The Center for Disability Access and Resources at the University of Idaho provides several support systems for students pursuing their education with a disability.
The center, commonly known as CDAR, provides accommodations for up to 600 students with both physical and cognitive medical conditions that are classified as disabilities in order to assist with accessibility and personal education on campus. This can range from hiring student note-takers to assist other students by taking notes during lectures, to providing assistive technology that increases a student’s ability to keep up on coursework inside and outside of the classroom.
Amy Taylor, the coordinator of CDAR, emphasized that resources are available for students who have both “visible” and “invisible” disabilities, or disabilities that may or may not be visually obvious.
“(We have) a wide array of accommodations to meet the varying needs of our students and really remove those barriers that they’re having,” Taylor said.
Visible disabilities, as described by Taylor, can include visual impairment, hearing loss, and deafness. Students unable to walk or move without assistance also fall into this category.
Invisible disabilities are much more common and are often related to one’s cognitive function.
These can include individuals who live with chronic pain, ADHD, dyslexia, a learning disability, anxiety, or depression. Someone dealing with the aftermath of a concussion or other head trauma, as well as PTSD also fits into this category.
“The majority of our students have an invisible disability, and it’s very likely that you will never know that they have a disability,” Taylor said.
CDAR collaborates with several other entities on UI’s campus and beyond to provide the proper care and resources for students with disabilities. The Counseling and Testing Center, Dean of Students office, Student Success Center and Gritman Medical Center are all closely associated with CDAR to provide resources such as counseling referrals, student case managers, technological resources and medical documents.
Students on campus who are interested in becoming more involved with CDAR by working a paid position have the options to work within the Assistive Technology program, the Alternative Text program, or as a note-taker.
Students involved with the Assistive Technology or Alternative Text programs participate in researching and testing equipment and editing print and digital textbooks to be more accessible with a screen-reader for students with disabilities, respectively.
Note-takers attend disabled students’ academic courses to take notes for students who are not physically or cognitively able to do so themselves.
Hired students, paid $8 an hour, pick which available courses fit into their personal schedules the best and attend all class periods, whether in-person, online or Hy-Flex according to the requesting student’s schedule. Most class notes are typed into digital documents or, if handwritten, photographed and converted into PDF files. Finished notes are uploaded into a website portal that CDAR students have access to in order to retrieve their notes.
All note-taking positions are completely confidential. No student knows who, or how many students they are servicing, only which classes to attend and annotate.
“We do not share who works with our office unless it is absolutely necessary,” Taylor said. “An instructor who needs to provide the accommodation would get to know that the student has that accommodation, but no one outside of CDAR will have access to disability information.”
Olivia Webster, a third-year student majoring in communications with a minor in history, has been working as a note-taker for CDAR for nearly two years.
She originally heard of CDAR and the position at Palouseafest, a premier ‘welcome back’ event on UI”s campus where organizations and clubs appeal to students to encourage involvement for that academic year, and decided to apply for the financial opportunity, on-campus proximity and flexibility when it comes to incorporating work into her academic schedule.
Webster encourages students who are considering becoming more involved with CDAR by applying to be a note-taker to stick to a schedule and not underestimate what is valuable in terms of note-taking for students.
“One of the things that I like to tell myself is to write down everything, write down what the professor is writing, even if it’s just a little,” Webster said. “It’s a little hard, but I think as long as you stick to a schedule and you get things turned in on time and you ask questions when you need to, it will be okay.”
Potential note-takers and student recipients can learn more about the process and student employment application through CDAR’s note-taking services informational page.
Between 70 to 90 student note-takers are hired on a yearly basis for this position.
According to their UI informational tab and vision statement, “CDAR envisions a culture which embraces the diversity of individuals with disabilities and provides seamless access and equity for all. We aspire to develop disability allies who incorporate best practices to ensure inclusivity by design.”
Amy Taylor reinforces this by encouraging students to view their peers as potentially having a disability, even if this is not disclosed or confirmed, in order to be more accommodating and supportive to every student.
“We want to make things as accessible as possible to everyone,” Taylor said. “We anticipate and expect and want people of all abilities on this campus.”
To learn about applying for CDAR resources, using the online access portal, instructor access, COVID-19 resources, securing accommodations and more, visit CDAR’s website or staff contact site for further information.
Katarina Hockema can be reached at [email protected]