Monthly Newsletter from Disability Services

JULY 2023

We hope you are resting up and recharging for a strong September start. We're just over a month from starting the Fall semester. As the team has been meeting new students over the summer, we're excited for incoming students to receive our monthly newsletter. Please do reach out to disability@uml.edu with any concerns or feedback!

The DS Team (Jodi, Brandon, Lauren, Evelyn, and Aida) 

We would like to highlight amazing allies around campus and need your help! Please take a minute and share your experience with us . 

UML's new Public Speaking working group includes several campus department and we plan to offer resources and skill-building opportunities for students wishing to develop their presenting - particularly those with a fear of public speaking.

Please take 2 minutes to help us understand your needs better. (This is anonymous unless you choose to provide your name).

BIG NEWS: The Disability Dish is now on your favorite podcast platforms! We will no longer be updating the youtube page but find us at the following spots: 

Episode 12 : Jodi and Lauren talked with Dr. Diana Walker-Moyer, Nurse Practitioner and recently retired Director of the UML Health Services; Dr. Stephen Lam Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at UML; Amanda Holthaus, Nurse and UML graduate student in the Zuckerberg School of Public Health; and Matt Daneau, UML senior in Plastics Engineering about whether society is in a distraction epidemic, and being diagnosed with ADHD and the impact on at various ages, gender, staying focused, and society's expectations. (stay tuned for a part B because we had so much fun that we still had more to cover!) 

Get reminders of events, holidays, academic dates and deadlines; keep up with the office happenings; and giveaways!

If you haven’t registered for classes and need help getting started or understanding your holds, a great starting point is to email advisement@uml.edu

In the summer, with the exception of Organic Chemistry (please check details on your syllabus), tutoring is available through GPS online tutoring options. Students can access Thinking Cloud through their Blackboard for 24/7 tutoring.  

The Writing Center is OPEN throughout the summer. You can sign up for a 30-min virtual meeting on Sundays 6-8pm and Mondays 4-6pm through the Writing Center Website. 

Want to talk with someone right away? Did you know that even in the summer Peer Advisors can talk with you about your schedule, SiS, class search, campus resources, deadlines, etc.? You can find someone to talk to up to 6 days per week in person or on Zoom. Check out the Peer Advising webpage for more information!  

SourceAbled  

SourceAbled is Rangam’s autism, neurodiversity, and disability hiring solution providing a collaborative, holistic framework designed to develop people, create inclusionary processes, and foster a culture of belonging. Start searching for jobs now ! 

 

Summer 2023 events - Check out the events webpage. 

Check out the Well-being Blog 

The Student Life & Well-being blog shows how students are incorporating the eight dimensions of wellness into their daily life on campus. 

Did you know you could be seen the same day or the next from your first contact? Even in the summer if you’re in Massachusetts. 

To schedule an initial, first appointment: 

Call the Wellness Center at 978-934-6800 during normal business hours (Monday – Thursday: 8:30 a.m. – 4:45 p.m., Friday: 9:15 a.m. – 4:45 p.m.) for an in-person 30-minute appointment. It is advised that you call at 8:30 a.m. to obtain a same-day appointment, as initial appointments times are filled quickly. 

Did you know you can talk to someone 24/7? 

To get help when experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the UMass Lowell on-call clinician at 855-890-2879 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. 

Did you know there are quite a few self-driven resources for students? 

Just a few:    

Check out all the resources and more on the Counseling Services Website 

There is a way to get your groceries delivered to your home with a swipe of a button - Instacart that can do just that! This service can be convenient for anyone, especially those who are busy, have small children, or people with visual impairments. It’s one of the best apps for the blind because it helps to empower people with vision loss and give them more independence. 

outlooken.org 

A new airplane seat concept that allows wheelchair users to stay in their own chair throughout a flight was revealed by a subsidiary of US airline Delta, a move welcomed as a “huge step” by potential customers.

DFP’s concept seamlessly converts to and from a traditional airplane seat. The built-in seat folds up to allow a wheelchair to be docked into place. The seat would be installed into pre-existing aircraft seat track systems, so would not involve any structural change to the airplane.

When the seat’s in wheelchair mode, flyers are still able to use the tray table – the center console that houses the tray table rises to the appropriate height when the seat conversion takes place.

cnn.com

It all started when I was four years old. I don’t have any memory of it, but my parents recall immediately noticing something was off with the way I was acting. I went from being a happy-go-lucky kid to suddenly having a lot of obsessions, compulsions, and depressive behaviors.

I call OCD a grab bag of mental illness—mine also came with generalized anxiety and bouts of depression throughout my life. 

I don’t have a great memory of growing up, but from what I can recall, there was always a lot occupying my mind and I experienced many issues socially. I had very black and white thinking, when it comes to people’s actions, which made it challenging to interact with others. I also didn’t really have the ability to self-regulate in terms of what I was saying, so I would voice a lot of inappropriate things or compulsively say things I shouldn’t.

 mindbodygreen.com

There’s more than just one way to ride a wave. Originally working out of the back of a car, Surfability UK now operates from two purpose built buildings with an ever-growing range of specialist equipment.

Since 2013, coach Ben Clifford has been individually tailoring surf lessons to people living with a range of different disabilities. With 10 years of successful operations behind them, they are now setting their sights even further and sending athletes to compete around the globe. Surf's up!

youtube.com

America's Got Talent saw an unforgettable audition from comedian Ahren Belisle, a 28-year-old engineer with cerebral palsy, used a text-to-speech app to deliver insanely clever, perfectly timed one-liners that left audiences howling.

As the aspiring comic explained to the judges early on, typing on his phone “builds tension during a set, and I think people enjoy watching me laugh at my own joke that I’m writing.” He wasn’t wrong. The crowd could barely contain themselves as they giggled with anticipation.

Upworthy.com

A first-of-its-kind streaming service is launching this week showcasing films connected to the disability experience.

ReelAbilities Stream will go live Tuesday with more than 50 movies by and about people with disabilities. The service is an offshoot of the ReelAbilities Film Festival, the new service will include films that have screened since the early days of the festival up to the last two years. More recent works are still appearing at festivals.

“They are treasures,” Zablocki said of the collection, “many of which cannot be seen anywhere else.”

disabilityscoop.com

The ongoing series, which began in 2017, stars Freddie Highmore as Dr Shaun Murphy, an autistic surgeon working at a hospital in San Jose, California.

The Good Doctor has been a commercial hit, but has attracted substantial criticism over its portrayal of autism, with a number of recirculated clips being met with derision and mockery online.

independent.co.uk

Deafverse is a choose-your-own-adventure online game created just for deaf teenagers, where they can learn important skills for success in high school and beyond. Players get to make their own choices, stand up for themselves, and build confidence and skills they can use in real life.

Jump into a virtual world of a magical, sacred comic book. Meet game narrator Justin and your sidekick named Catbot, and work together to stop a rogue robot from wreaking havoc on the city. Resolve situations that deaf teenagers face in reality, like what to do when the interpreter isn’t being helpful, a movie theater doesn’t have captioning, or when people leave you out of conversations.

yahoo.com 

We love staying connected with you!

Submissions/ideas/feedback are always welcome:

disability@uml.edu