Disability Awareness Month was kicked off with a Sinclair Talk called “Seeing the ‘Able’ in Disability.”
The objective of the talk was to break down stigmas and harmful stereotypes facing the disabled community and show them in a positive light.
Alicia Schroeder, the manager of Disability Services at Sinclair, Jessica Minor of the American Sign Language Department and Assistant Technology Specialist Matt Streit presented the event and were pleased with how it went.
“Sinclair Talks seemed like the perfect vehicle to get our message out to students,” Schroeder said.
The talk started with an overview of the disability rights movement that led to the passage of the American with Disabilities Act in 1990.
The law prohibits unjustified discrimination based on disability. It also requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations and imposes accessibility requirements on public institutions.
They then proceeded to describe the different kinds of disabilities such as autism, spinal cord injuries, mental health problems and hearing loss.
The next part of the talk addressed stigmas and stereotypes facing the disabled today, one of which is the negative attitude that society occasionally has towards them.
“There are too many times where companies see that a person is disabled and don’t even give them a chance at the job, or they see a handicapped person as a burden and that’s a problem,” Schroeder said.
She also said that the Disability Services at Sinclair are always working on accommodations to level the playing field for students with disabilities.
“We are always trying to educate students and staff and get them involved,” Schroeder added.
The talk happened on Oct. 12 and was the first of three events occurring this month to raise awareness for the many issues facing people with disabilities.
On Oct. 24 Sinclair students and the general public can go to the gymnasium at Building 8 to watch a game of wheelchair basketball between the Miami Valley Minutemen and members of Sinclair’s athletic teams.
Students can also check out a showing of the movie “Debt of Honor,” a look at the lives of disabled veterans, on Oct. 27 in the stage area of Building 8.
Henry Wolski
Reporter