Editorial revision 11/9 – The original article incorrectly stated Jayne Fraley-Burgett facilitated the forum, whereas Genna Wright facilitated the event with the assistance of Fraley-Burgett.
In partnership with Student Senate, Grand Valley State University’s Student Accessibility Resources (SAR) held a Disability Expression Forum last Tuesday.
The Kirkhof Center discussion included a variety of student speakers who shared personal experiences living with a disability. Genna Wright, Student Senate’s advocacy chair, facilitated the event with the assistance of Jayne Fraley-Burgett, SAR director. The forum aimed to increase understanding on-campus about disabilities, and the importance of accessibility in higher education.
The event comprised a total of six speakers, many of whom are studying education or psychology, including Isabella Donaldson, who is involved in the University’s education program.
“A lot of my (education) classes are better for accommodations because they understand what we are going through,” Donaldson said. “You’d be surprised how many education majors have a disability, and that’s why they’re in education, which I think is cool.”
Another student speaker studying education was Lexi Green, a freshman at GVSU. Green has a hereditary disease that causes substantial vision loss between adolescence and an individual’s early twenties. She shared her experience and the difficulty of adapting to blindness.
“(Having learned) braille in the last two years of high school, I can’t read it at a fluent rate like you can read print,” said Green. “It is very slow, think of it as early elementary level, so I can’t rely on it to do college-level work yet.”
Green also spoke about the lack of understanding and negative reactions of others toward her disability.
“In the beginning of the semester, I was yelled at by an employee because I could not find the bar code on what I was purchasing at the time, so I just left,” Green stated. “I have had several (job) interviews where usually I walk in, they see my cane and they kind of turn me away.”
Another speaker, Lilyth Swallow, a freshman at GVSU, talked about her experience with epilepsy and what it’s like living with an “invisible disability.” The term refers to a condition that is not apparent to others but impacts a person’s daily life.
“I don’t have a physical disability, so it does get overlooked a lot of the time,” said Swallow. “I do get the occasional, ‘Oh, you have epilepsy? Do you think I could flash a light in your face and you’ll have a seizure?’ The mocking I have gotten on campus is really not appropriate.”
The desire to break cycles and continue advocacy work was emphasized throughout the forum by speakers, facilitators and attendees alike. Wright hopes the forum will be one of many educational opportunities for students surrounding accessibility.
“For the students and our speakers, they can share their experiences, and we are here to listen and observe,” said Wright. “Also, (we should) not just to observe, but be able to understand their experience here.”
