JUNE 5, 2006
VCU
WEBCAST

Captioning Provided By:  Caption First, Inc.
				

    >> ELIZABETH GETZEL:  Good afternoon.  Welcome to our webcast.  
We are excited to have you here today to learn about a program 
that we have been implementing on the VCU campus.  It's great 
that we have Andrea and Jennifer here to talk about their 
experiences with our program, the academic and career 
exploration individualized techniques. 
    I thought it would be important to first start with sort of a 
framework, and briefly talk about the structure of the program, 
so as Andrea and Jennifer provide their comments, it will give 
you a context about the services and supports that we provide 
through our ACE-It program. 
    VCU has been exploring for a number of years different service 
options to serve students with disabilities on our campus. 
    One particular program that we are looking at now is looking 
at the academic elements and career elements that are involved 
while students are in college, very important conduction that 
needs to be made, and we have combined these two elements in 
order to assist students both with their short term and long-
term goals. 
    Our program is in close collaboration with our disabilities 
sports services office on campus.  We are looking at ways to tie 
in the types of services with the accommodations students are 
provided through the university.  Today we are going to focus on 
the program that is here at VCU, but I wanted to mention that we 
have been working with other colleges and universities across 
the state, to replicate what we are doing here, and we have been 
working with four-year colleges and universities as well as 
community colleges looking at ways to provide expanded services 
for students. 
    I wanted to briefly cover about the principles of our program.  
We felt that it was very important that our program be consumer-
driven. 
    When students come into our program, we talk with them and 
discuss where they are at that particular point, and to gain 
information from them in terms of what they believe their 
service needs and supports are, and then develop a program 
around what they feel would be most important to them. 
    Our program is open entry and exit.  Students can access 
services at any point throughout the time, and what they see as 
their needs. 
    We felt that the program obviously needed to be 
individualized, to provide a support system of community and 
university resources.  It's very important that we look at 
community resources, because students will be going through 
college and going out into the community, and we feel that it's 
critical that these links be established while they are in the 
academic, in the academic setting, so that once they graduate 
and move into the community, they are familiar with services 
that are available there. 
    Other principles of the career exploration are academic 
program, are that resources are structured to meet short and 
long term goals.  Sometimes the short term goals are very 
immediate, that there is a situation that is occurring that the 
student needs addressed, that week or within that semester.  And 
we look at where the short term goals are, and then how to build 
those towards the more long-term goals, in terms of what their 
program of studies might look at, different courses that they 
may need particular assistance, as well as what their career 
goals are, and what they would need perhaps even in an academic 
setting. 
    Again, the resources are structured around an individual need, 
but also importantly around their career choice.  We feel that 
even students who are coming in as freshmen, that we work with, 
that it's very important that they start to look at what their 
career choice may be, so that they can start to work on the 
various academic needs they may have as well as career options. 
    There are a number of important reasons for this particular 
program.  Retention is probably one of the key reasons.  As we 
may, as many of you may know, retention is a critical problem 
and issue for students with disabilities.  We are seeing 
increasing numbers of students accessing college, but 
unfortunately, staying in college and getting a degree and 
moving on into their careers, still remains an issue.  We really 
are looking at the importance of helping students and assisting 
them to be able to stay in their program. 
    We have done a number of programs with college students with 
disabilities, and from what we learn from our past experiences, 
we try to build as we create and expand programs.  In other 
programs that we have worked with students, their feedback was a 
real need for career exploration.  So we try to really look at 
various ways, and you will see later on in the presentation that 
we do job shadowing, or informal interviewing, just a variety of 
ways part-time employment, that might relate or give the student 
a better idea of a particular career option, and internships or 
externships in clinical settings as well as, is something that 
we focus on, we find to be critical in the program. 
    We also received feedback from other programs that students 
are in need learning more about what technologies is available 
to them, to assist them in their course work, as well as 
technology they would be using in the work environment.  All too 
often, students who enter college are not aware of the 
technology, and even to the extent not aware of the technology 
that is on their laptops. 
    So we try to look at ways to assist students in learning more 
and trying out technology. 
    Another reason for the program is to, for us to determine the 
effectiveness of different student service models.  We believe 
that there are ways that universities could provide a variety of 
services for students, and in collaboration with the disability 
supports services programs on campus, and we are testing out 
those particular ways that programs can collaborate, providing 
services to students. 
