T H E U N I V E R S I T Y O F T E X A S AT E L PA S O
VOl . 101, NO. 7
ABILITY
TO GROW
OCtObER 6, 2015
DISABILITY
with
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dy l xia by MAriA esQuinCA The Prospector The Center for Accommodation and Support Services will host Ability Awareness Week Oct. 5-9—a week of activities, forums and exhibitions in commemoration of National Disability Employment Month. Bill Dethlefs, director of CASS, said this year marks the eighth year CASS has celebrated the month, which he said recognizes the importance of education in the employment of students with disabilities.
“We want to use this as an opportunity to not only promote inclusion of people with disabilities and awareness, but also set the stage for our students with disabilities to not only get a degree, but a career,” Dethlefs said. CASS opened in 1991 after the passage of the American With Disabilities Act, the first major civil rights legislation for people with disabilities. The center offers services for students with disabilities. As of 2014, there were 799 students with disabilities registered with CASS.
Nationally 9 percent of Americans, 56.7 million people, have a disability. “It’s a struggle every day, but you have to stand up and advocate for your rights, because then nothing is going to happen,” said Lucy Fierro, senior biology major, who is a student with a disability. “A lot of people aren’t aware of what it really means to be disabled. People feel sorry for us when that shouldn’t be. We’re human beings too, we struggle a little bit, but we just push forward.”
michaela romÁn / the ProsPector According to the DepartThis year’s NDEM theme is ment of Labor, NDEM is a “My disability is one part of national campaign that raises who I am.” The theme denotes awareness and celebrates the a larger shift, which describes contributions of workers with a disability as one characdisabilities. NDEM began as teristic of a person, rather a weeklong celebration on than their whole persona. An example of this is the usthe first week of October afage of people-first language. ter congress passed the Na“The use of people-first tional Employ the Physically language was created by Handicapped Week in 1945. people with disabilities as a In 1962, the word “physi- way of creating terms that cally” was removed, and are not offensive and dein 1988 Congress changed rogatory. Words like handithe name to NDEM and capped are no longer apexpanded the week to a propriate, handicapped is a month-long celebration. label of the entire individual,”
see ability on page 6
Photo BY michaela roman / design BY JacoBo de la rosa / the ProsPector
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