For more than 30 years, Disability Pride Month has recognized the challenges of and determination of those living with physical and neurodivergent challenges. The month is observed annually in July.
Rogers State University works diligently to accommodate students facing these challenges to assist them as they work to earn their college education.
Students like Masson Maddox.
Maddox, who has been blind from birth, is currently working to earn his degree in communications at RSU.
“Rogers State is a fairly good-sized campus, and with me not being able to see, there are challenges when it comes to getting from point A to point B, but everyone here – everyone at Student Affairs – has been so helpful, so accommodating in helping me get around,” Maddox said. “RSU has gone above and beyond to help me. If it wasn’t for (RSU’s) Student Affairs, I wouldn’t be a student here.”
Maddox is a native of Colorado and said he came to RSU because of its affordability and degree options.
“Oklahoma was a better environment for me, and I learned about the communications program at RSU, so I decided to try it out to see what I thought about the university,” he said. “The first day I showed up, I was overwhelmed. I was a fish out of water, it was disorienting to be in a completely new environment, but from day one, everyone was so helpful, so accommodating – Student Affairs, the instructors, the staff, other students, everyone.”
“When people ask me if RSU could do anything more to help me, I always tell them, no pun intended, that there’s nothing more I can see that they could be doing for me,” he said.
According to RSU Accessibility and Disability Resources Coordinator John Carle, the number of students attending RSU with physical and neurodivergent challenges has been increasing, with his office having assisted more than 200 in the past few years.
Celebrated each July, Disability Pride Month commemorates the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law July 26, 1990. The ADA prohibits discrimination against those with disabilities in areas of public life, including employment, housing, transportation, access to government services and more.
RSU provides service to all students with disabilities who are otherwise qualified as defined by federal regulations, offering reasonable accommodations to otherwise qualified students with a disability. These students are required to self-identify if they require a service based on disability. Registration for this is through Student Disability Services in the Office of Student Affairs.
RSU is committed to the goal of achieving educational opportunity and full participation for students with disabilities outlined by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation act of 1973 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, which prohibits discrimination based on disability.
For more information about accessibility and disability resources at Rogers State University, visit www.rsu.edu/disability-services.