    Today's presentation and Power Point as well as with Andrea 
and Jennifer, we are looking to determine the effectiveness of 
this particular model, our ACE-It program, for students with 
traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury and other physical 
disabilities. 
    Today's focus is very much on these particular students and 
what we have been doing over the last three years. 
    As you can see on the slide, there are four components to our 
program.  Some of these I've touched on before.  We feel that 
one again is to establish and use community linkages.  We can't 
seem to emphasize that enough with students, because as they 
progress through their program, we want to make sure that they 
are looking beyond their college experience which can be 
difficult at times, with tests and exams, and trying to meet all 
the deadlines that are part of college, but we always try to 
help them look beyond, so that we can start establishing those 
linkages and help them with community resources. 
    Recruitment and intake of participants, I'll talk in a few 
minutes about how we are able to recruit students, and the 
process of coming into our program.  Once again, it's an open 
entry/exit program.  We do have a flow of students coming in and 
out of our program.  We have found that that has been helpful to 
them, than to have sort of a beginning and end, that they can 
come to us as the need presents or as they want to further 
explore other options that they would like to talk with us 
about. 
    Then the development, and implementation of an academic and 
career plan, we want to have this as something that the students 
can utilize as well as program staff, so that there is a way to 
look at what the goals are and how to work to meet those 
particular academic and career goals. 
    An evaluation is a critical part of our program as well.  We 
want to look at the effectiveness of services and support.  We 
want to see the impact of the program through various ways of 
looking at GPAs.  I'll talk about the different types of 
evaluation that we conduct.  Most importantly, students' 
satisfaction.  We want to hear back from the students what is 
working and what is not working, so that we can always continue 
to improve the services and supports that we are providing. 
    Looking at the examples of services provided through the 
program, these are just some examples.  There is a wide range of 
services.  It's very individualized to a student's particular 
needs.  Again, exposure to technology, to increase efficiency 
and productivity, in instances where students are very involved 
in our program and we are working very closely with them on 
technology, we will loan devices to students to try out and to 
see how to adapt to what their particular needs are.  We do 
referrals to community services.  We try to help again with that 
type of linkage.  Another critical area is awareness of supports 
or services on campuses. 
    Both for students with disabilities, and those services that 
are available to all students.  We feel it's very important that 
students understand the wealth of resources that are available 
on campus and available to all students. 
    A very critical part of the program, especially academic as 
well as in our career side of the program, if you will, is for 
students to understand their disability and impact on learning.  
Especially for students with traumatic brain injury, where it 
could be an acquired injury, it's a life-changing event, and 
learning is impacted as well as other areas of an individual's 
life.  And all too often, students come into the college 
setting, not really understanding what that impact involves and 
what is going on with them in terms of learning, what kinds of 
supports and services they need, how to articulate what they 
need.  So we find this a very critical part of the services that 
we provide. 
    In conjunction with other campus entities, for instance, on 
the VCU campus, our counseling center does work and study skills 
and time management.  Oftentimes we will have students attend 
those sessions or make them aware of those sessions, but we find 
that within our program, there is intensive need to really focus 
on the strategies, the study skills and time management, and set 
up something for a student to follow and really understand the 
importance of these areas, as well as self-advocacy skills.  
Many of the students are unable to articulate what they need or 
how to access those particular services that they need.  So this 
becomes an important part of what we do. 
    Reading and comprehension skills, very critical in terms of, 
of course, with the course and the level of course work, which 
does vary in terms of intensity.  Some students do well or are 
making it through college, the undergraduate, but when they move 
to graduate programs, it's very different type of intense 
programming, and course work, and reading.  And we find that we 
need to take the student where they are in their particular 
programs. 
    Our career services side, and again, it's not academic on one 
side, career on the other.  This is an integrated program.  
Because one really builds to the other, and it's critical, and 
that is why we wanted to look at combining the services, and 
working hand in hand with an academic emphasis as well as career 
emphasis. 
