Graduating senior gives Purdue high marks for its disability resources
Brian Petraits is a student with initiative, confidence, and drive—and one of 29 students on campus who are blind or visually impaired. At age three, Brian began to lose his vision because of retinitis pigmentosa, which robbed him of peripheral and night vision. In fifth grade, he learned Braille.
A native of Brownsburg, Brian graduates in May with a degree in industrial technology and moves into his first position as an industrial manager, managing 80 production employees of Bosma Enterprises in Indianapolis. He credits his success to four years of hard work, but also to Purdue’s many tools and exemplary services for students with disabilities.
Brian and his father visited five universities in the Midwest during his high school years. Brian says, “Hands down, Purdue was the school that assured me that, with their assistive technology and programs, I could take the industrial technology curriculum and finish in four years. At the other schools, they had little adaptive hardware and fewer trained staff in specialized software. They hinted that it would likely take me five years. They basically said, ‘We think we can help you.’ Purdue said, ‘Here’s what we can do for you now, and tell us what else you need.’”
Brian worked with Dean Brusnighan, formerly in Adaptive Programs within the Office of the Dean of Students and now an assistive technology specialist in ITaP’s Teaching and Learning Technologies (TLT) unit and David Schwarte, the TLT manager of the Adaptive Learning Programs laboratory, or ALPs. They introduced Brian to the many tools on campus for the visually impaired.
Like other freshman students, Brian spent his first month on campus juggling his classes, study sessions, and extracurricular activities. Brian’s textbooks had been scanned over the summer for voice output, but he did not realize right away that a notetaker could accompany him to class. When studying for quizzes and tests, he’d listen to textbook chapters several times, then go over notes with his notetaker.
In a highly technical major, Brian studied subjects with a heavy use of graphics. For his physics class, for example, TAEVIS, or Tactile Access to Education for Visually Impaired Students, also a part of the Office of the Dean of Students, recreated his textbook’s diagrams and graphs into tactile graphics. In his last two years, more Web site designs displayed content in ways accessible to visually impaired students.
A strong believer in open communication, Brian talked to his professors at the beginning of the semester and shared examples of instructions they may use that shut him out of the discussion, such as, “Look at the right column of the table on page 336.”
Brian says, “I believe that my instructors and our communication have been an integral part in how much success I have had in their classes.” Professors have allowed him to take tests in their offices with a test monitor who reads him the questions or to complete an assignment back in the ALPs lab and e-mail it to the professor.
The Office of the Dean of Student’s Adaptive Programs recently changed its name to the Disability Resource Center (DRC). The new name better reflects its mission and offerings to students with disabilities, which have not changed. When DRC staff evaluate a student’s disability, they compose a letter, directed to the student’s instructors, that defines the student’s disability and outlines what accommodations and assistive technology will help the student succeed in meeting the expectations of the course.
“Some students,” says Brusnighan, “may hold back the introductory letter and size up the course demands before deciding if they can meet the professor’s expectations without academic adjustments. At the other end of the spectrum, other students, like Brian, will meet with every one of their professors the semester before to elicit cooperation.”
Brusnighan adds, “Ideally, in the spring, the student meets with each of his professors and a DRC specialist and a TAEVIS specialist in a case conference about the student’s fall courses. From these case conferences, the team devises a plan to prepare the student for each distinctive course. These plans are then included in the letters. Because each student is different, we use all the information we gather to create a solution that satisfies the student’s needs in the best possible way.”
As Brian reflected on his four years at Purdue, he acknowledged that he became much more efficient in using the DRC and ALPs resources. He believes that each student must seek out what he or she needs to be successful—disability or not. Brian says, “People here at Purdue want to help you. They set up a framework for my academic life here and built me a springboard through all these tools. I am now prepared for a fulfilling work experience and life.”
For more information about the Disability Resource Center, TAEVIS, and ALPS, visit these Web sites: http://www.purdue.edu/ODOS/ and http://www.itap.purdue.edu/tlt/idc/alps.
Last updated: May 8, 2008
A native of Brownsburg, Brian graduates in May with a degree in industrial technology and moves into his first position as an industrial manager, managing 80 production employees of Bosma Enterprises in Indianapolis. He credits his success to four years of hard work, but also to Purdue’s many tools and exemplary services for students with disabilities.
Brian and his father visited five universities in the Midwest during his high school years. Brian says, “Hands down, Purdue was the school that assured me that, with their assistive technology and programs, I could take the industrial technology curriculum and finish in four years. At the other schools, they had little adaptive hardware and fewer trained staff in specialized software. They hinted that it would likely take me five years. They basically said, ‘We think we can help you.’ Purdue said, ‘Here’s what we can do for you now, and tell us what else you need.’”
Brian worked with Dean Brusnighan, formerly in Adaptive Programs within the Office of the Dean of Students and now an assistive technology specialist in ITaP’s Teaching and Learning Technologies (TLT) unit and David Schwarte, the TLT manager of the Adaptive Learning Programs laboratory, or ALPs. They introduced Brian to the many tools on campus for the visually impaired.
Like other freshman students, Brian spent his first month on campus juggling his classes, study sessions, and extracurricular activities. Brian’s textbooks had been scanned over the summer for voice output, but he did not realize right away that a notetaker could accompany him to class. When studying for quizzes and tests, he’d listen to textbook chapters several times, then go over notes with his notetaker.
In a highly technical major, Brian studied subjects with a heavy use of graphics. For his physics class, for example, TAEVIS, or Tactile Access to Education for Visually Impaired Students, also a part of the Office of the Dean of Students, recreated his textbook’s diagrams and graphs into tactile graphics. In his last two years, more Web site designs displayed content in ways accessible to visually impaired students.
A strong believer in open communication, Brian talked to his professors at the beginning of the semester and shared examples of instructions they may use that shut him out of the discussion, such as, “Look at the right column of the table on page 336.”
Brian says, “I believe that my instructors and our communication have been an integral part in how much success I have had in their classes.” Professors have allowed him to take tests in their offices with a test monitor who reads him the questions or to complete an assignment back in the ALPs lab and e-mail it to the professor.
The Office of the Dean of Student’s Adaptive Programs recently changed its name to the Disability Resource Center (DRC). The new name better reflects its mission and offerings to students with disabilities, which have not changed. When DRC staff evaluate a student’s disability, they compose a letter, directed to the student’s instructors, that defines the student’s disability and outlines what accommodations and assistive technology will help the student succeed in meeting the expectations of the course.
“Some students,” says Brusnighan, “may hold back the introductory letter and size up the course demands before deciding if they can meet the professor’s expectations without academic adjustments. At the other end of the spectrum, other students, like Brian, will meet with every one of their professors the semester before to elicit cooperation.”
Brusnighan adds, “Ideally, in the spring, the student meets with each of his professors and a DRC specialist and a TAEVIS specialist in a case conference about the student’s fall courses. From these case conferences, the team devises a plan to prepare the student for each distinctive course. These plans are then included in the letters. Because each student is different, we use all the information we gather to create a solution that satisfies the student’s needs in the best possible way.”
As Brian reflected on his four years at Purdue, he acknowledged that he became much more efficient in using the DRC and ALPs resources. He believes that each student must seek out what he or she needs to be successful—disability or not. Brian says, “People here at Purdue want to help you. They set up a framework for my academic life here and built me a springboard through all these tools. I am now prepared for a fulfilling work experience and life.”
For more information about the Disability Resource Center, TAEVIS, and ALPS, visit these Web sites: http://www.purdue.edu/ODOS/ and http://www.itap.purdue.edu/tlt/idc/alps.
Last updated: May 8, 2008
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