Positively Deviant: Life Without Boundaries: The Attitudes of Differently Abled Students

By Davi Kallman and Milena Murta



Are there currently enrolled students with physical disabilities (level of mobility/ severe or non severe) that are registered with the Disabled Student Services Office (DSSO), that have suffered from a disability related illness during their tenure at the university (that requires at least a weeks worth of makeup work), that have household responsibilities, and suffer from financial burden, and despite all these obstacles are able to maintain a GPA of 2.0 or higher and graduated from UTEP in four to ten years and are involved in extra curricular activities or advocacy groups?



Criteria


* Disability Related illness (causing them to miss at least a week of school)
* Be registered with the DSSO
* Have household responsibilities
* Financial burden
* Maintain a GPA of 2.0 or higher
* Graduate from UTEP in 4 to 10 years (being that many disabled students begin their education at Community College)
* Involved in extra curricular activities that take up time


Accessible to all: Behaviors and Motivators


* - involvement with extra-curricular activities
* - family support
* - University support (DSSO/SGA)
* - maintain an open conversation with professors (letting them know the real situation)
* - use all the resources the university offer (writing center, tutoring...)
* - self- motivation
* - have something that direct or indirectly pushes you to keep your GPA high (financial aid, for example)
* - hang around with the right people (have friends that makes you feel good and not let you down)- this includes friendships with ablebodied students
* - help other people with the same problem...you feel useful (having a purpose)





Obstacles


* Difficulty with Transportation (accessibility)
* Lack of Compassion from professors and students
* Lack of Ability to do tasks easily
* Time
* Credibility (medical documents)


Observations: Flipping the Scripts


* Most disabled students start their education at community college
* Disability related illnesses impedes them from going to college continuously