    We want to begin to help students identify accommodation 
strategies that can generalize to the employment setting.  There 
are specific types of accommodations and strategies that work 
well in college.  We want the students to think about what might 
be most effective and moving to then employment, what technology 
might be important.  That is where the whole job shadowing and 
informal interviewing and maybe part-time jobs and internships 
in particular are critical for helping students to start looking 
at what kinds of strategies would be most effective in the 
employment setting. 
    We also are involved with the assessment of clinical and 
internship settings to determine technology or other support 
needs.  Again, internships in particular are a very good way for 
students to be able to try out what they need to be doing in a 
work environment, learning the work environment, what skills 
they need to have within that environment, and especially what 
kinds of technology or accommodations and strategies might be 
helpful outside of a classroom setting. 
    So a very integral part of what we do is to try to work with 
students who have clinical or internship experiences to really 
look at what is involved in that setting and assist them.  We 
also are, and very much part of our program is we do not want to 
duplicate services that are available on campus, so we 
collaborate closely with our career center to assist students in 
preparing resumes or interviews, and those type of skills and 
information that they will need as they move into the work 
environment. 
    I mentioned the importance of internships.  We do run into 
instances where students do not have the grade point to become 
eligible for an internship, and it is so critical for students 
to have this opportunity to have a hands-on experience, if you 
will, so that they can get a feel for work environments.  So we 
try very hard to establish, sometimes it's a very short-term 
time in a work environment, or it would run the course of a 
semester, depending on the student's availability, and need.  
But we have found that this is a very good learning tool for 
students as they look ahead, beyond college, to look at the work 
environment. 
    You will see on your page a link where you will get more 
further detail about the framework of our model.  I will talk 
briefly about that.  This is an adaptation from some work that 
has been done with Brinkerhoff and some of his colleagues, and 
some of the work that they have done.  We have adapted this 
framework in terms of what our program is about.  Essentially, 
the first part of the program is direct coaching.  And in that 
sense, this is the most intense time, if you will, with 
students. 
    This is during, can be through a majority of the program, can 
be at the beginning of the program, and can vary in terms of 
student need.  But direct coaching is really where students are 
interacting on a regular basis with our program staff, in such 
areas as self-advocacy, or doing some job shadowing, exposure to 
technology, and understanding the impact of their disability on 
their learning. 
    The direct coaching can be an intensive time with the student.  
But we are always working with the student to move on further.  
The next step would be the monitoring stage, if you will, where 
students are utilizing their resources, implementing some of the 
strategies and techniques that they have learned or discussed 
with program staff.  They are using those self-advocacy skills.  
And we are just sort of talking with them, as the need comes up, 
but not quite as intense as the direct coaching, but 
implementing, if you will, the types of information strategies 
and ideas they have received through direct coaching. 
    Ultimately, our goal is to move all students to that 
consultation phase, where students would notify us on an as-
needed basis, that they are really fully utilizing their 
resources, that they understand what they need to be doing, that 
they are moving along in their program, they are out in 
internships, they are seeking employment, going on further to 
graduate school.  And it's a touching back with us, if you will.  
If need be, we will go back to the direct coaching, if an issue 
or something comes up that the student needs to talk through and 
we move again through our process. 
    I want to briefly go through how our process works.  We 
receive referrals from our DSS office, disability support 
services office, sometimes in connection with a counseling 
center or career center, faculty and staff have recommended that 
students seek our services, as well as students find out about 
our program and also self-refer. 
    The initial part, of course, is to come in and talk about what 
our program is about, some of our expectations, because we have 
expectations of students, that it is the responsibility on their 
part to work towards resolving or learning about what they need 
to do as well as responsibility on our part to assist them, but 
to move them further along so that they are independent and 
seeking what they need to be doing. 
    So we discuss where the issues are at that particular point is 
the student is having, and sort through that, if you will. 
    Then this could be one session, it could be a couple sessions, 
depending on the student's comfort level, but at some point when 
the student feels that the program does offer what they need, 
again, this is very individualized, very student-driven, once 
that decision has been made, there is a development of an 
academic career plan, which focuses on what those areas of need 
are, again, both on the short term and long term.  We want to 
keep moving students along to their long-term goals, so they are 
successful in reaching what they would like to do as a career or 
sort of what further study, whatever their long-term goals may 
be.  Then we continue to work with students to implement these 
goals. 
