Computers assist disabled students
Campus uses latest innovations to improve facilities and
academic life
By Tatiana Botton
Larry Pierce was still walking when he entered UCLA back in the
1960s as an economics student. Shortly after, however, he was put
in a wheelchair because of muscular dystrophy, which caused his
muscles to gradually deteriorate.
Six years ago, when he lost arm strength and finger dexterity,
he started using a motorized wheelchair with a head rest and a lay
back system. At that time, Pierce was unable to type on a
computer.
Today, Pierce is still using that wheelchair, but because of the
progress made in technology, the computer has now become his most
important work tool.
Pierce, who cannot type, speaks into a microphone and what he
says is written on the screen.
"This is a demonstration of Dragon Dictate and how it allows
hands-free computing" flashes across the computer screen the second
Pierce speaks those very words into the microphone.
Pierce uses Dragon Dictate, a voice recognition program to
communicate at work.
"The program is very fast, and also very precise," Pierce
said.
The program can make the distinction between words that sound
almost the same, Pierce explained. It also adapts by taking away
vocabulary not used and developing new vocabulary, he added.
Pierce needs one hour to train a computer to his voice with this
program. He then needs a few more hours to repeat the words before
the computer is ready for use.
"It used to be days, and as the system has improved, in the last
three or four years, it’s bound now to one hour or two," said
Douglas Martin, special assistant to the chancellor on Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the university 504 Compliance
Officer, who is in charge of ensuring a discrimination-free
environment for disabled persons.
Pierce is one of the many that take advantage of the campus
facilities for disabled persons.
He is now the assistant coordinator of ADA & 504 Compliance,
which helps employees with disabilities at their university
job.
Amendment 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, prohibits
discrimination against individuals with disabilities by recipients
of federal funding. ADA, which became effective in 1990, extends
these civil rights to all sectors of life, public and private.
Pierce explained that Amendment 508 of the Rehabilitation Act
makes computer technology accessible to individuals with
disabilities.
"Individuals under the law are entitled to ‘reasonable
accommodation’ which are devices or services allowing otherwise
qualifying individuals to perform necessary academic requirements,"
he said.
But computers are not only used by staff or teachers on campus.
Students with the help of the university Office for Students with
Disabilities (OSD) can take advantage of computers.
Computers will help students who have difficulty learning due to
a disability, according to Arline Halper, OSD learning disabilities
specialist.
"We have 190 students with a learning disability," Halper
said.
"A learning disability is a disorder that affects the manner in
which individuals take in information, organize it, retain it and
express the knowledge and understanding which they possess," Halper
explained. "Students with learning disabilities have average to
superior intelligence, but experience a significant learning
difficulty in one or more academic areas.
"A learning disability can be dyslexia, difficulties to write
due to a motor problem, or problems of motor skills and memory due
to head injuries," Halper added.
The OSD uses computer programs to assist those students, Halper
said.
To be eligible, students need to present a psychological test
that will prove that they have a learning disability.
The computing support coordinators help those who need special
help. For example, wheel chair-bound students who have difficulty
reaching the computer are provided with adjustable tables. The
university provides a personal stenographer who types down the
lecture. The student simultaneously reads what is typed on a laptop
computer.
In another example, "text books are scanned in the computer that
allow the student to have two modes, audio and visual, to
comprehend the text," explained Daniel Hilton-Chalfen, coordinator
for disabilities and computing programs at the university
Microcomputer Support Office.
All these computer programs need to be prepared by specialists
on campus, Hilton-Chalfen said.
Patrick Burke is one of them. He has a genetic form of cancer
which caused him to lose his sight before he reached the age of
two.
Burke entered UCLA as an undergraduate German student.
"I chose German only because I didn’t wanted to do anything with
computers", Burke said.
Now Burke is working with the disabilities and computing program
at the university Microcomputer Support Office. He is one of the
persons who know how to use all the equipment for visually impaired
and blind students. He also trains visually impaired and blind
students on the equipment.
Burke is in charge of developing Info-UCLA, the campus wide
information system, for disabled people. All this equipment is
located at the law library computer lab.
"I became a computer geek, " Burke joked.
But all these programs are not in heavy demand.
It is probably because the computer industry is primarily
concerned with capturing the market, rather than improving users’
lives, UCLA alumnus David Chang said.
Chang, who was a computer sciences and engineer student at UCLA,
now works for the university Student Affairs Office technology
center, where he provides the technical support.
The university is very advanced concerning the use of computers
for disable persons, Halper said. "We want to keep up with
technology," said Halper.
Martin said he is very proud of the work of ADA & 504
Compliance.
"Our office makes UCLA unique. We have the first office of this
kind in California, and one of the first in this country," Martin
explained. "We had it before the Americans with Disabilities Act
was passed. (In)1986 … Chancellor Young and I started the office,
and we have been doing access equipment as a full-time job," he
added.
But UCLA still has to do a lot of things, according to
Chang.
The university, in many ways, is far behind some of the leading
engineering colleges like the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, where all the dorms have been networked to computers on
campus.
"Computer-wise, the leadership of UCLA is not quite there yet; a
lot of places on campus should have already been wired," Chang
said.
This could help disabled students, he added. "It would be a very
significant change in their lives," Chang said.