NCC students learn to cope with disabilities

By Brendan Moore

There are many challenges presented to students who attend colleges and universities. Of these students who decide to meet these challenges, a portion of them have some sort of disability.

What is college like for those students who have a disability?

When the pressures and responsibilities are even too much for the average student, how do those who have disabilities handle them?

Sarah Bartz is among the students who have attended NCC and graduated in spite of the disabilities she possesses. Bartz was born with cerebral palsy.

When asked if she wished life with her disability was easier, she said, “No, because it’s all I really know. Sometimes I wish I didn’t have to depend on people so much for my daily life.”

Bartz started NCC in 2000 and graduated with her degree six years later. During her time here, Bartz received accommodations from NCC’s office for students with disabilities, O.S.D.
These included note takers, scribers for tests, extra time on tests and books on tape. When asked which of these she found to be most beneficial, she said, “the scribers for test, and extra time on tests because I had more time to take tests.”

During her time at NCC, one of the areas she required help with was writing. Due to her cerebral palsy, Bartz has to rely on others to do things for her such as take down her answers for tests and taking notes for her in class.

In addition, when Bartz was asked what sort of things specifically her disability causes her to struggle with, she said, “Papers, Just because I type slower I have to devote more time to writing them.”

During her day-to-day life while she was a student here, Bartz often received a hand from her fellow students. An example of how other students lent Bartz a helping hand is when she needed something from her backpack she would have to ask someone to unzip her back pack and get it for her. When asked how people usually react to her when she asked them for help Bartz said, “They were fine with it. I haven’t run in to anyone who made a big deal about it.”

While she was a student here at student here at NCC, Bartz received support from a couple different sources, one of them being her mother. When asked how her mother supported her, Bartz said, “Emotionally supportive. And she listened to me, which helped.”

Bartz now works at NCC as a customer support representative.

Like Bartz, a number of other students also receive support not only from the OSD department, but from the students and faculty of NCC as well.

One of these students, Tim Monternac, currently is in his first semester at NCC. Monternac is a quadriplegic. When ask about how his disability affects his time here, Monternac said, “It’s very frustrating. The OSD helps a good deal though.”

When asked about what sort of obstacles he is faced with, Monternac said, “the cold. I have trouble staying warm.”

Finally, when learning disabled student Brittany Larson was asked about how she felt about the things her disability caused her to struggle with she said, “I know there are people out there who have disabilities. I feel cool about it knowing I’m not alone.”