    The academic and career plan is hopefully a way to touch back 
with students about how they are doing, what goals they have 
set, and it's not something that is necessarily a plan that is 
put away and not looked at again.  We try to go back to that, so 
we can continually work with students and move along the process 
with them. 
    I talked about evaluation and how important it was in terms of 
the effectiveness of the program as well as the satisfaction of 
students who are involved.  Some of the information that we 
collect as part of the plan is the status of the student, if you 
will, their year in school, their course of study.  You can see 
on the slide there, there are a number of areas that we look at.  
Their GPA at the entry of program, and then at the end of the 
semester, having worked with us.  What we try to look at also is 
the intensity of their involvement, if you will, with us. 
    There are many factors that can impact a student's GPA.  They 
could get into a great study group.  There are a lot of factors 
that could impact that.  We try to look to see whether as a 
result of being in the program and some other things that the 
students have been able to pull together, that we are looking at 
some impact in terms of their GPA, and some of that means if 
students are off academic probation, we have had that kind of 
process as well.  We have had students that are in serious 
academic need.  Typically we do see students that are, that need 
particular supports because of not being successful at that 
point in their college environment.  We see students who need 
the technology to ensure their continued success, in the college 
environment. 
    It very much varies.  We look at GPA at the entry and end of 
the semester.  We look at what kind of community support 
services they have been perhaps tapping into.  We like to find 
out what accommodations are being provided by the college, so we 
can look at how the services and supports we are providing blend 
with those an accommodations. 
    We do not go directly to faculty.  We work with the student, 
because the accommodations are set by the university, and those 
accommodations and that process is a very separate process from 
ours.  We talk with students about that as well.  But we like to 
see what accommodations are provided, so that we can look at the 
blending of the services and supports. 
    We look at their use of accommodations.  A lot of this is 
self-report.  But we feel that we have developed a rapport with 
students, and get a sense of where they are in the program, so 
that we do have an idea of their use of, those are university 
accommodations, so that when we do encourage students strongly 
to utilize whatever resources or accommodations they are 
provided through the disability support services office on our 
campus, and additional campus supports they may have tied into 
as part of their program. 
    We also look at what interventions or learning strategies and 
techniques were used.  We look at what the challenges were, what 
were some of the presenting issues that students came in with, 
what were the interventions?  What interventions or learning 
strategies were involved?  What technology interventions and how 
did that work?  And what was the student successfully able to 
use?  Interventions, that are career related, was their work 
done on the internship side?  Was there job shadowing?  What 
kinds of things were set up for the student in order to pursue 
those careers?  As I had said, most importantly, student 
participation, and their satisfaction.  We really go by what 
students, the feedback is, and it's very important to us.  We 
want to know what the program strengths and what those areas for 
improvement might be, so we can better serve students in the 
future. 
    I hope this overview has helped set the context, and to 
provide sort of a framework when Jennifer and Andrea provide 
their insights into the program, which I think you will find 
very interesting and helpful.  I will turn it back to you.  
Teri.  Thank you. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  Thank you, Liz, for giving us that 
overview of the ACE-It program and its services. 
    Now we are going to be talking with Andrea Konig and Jennifer 
Bagsby, both students who have gone through graduate school at 
VCU and used the ACE-It program and its services.  Jennifer, 
let's start with you.  Can you tell us about your degree and why 
you chose that field? 
    >> JENNIFER BAGSBY:  I recently graduated from VCU with a 
Master's degree in clinical social work.  I chose social work 
because I want to make a difference in other people's lives.  
I've always enjoyed working with children.  Now I have the 
professional position working with children and their families 
as an in-home counselor. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  What are some of the things you do in 
your leisure time? 
    >> JENNIFER BAGSBY:  In my leisure time, I like artistic 
activities and walking my dog.  I'm working towards an LCSW. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  Wonderful.  You are doing that at VCU? 
    >> JENNIFER BAGSBY:  LCSW, I'm getting supervision through one 
who graduated from VCU too. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  Excellent.  Andrea, what is your degree 
in?  Why did you pick your field? 
    >> ANDREA KONIG:  I'm pursuing a doctoral degree in clinical 
psychology.  I'm interested in becoming a clinical researcher in 
the area of trauma disclosure and health.  I'm particularly 
interested in understanding how disclosing highly stressful 
experiences influences psychological and physical health. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  Fascinating.  Tell us a little about 
your other interests outside of school. 
