OSD Services

MAJOR SERVICE COMPONENTS:

Personal Care:  The O.S.D. trains and employs attendants who assist students with grooming, bowel and bladder routines, showering, dressing, room cleaning, and other activities of daily living.  These services are coordinated by a full-time registered nurse. 

Van Transportation:  The University owns and maintains a fleet of seven vans.  These vans are used to transport students from their residence halls to their classrooms on a daily basis.  Also, van service may be requested for medical appointments, internships, and other transportation needs. 

Wheelchair Maintenance:  The O.S.D. maintains a Wheelchair Repair Room which employs personnel trained in repairing electric and manual wheelchairs.  An inventory of wheelchair parts and supplies are in stock to minimize "down-time" of the students' wheelchairs. 

Learning Disability Support Services:  Support services are offered at three levels for students with learning disabilities. Services for the two higher levels include supervised study sessions with a trained peer mentor, writing specialist assistance.  The lowest level provides the basic services of assistance in arranging academic accommodations including alternate test arrangements, priority scheduling for classes, consultation with staff, and tape recorded textbooks. These basic services are also included in the higher levels. 

 Living Skills Center:  The Living Skills Center is an intermediate step designed to "bridge the gap" between home, residence life, and off-campus apartment life.  This center employs a self-directed approach to gain the information, skills, confidence, and responsibility to make the transition to independent, self-directed living.

Academic Aide System:  The academic aide system is designed to help with the mechanics of school work.  The academic aide is a reader and/or writer for students who cannot complete these activities independently.  An academic aide can also provide library assistance.

Tactile Laboratory:  The Tactile Laboratory was designed to meet the needs of students with blindness or visual impairments.  The tactile laboratory is utilized to develop educational materials in tactile, audible and enlarged form for both students and faculty.

Assistive Technology Center:  The ATC works with any device or technique which can be used by a person with a disability to minimize the cognitive, sensory, motor, and/or linguistic limitations that a disability might otherwise impose. A broad range of services must be provided to enable individuals with severe disabilities to function in school, home and the workplace.  Some of the services provided are:  Wheelchair Evaluations/Adaptations, Physical Mobility/Life Skills, Alternative Access/Computer Evaluations, Home/Work-Site Evaluations, and School/Work Transition. 

Recreation/Multi-Purpose Room:  This facility, located in the Crawford Center, is designed for use by students with disabilities.  The room has a variety of recreational components including video games, TV, billiards, table tennis, air hockey and various adapted physical fitness equipment.  This room is also a meeting place for student run adapted recreational and sports opportunities for students wishing to use facilities off campus.