Office of Disability Services: An integral part of Georgia State diversity

At the south end of the long corridor that leads out of the Arts and Humanities building, where photography students display their work, past the welding classroom and the art student's lockers, there are two doors. It is almost always the case that one of those doors, whenever someone is passing through, remains closed.

In the awkward moment where two people meet while walking in opposite directions, one will wait as the left door –or is it the right?– slowly opens itself, allowing them through. Most of the time, one of these two people will have activated the switch, designed to help students on wheelchairs open up a door into a building or room. Very rarely, will a student purposely walk up to the door handle, yank the door his or her way, and walk on through.

The door switch, much like ramps that lead out of buildings, or spacious elevators, or the automatic doors in front of Library North, are all mandated requirements by the Americans With Disabilities Act, the one piece of legislation that was passed in order for disabled Americans  to have equal access to work, live and play areas.

            Another one of those mandated requirements is the Office of Disability Services, where an often overlooked, but never ignored part of the Georgia State University community gets help with their specific needs. 

"We are a mandated service because of the ADA and we provide assistance to about 600 to 700 students with things like better note-taking, taking exams, and technological assistance for students with sight impairments," says Rodney Pennamon, the director for the ODS. "There are academic accommodations for students who request them."

The office doesn't exist in a vacuum, he adds, it works with other offices in order to provide the assistance that some students may require. 

"We try to promote the idea that people should see the student first then the disability and more often than not, it happens the other way around," says Pennamon.

Peter Cossaboon is the student liaison in the ODS, where he works reaching out to his fellow peers.

"It is a common misconception to say that we are challenged or that learning is a challenge for us; the disability may pose a set of difficulties but it's just like any other student," says Cossaboon, who's partially blind. "Everybody's challenged."

Pennamon agrees, "We all learn differently," he says, "we all have different styles of learning."

For Cossaboon, a history major, Georgia State has done a good job in creating a more inclusive environment for students like him.