    >> ANDREA KONIG:  Sure.  Outside of school, I enjoy singing 
and I've studied voice since the age of 15.  Particularly I like 
opera, and I've had the opportunity to travel with several 
choirs I belong to, to different countries, and I enjoy 
traveling. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  You are traveling abroad. 
    >> ANDREA KONIG:  Occasionally, with choirs. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  Thank you.  Jennifer, would you mind 
sharing with us a little about your disability? 
    >> JENNIFER BAGSBY:  Sure.  I acquired a traumatic brain 
injury in early childhood.  It's impacted every aspect of my 
life, from remembering, organizing, learning about social cues, 
time management, and also most recently I've learned about 
emotional regulation and particularly, that aspect has impacted 
me professionally, academically and personally. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  Your disability? 
    >> ANDREA KONIG:  I have cerebral palsy from birth.  
Particularly it affects my lower extremities.  I also have 
subluxated elbows from birth, meanings that the bones in my arm 
are not in the right location.  I experience some pain in my 
arms if I overuse my muscles. 
    Growing up, I used crutches to get around.  I didn't feel 
disabled.  It wasn't until high school when I started 
experiencing chronic pain in my back that I did start to feel 
disabled, and at the time the professionals didn't know how to 
help me with that.  I wound up being in bed the majority of my 
time during my undergraduate years.  I've worked from that time 
until now, to regain my strength and my stamina.  My disability 
affects my daily life, in that I have to pace myself.  I can sit 
for about 40, 45 minutes at a time.  Then I need to stand up and 
preferably walk around and move around, so I can avoid back 
pain.  Similarly with my arms, I can do some writing, but I need 
to take frequent breaks to avoid overexerting myself, and ending 
up in pain. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  You are not using crutches any more 
though, right? 
    >> ANDREA KONIG:  No.  I use a manual wheelchair that I use as 
a walker on outdoor surfaces to get to where I'm going.  I use 
it as a comfortable seat to sit in when I get to my destination.  
That works well for me, allows me to alternate my positions 
standing and sitting and provides stability on uneven surfaces. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  Thank you both for sharing that 
background.  Jennifer, can you tell us about your current job 
and why that is a good match for you? 
    >> JENNIFER BAGSBY:  Sure, before applying for the job I 
worked with projects staff to find out the position 
requirements, and more information on the working environment.  
I found out that I'd be working directly with children and their 
families.  I found out I would have autonomy, and I also found 
out that I have the option to do paperwork electronically, which 
helps me to be able to use a screen reader.  I found out that I 
have the option to socialize or not socialize with coworkers.  I 
disclosed my disability to order to accentuate my strengths. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  You mentioned the Kurzweil screen 
reader.  Can you tell us more about that?
    >> JENNIFER BAGSBY:  Kurzweil allows you to scan or take a 
word document and you can cut and paste it into Kurzweil.  It 
allows you to highlight and manipulate the text and allows me to 
slow down the speech, because I like to have the speech less 
slurred, and it helps me to have a multi-sensory way of 
collecting information. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  Very good.  Can you tell us a little 
about your job search after you graduated?  What was that like? 
    >> JENNIFER BAGSBY:  Sure.  I had a couple positions that were 
outside of my professional choice, and basically to pay the 
bills.  And through those positions I learned more about 
emotional regulation which has, help me be successful in this 
job. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  Your job search, did you disclose your 
disability? 
    >> JENNIFER BAGSBY:  In my first position, I did not disclose, 
and that turned out to be a mistake, because the job 
requirements weren't a good match for me.  But when I worked 
with program staff I was able to find a position that was a good 
match. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  You are talking about the ICE-IT staff? 
    >> JENNIFER BAGSBY:  Yes. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  You worked with them and you went over 
your first experience and where your strengths were, and used 
that for your second internship? 
    >> JENNIFER BAGSBY:  Right.  My strength as well as being 
proactive in the things I needed to change to be successful. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  Thank you.  We touched on it a little, 
but can you tell us other services and supports that you got 
through ACE-It?  Your academics. 
