In honor of Disability Awareness Month  SRJC hosted six events and provided more online resources than ever before. The disability resources department focused more on electronic materials this year with the goal of reaching more people, since it is hard for students and faculty to attend most events.

The materials used, most eligible to be used by faculty to meet required professional develoment flex credit hours, included online activities, podcasts and a list of films for instructors to use in their classes.

 “It helps instructors get a wider view of the world of disabilities, which in turn allows them to teach better,” SRJC Disability Specialist Kathleen Kraemer said.

SRJC’s Disability Resources Department provides services to about 3,000 students districtwide for chronic illnesses, temporary injuries and physical, learning, sensory and psychological disabilities. The Disability Resources Department offers services such as loaning power chairs to students with broken legs, providing sign language interpreters to deaf students, and providing support to students with learning disabilities. “Being a college student with a disability requires a lot of skills,” Kraemer said.

Kraemer has been working in the Disability Resources Department since 1979 and has witnessed an evolution of disability awareness since President Bush signed the Americans With Disabilities Act in 1990. There is more accessibility built into architecture and advancements made in the services provided, Kraemer said.

“There’s disability all over our society and most people have a narrow view,” Kraemer said. “If we bring people’s awareness to the breadth of disabilities, it’s helpful to everyone in the culture.”

In the 30-plus years Kraemer has been at SRJC, the administration and Board of Trustees have strongly supported disability resources, giving SRJC some of the best programs in the nation for disabled students. Kraemer recalls an entire family that moved to Santa Rosa from Chicago just so their son could attend SRJC through the acquired brain injury program.

For students to take advantage of disability resources, they must have a verified disability and a medical statement proving their disability limits them in their daily living and functioning. Counseling about the process is offered in the Disability Resources Center everyday from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.