ADA Impacts Texas State

by Josh Szczebleski

With 25 years of the Americans with Disability Act being in effect, Texas State University has met and maintained these standards.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Americans with disability Act also know as ADA.  President George H.W. Bush signed the Act into effect on July 26, 1990.  This Act was established to ensure equal rights for those with physical and nonphysical disabilities.

Texas State has made it possible in providing these types of services by establishing the Office of Disability Services (ODS).  ODS was designed to ensure that students with particular needs are provided with the accommodations that they may need and are given equal admittance into university programs and activities.

Senior Allison Tafloff
photo by Josie Rasberry

Many students and faculty members throughout the university have noticed these standards.  Allison Tafloff, a senior majoring in English, said that she had to apply for disability with the ODS for an ankle injury.

“Texas State does a wonderful job of accommodating people with disabilities.  The university has tons of programs that both help and include people with disabilities,” said Tafloff.

Kevin Talley
photo by Josh Szczeblewski

Kevin Talley, MFA graduate student, has had personal experiences in accommodating students with particular needs in the class he teaches, Intro to Fine Arts.

Over three semesters, Talley has seen the types of accommodations the university provides for its students in his classroom. These include having university provided assistants type out his lectures for hearing impaired students to read.

Along with services provided by Texas State, it has also made its campus accessible by building ramps, having elevators and button operated doors.

"Texas State is a challenging campus, but for every challenge I always see a ADA access point such as ramps and elevator options,” said Talley.

Junior Takia Bunton
photo by William Thomas

Despite not having any physical disabilities Takia Bunton, a junior majoring in Social Work, said that she does use services provided by the ADA, such as elevators, ramps and button operated doors.

“[These services] are really convenient and it definitely makes my commute faster when I have to rush from class to class,” said Bunton.

Although, this law has made major impacts on our campuses and communities around the nation, as of 2012 still less then half the of the employment rate is for people with disabilities, as reported by CNN.