    >> JENNIFER BAGSBY:  Sure.  Through ACE-It, I got assistance 
with technology which included Palm Pilot, Kurzweil, books 
scanned and read, and that allowed me to have multi-sensory 
access to information.  I had weekly meetings with the ACE-It 
staff, to help with time management and prioritizing homework, 
study skills, which are a lot different from graduate school 
from undergraduate, and breaking down papers.  And also I 
learned that if I use a yellow highlighter, it worked very well, 
and also used Kurzweil and the program staff helped me to 
realize that that program would help tremendously, with doing 
work, and also in internships. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  Okay.  You said you used the Palm Pilot.  
Is that something ACE-It helped you with, in learning how to use 
the Palm Pilot? 
    >> JENNIFER BAGSBY:  Yes, they helped me by showing me how to 
download the information from the Website so I could get the 
Palm Pilot to work.  And then they showed me how to actually use 
the Palm Pilot so that I could program things that I needed to 
remember into it so it helped with memory. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  You use that too with time management 
skills? 
    >> JENNIFER BAGSBY:  Yes, time management, things like that. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  With your internship, we talked about 
how they helped you for your second internship being prepared 
for that.  Did they come to your job site?  Did you let them do 
that in your internship?  
    >> JENNIFER BAGSBY:  I did.  They came to the internship and 
were in a meeting with my supervisor for my internship and 
together we worked on what accommodations I would need in the 
workplace, and worked on making the next internship very 
successful. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  Very good.  Thank you very much, 
Jennifer. 
    Let's turn to you, Andrea.  Can you tell us about how your 
disability impacted your career choice?
    >> ANDREA KONIG:  Sure.  When I started in undergrad, I really 
thought that I was going to pursue a career in the area of 
marine biology.  After taking a few biology classes, I realized 
given my physical condition, that it probably wasn't realistic 
that I was going to live on a boat for 40 hours a week.  I 
realized I didn't want to be standing over a microscope 40 hours 
a week, because I needed to have more interaction with people, 
is the conclusion I came to. 
    At the same time, I knew I still wanted to be a scientist of 
some kind, so I thought a lot about what I could study 
realistically for the rest of my life and not be bored and also 
something that would be physically feasible for me.  I realized 
if I pursued a career in psychology, particularly clinical 
psychology, I could be a researcher as well as a clinician and 
integrate these two areas of interest. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  Something that was challenging for you 
but gave you variety that you wanted. 
    >> ANDREA KONIG:  Right.  I knew I would have job flexibility 
if I pursued the doctorate. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  What were some of the services and 
supports that ACE-It provided for you? 
    >> ANDREA KONIG:  ACE-It has been wonderful in helping me in 
my clinical placement.  Currently I work as a staff therapist in 
the clinic on campus.  I see clients on a regular basis and part 
of my responsibility there then also is to complete timely 
progress, notes as well as reports.  And all the information is 
confidential.  I needed to figure out a way to physically 
complete the tasks.  ACE-It brought in a professional to my home 
to collaborate with my physical therapist on my positioning 
needs, as well as to assess how I may be able to benefit from 
assistive technology, and together they decided that there were 
several things that would be crucial to my success in the 
clinic.  Particularly a voice activated system this would allow 
me to dictate to my computer and the computer would type the 
text.  Also a digital recorder which is part of that, another 
part of that technology which would allow me to dictate notes 
verbally into a recorder and download them to the computer 
later.  And third, an adjustable height desk, that would allow 
me to work in either sitting or standing positions and to adjust 
the two surfaces of the desk to the appropriate height based on 
how I felt on any given day, so I could work without pain.  ACE-
It purchased the desk, the voice software and digital recorder 
for me, and they sent in one of their staff members to the 
clinic, to install the software on the computer, and to help me 
learn how to train the software and how to use it. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  What is that software that you are 
talking about? 
    >> ANDREA KONIG:  It's Dragon Naturally Speaking, is the voice 
software, and there is a digital recorder that uses the same 
software as a base.  It's one of the versions of the Naturally 
Speaking software that has the recorder that goes with it. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  That was your choice to let them come to 
your internship site. 
    >> ANDREA KONIG:  Yes.  I was grateful that they do so, so I 
wasn't stuck with technology that I wasn't sure of how to use. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  Right.  Is the desk you are talking 
about, is that just for your home? 
