes advantage of two departments which actually have no direct connection with DSS, are similar in function but more dedicated to a specific field, the Division for the Blind and Independence for the Blind, to provide accommodations for her low vision. She is considered legally blind.
Services that DSS provide can best be described as a “safety net,” to be used when the student finds normal class activities to be difficult; applicants to DSS are pre-qualified during an intake interview so that when a student needs the service, it is instantly provided.
For more information about services, contact Becky Adkins, Building 6, room 603.