Office of Disability Services

Mallory Holler, '15

What are your career goals after graduating and how have your professors and staff members at Wright State helped you achieve those goals? 

I am majoring in Rehabilitation Services because I am very interested in working with individuals with disabilities. I do not have a specific career goal but one thing I am interested in doing is helping with training service dogs. I now have my first service dog and I know how important it is for a service dog in training to have experience with someone who already has a disability, before being placed with it's owner.

I am also interested in working with Assistive Technology. I would like to help individuals with various disabilities find the type of Assistive Technology that will help them to meet their needs and become more independent. I recently took a Rehabilitation Services class specifically focused on Assistive Technology. After taking this class, and working with the professor, I have decided for sure that I would like to work with Assistive Technology one day.

Generally, I am also interested in helping people find the services they need in the community. For the past few years, I have been actively involved in a student organization, Abilities United, which allowed me to learn about different services available in the community. This organization is for students with or without disabilities at Wright State. Our main goal is to increase Disability awareness throughout the University and the community.  Every year, we have an Abilities Expo and invite vendors from various places to come share information about the services they provide for individuals with disabilities.
 

What are some of the most innovative or beneficial services offered by the Office of Disability Services?  How have those services helped you to succeed or excel as a student at Wright State?

Some of the services that have been most beneficial to my college education include providing interpreters for my classes and important meetings or events, Technology Center services, and Test Proctoring services. ODS is more than willing to provide interpreters to assist me with communication and getting information from lectures during class. Without interpreters, I would not have been able to attend college.

The people from the Technology Center help to convert my books and other course materials into Word format so that I can access them on my computer and read with large print, due to my visual impairment.

ODS also has rooms available for me to take my exams, where I can have an extended amount of time to complete the test. Like many students with disabilities it takes me longer than students without disabilities to complete the exam because someone has to read the questions and choices to me. Then I will tell them what my answer is and they will write down the answer or mark the choice. Without Testing Proctoring services, it would have been very difficult for me to finish exams, which would greatly affect my success.
 

What made you decide to attend Wright State?   What would you tell other students who are evaluating Wright State as a possible college choice?

Originally, I was not planning to attend college. However, I visited Wright State a few times during my junior and senior year of high school because my brother (Zach) was a student here. During the visits, I met so many people with various disabilities, as well as all of the staff from ODS. I was amazed at the wide diversity of students here. I also learned about the wonderful services ODS provides and how supportive the staff are to helping students with disabilities achieve their academic goals. After such a positive experience, I decided to come to Wright State.

If I met someone who was evaluating Wright state as a possible college choice, I would tell them that Wright State is the best place for individuals with disabilities to be. There are many people to support them and it is very accessible. One of the best parts about getting around campus is the tunnel system. The tunnels allow students with disabilities who might not be able to put a coat on, or hold an umbrella , or walk independently,  to get from building to building easily, no matter what the weather is.  The dorms and apartments on campus are also very accessible for students with disabilities, especially those who use wheelchairs. There are roll-in showers and electric door openers that allow students with disabilities to be more independent.