Special Services
Q: Does SSD have a special resource room?
A: Yes. SSD has a special resource facility in Walb Memorial Union, Room 113. Staffed by Julie Schrader Gettys, Accommodations Specialist, the facility is equipped with talking and large-display computers, a reading machine, electronic spell checkers, cassette transcription machines, specially adapted cassette recorder/players, Braille equipment, carbonless note-taking paper, and more. This is where tests are proctored, readers are assigned, and special materials are stored. Students with disabilities are invited to use the resource room for their special academic needs. It may be necessary to schedule equipment use time for certain items.
Q: Are special advising and counseling services available?
A: Yes. Students with disabilities sometimes need specialized counseling and advising related to disability issues. For example, sometimes these students need to take disability into consideration when deciding on course-load size, course selection, special vocational/career plans, daily schedules, available services, etc. SSD cooperates with Career Services to assist in career development for students with disabilities. These services begin with career counseling that takes the functional limitations, residual capacities, and career interests of the client/student into consideration. Help with developing a résumé, writing cover letters, and preparing for the job interview are supports available to all students through career services personnel. Students may seek one-on-one personal counseling to assist them with academic and personal adjustment to disability via appointments scheduled with Ana Waskiewicz, Accommodations Specialist/Counselor.
Q: How can the campus community assist persons with disabilities in times of emergency building evacuation?
A: As per standard emergency procedures, when fire alarms are activated in an IPFW building, elevators move to the bottom level and shut off, effectively blocking building egress to people whose disabilities make them unable to climb or descend stairs. These persons require rescue assistance. Anyone who wants to help a person in this situation and can provide safe rescue assistance with the cooperation of the person in need, may do so. Otherwise we urge that university personnel aware of the location of a person in need of rescue assistance find the nearest safe campus telephone and dial extension 6911 to notify Police and Safety of the location of that person. Campus emergency telephones located throughout the campus may also be used. If the caller on an emergency telephone cannot speak, an officer will be dispatched to the location of the caller. Persons in need of rescue assistance who are in immediate danger should proceed to the nearest enclosed exit stairwell. These stairwells are constructed from fire-resistant materials and would provide the safest location to wait for rescue assistance. Also, we recommend that persons who are aware they would need rescue assistance in times of emergency evacuation carry a loud whistle or portable alarm that would attract rescuers. Remember, too, that people who are deaf may not hear fire alarms and should be given visual instructions to exit the building immediately.
Q: What should be done if a person becomes trapped on a nonground floor, not during an emergency, but due to an elevator breakdown?
A: Call Police and Safety to report the problem; do not carry the person up or down stairs. University police have equipment that is designed for safe evacuation and have the skills, judgment, and physique to affect a safe exit.
Q: Does IPFW accept charitable contributions intended to further the inclusion of students with disabilities?
A: Yes. The campus community has been fortunate to receive several charitable contributions for such purposes. The graduating class of 1989, for example, raised over $6,000 expressly for the purchase of auxiliary aids. This generous gift enabled the university to acquire several important pieces of equipment; software for converting electronic steno type into ASCII code for the purpose of real-time transcription which was used by a deaf student, a large electronic information sign which can display text in a large room or auditorium, and portable infrared listening-device systems which can be used to send amplified voices to special headsets. The Fort Wayne Street Rod Association has donated part of the proceeds from their annual Muddy River Run car show to IPFW's Disabled Students Scholarship Fund. Snap-on Tools and Sam's Club have also contributed to that fund. Interest from the fund provides FWSR scholarship money annually for students with disabilities. The graduating class of 1998 also bestowed a monetary class gift to SSD, which has purchased and located TTY machines at several buildings across campus for use by students who are hard of hearing or Deaf.
Q: What is the composition of the SSD office?
A: There are two professional staff in the SSD office. The Director is Eric Wagenfeld MA, LLPC, NCC at 260-481-6658. The Accommodations
Specialist is Julie Schrader Gettys. The SSD program has an advisory board of students, faculty, and staff, who are appointed by the vice chancellor for Student Affairs. The committee advises SSD and makes policy recommendations to the vice chancellor. The committee elects its own chair annually. IPFW is an institutional member of the Association on Higher Education and Disability.
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