    >> ANDREA KONIG:  The desk is in the clinic.  The nice thing 
about it is that it's something I can take with me to my next 
placement site.  My work in this clinic is one of several 
placements I'm going to have to be at before receiving my 
degree.  It's nice to know that I won't have to worry about the 
physical obstacle in my future placement sites as well. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  It's yours and it's portable. 
    >> ANDREA KONIG:  Yes.  It's going to be in my clinical 
placements, wherever they may be. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  That's great.  Now I want to ask both of 
you what difference did ACE-It make for your college experience?  
What do you think would have been, what life would have been 
without ACE-It, Jennifer? 
    >> JENNIFER BAGSBY:  It would have been abysmal, it would have 
been bad.  The program helped me to be successful in internships 
and classes and gave me supports and ideas I needed to 
compensate for my differences and to work with my strengths. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  Andrea? 
    >> ANDREA KONIG:  For me I feel like without ACE-It, I 
wouldn't feel like I was on an equal playing field with my 
colleagues in the clinic.  I don't know how I would be 
completing my notes and my reports in a timely manner because 
they are confidential.  I wouldn't be able to have someone 
helping me with that.  It would have to be someone within the 
clinic which isn't realistic.  I envisioned I would probably be 
pushing myself too hard and in pain and constantly worried about 
how I was going to complete these physical tasks.  And that 
would be draining all of my energy away from learning and being 
able to see clients which is what I'm there to do and so I'm 
grateful that I can expend my energy in that direction. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  It helped you be more independent, is 
what I'm hearing, as students and in your careers as you move 
forward. 
    >> ANDREA KONIG:  Absolutely. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  I want to ask both of you, do you see a 
need for the ACE-It programs, in college campuses, on other 
college campuses?  As far as some of the services that they 
provide? 
    >> JENNIFER BAGSBY:  Definitely, because as you go through 
college, the need for accommodations is a lot greater at least 
it was for me, the higher up I went in college, and it helps 
with brainstorming ideas, and figuring out what works for you, 
and it also provides the technology and the internships site 
assistance that I may not have gotten otherwise. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  Andrea, how about you? 
    >> ANDREA KONIG:  Absolutely.  I think without the ACE-It 
program I wouldn't be aware of the technology that was out 
there.  Nor if I knew about it, I wouldn't know how to go about 
receiving training in it and obtaining it.  I think it's an 
invaluable service for people with disabilities. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  It sounds like it's individualized and 
that they take time with you and learn more about you and what 
your needs are, in each setting that you're in. 
    >>  Mm-hmm. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  To listen to you all talk on what you 
have been successful in and as you move forward, what advice 
would you give to students who have disabilities who may be 
thinking about going to college? 
    >> JENNIFER BAGSBY:  At the college level, you definitely have 
to be proactive in finding out the resources that are available 
and seeking out those resources and you definitely can't be 
afraid to ask for help when need it. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  Andrea? 
    >> ANDREA KONIG:  I would say it's important to realize that 
most people don't finish four-year degrees in four years, and 
most people take extra time.  So it's important up front to be 
realistic with yourself about what the reasonable time frame for 
you is, and to avoid imposing extra stress on yourself and 
allowing extra time to deal with barriers that may come up that 
you may require extra time and energy to iron out, as you are 
learning the ropes of a new environment.  And also, I think it's 
important to visit an institution and talk to the people and the 
departments, that may be interested in working in.  Because I 
think sometimes the information you read on a Website or in a 
brochure doesn't give you an accurate picture of what an 
environment is really like.  I think it's with people that you 
are going to be interacting with on a daily basis and their 
attitudes that will make a huge difference in how smoothly your 
transition is into the college environment. 
    >> JENNIFER BAGSBY:  I totally agree. 
    >> TERI BLANKENSHIP:  Good advice from both of you.  I thank 
you for sharing your stories and experiences through the ACE-It 
program.  We encourage students with disabilities who want to go 
on to college to seek out what services are available at their 
colleges of interests.  All right.  I want to thank our 
presenters for joining us today.  Jennifer and Andrea and Liz 
Getzel that you heard from earlier, and we look forward to 
getting your questions in the chat room.  Thanks a lot. 

End of webcast at 1:46 p.m. CST)


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