Panel discusses life with disabilities

Graduate student Misty Kienzynski has had people yell at her, talk as if she couldn’t understand them and take her by the arm to lead her across the street, all because she is visually impaired.

Kienzynski was one of six students who shared their experiences on a student panel in the Accessible University series.

The panel, “Student Perspectives on Accessibility,” was conducted by the disability roundtable and discussed life on campus for disabled students both academically and socially.

Disability Services Coordinator Aaron Spector said the panel was timed well with Diversity Day because all the members of the panel come from a wide range of backgrounds.

Kienzynski attended the Indiana School for the Blind and said it allowed her to have personal attention and participate in extracurricular activities such as track and field.

Panelist Heather Kornick said she was embarrassed to leave the classroom in elementary school for reading classes. She added she didn’t want the stigma of a disability, because she was worried teachers would treat her differently.

She said she learned to use humor to help herself and others to cope with her disabilities.

“If you can’t joke about yourself, you haven’t accepted yourself,” she said.

Kornick said she had to work with the University to show she wants to earn good grades and put time and effort into her classes. She said many students don’t realize Disability Services for Students is there and many don’t want the stigma of being disabled.

Panelist Todd Wantz said he thought that academics fixates on negatives not positives, but he has found that if he starts with what is manageable, it is easiest to go from there.

Wantz added he has successfully used his strategy to tutor students in math.

Kienzynski said her professors have been accommodating and she meets with them before the start of each semester. The adaptive technology center has provided her with magnified books and put books on CDs so she can view them on her computer using ZoomText to magnify the text and invert the colors so the contrast is higher.

Panelist Rachel Roby said she is grateful for her disability and she wants to help other people understand mental illnesses and how her illnesses affect her daily life.

“I have to adapt to society more than they have to adapt to me,” Roby said.
She added she speaks openly about her mental health disorders because nobody else does.

“All we want is respect from able bodied-people,” Kienzynski said.

Panelist Adria Nassim said she works with autistic preschool students every week to help bring them out of their shell. She added she wants to be a role model for younger students with disabilities to let them know they are special people and can contribute to society.

“I don’t want your pity,” Nassim said. “If you pity me, you have too much time on your hands.”