[1]Second-year Television and New Media student Richie Perry unwinds in the Shark Tank between classes. He is one of many students here at Loyalist College with a disability. Photo by Sean Cann-Sheppard, QNet News
By Sean Cann-Sheppard [2]
BELLEVILLE – This year’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities [3] focuses on the idea of inclusion, and for Loyalist students inclusion is especially important.
For many students with disabilities, such as Richie Perry, a second-year Television and New Media student from Cornwall, Ont., it means not being able to do specific activities within his program.
Perry suffered a stroke at the age of three, causing a 30-per-cent physical disability on the left side of his body. His disability prevents him from taking part in physical activities, he said, and while this isn’t much of an issue for most of his course work, there are still some things he’s limited in doing.
“Using certain equipment that takes two hands can be difficult,” Perry said. “The studio cameras are two-handed, so my moves with the camera are jerky compared to other people.”
He hopes to get a job in pre-production to help enter the career he wants without his disability closing the door on him, he said.
“You don’t really work physically with the equipment – it’s more just the planning, the development and the creative process.”
Megan Chesney, a second-year TVNM student who is originally from China, has a similar disability: the left side of her body is weaker than the right. People misunderstand her disability and often press her with questions about it, she said.
“A lot of people were saying, ‘Why does your hand look like that?’, ‘Why do you walk like that?’, ‘Why are you doing that?,’ ” said Chesney. “There are days where they say, ‘Why can’t you do that by yourself?’, ‘Why do you need someone else to help you?’
“It’s really difficult, but I get used to it throughout college.”
Students with disabilities have access to college-sponsored services such as AccessAbility [4] to assist with their academic studies. Loyalist’s director of student services, Denyce Diakun, says many of these students are identified through a survey system.
The surveys provide background information on students and their experience with college. Using that information, the service can help identify potential students who may need assistance and reach out to them.
“Last year, our numbers were 18 per cent of the total student population that identified as needing some kind of additional support services,” Diakun said.
AccessAbility helps students fully integrate into their programs and various college activities, she said.
“We work as a team to try and support them,” Diakun said. “We listen to our students. We get ideas and try to build an inclusive integrated environment.”
The most important thing for students is to come forward and let someone know about these issues, says the director of AccessAbility, Jennifer Vincent.
“We’re very open to having students come up and let us know that they need help,” Vincent said.
She also works with faculty to help prepare students for the possible challenges they may face with disabilities when entering the industry they’re training to get into.
“We look at the whole picture,” Vincent said. “We also know what the industry might look like and often we’re talking to faculty in terms of what kind of supports might be needed.”
Chesney has taken advantage of the AccessAbility service and says she really enjoys it. She visits once every few months and finds it to be very helpful.
“I like to talk to them. I like to talk to people and they help me out,” she said. “They helped me with studying. They’ve helped me with having more time on tests and talk with me about issues and school.”
Perry has also visited the AccessAbility offices. Though he says he hasn’t yet taken advantage of the service, he receives plenty of help from his professors when possible.
“They know that I have a hard time doing certain positions, so they either make it so I don’t have to do them or they grade me on a curve,” Perry said
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released an official statement [5] to mark Thursday’s International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
“This day serves as an important reminder to us all of the determination shown on a daily basis by persons with disabilities in their quest for inclusion and equal treatment,” the statement says. “It is also an occasion to become more educated about what we can do to promote and advocate for persons with disabilities.”
It continued: “We have a duty to help eliminate the systemic barriers that persist in our society, and we will work with the provinces, territories and others to make sure that all Canadians have equality of opportunity.”