Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein will be here at MSU on Tuesday, October 12th from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. to reflect on his experience with working in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for three months. He will share his perspective on living in Israel for three months in 2021 and the efforts he made to forge relationships and develop a common understanding of the struggles faced by those with disabilities.
The RCPD’s Braille Technology Advantage Program provides students with an unparalleled opportunity to read and learn with braille on MSU’s campus, with innovative efforts driving the ability for braille to be delivered to students wherever they may be located. Now thanks to the Canute 360, the world’s first multi-line braille e-reader, RCPD students are granted even more educational possibilities.
Freedom Scientific is the world’s leading assistive technology manufacturer for people who are blind or visually impaired. Home to the renowned JAWS (Job Access with Speech), a robust screen reading software, and the Focus 40 Blue, a compact refreshable braille display, Freedom Scientific empowers independence for people with disabilities around the world. Recently, RCPD Director Michael Hudson was interviewed during a podcast by Freedom Scientific’s Glen Gordon, the architect behind JAWS, discussing the resource center, his experience with being blind, and the Braille Technology Advantage Program.
The Michigan State University Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives funds ‘Creating Inclusive Excellence Grants’ that support a variety of different programs, including faculty development to research inclusion practices. One recent grant, which involved the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities, is supporting a series of workshops, some instructional support and two years of attendance at MSU’s Accessible Learning Conference (ALC) for academic faculty and staff members. It also contributes to the promotion and development of accessible teaching and learning through the Faculty Accessibility Fellows Program for the College of Arts & Letters, College of Natural Science and Eli Broad College of Business.
Michigan State University is an institution devoted to providing educational opportunities and an inclusive environment. For over 48 years, the RCPD has held to these values by advising and supporting persons with disabilities throughout the MSU community. Through Ability Access Specialists, Team RCPD continues to encourage the growth and advancement of students and their abilities. With that, the RCPD is delighted to announce Tesia Freer as our new Blindness/Visual Impairment (B/VI) and Media Access Specialist.
On a campus known for accessibility innovation, Michigan State University’s College of Engineering is a longstanding partner with the Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities (RCPD). Working together, RCPD and Engineering faculty facilitate projects that inform students of universal design and the life-changing role that well-designed technology plays in providing access.
Michigan State University is an institution that strives for diversity and inclusion both at home and abroad.
With the help of the MSU Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities and an MSU Creating Inclusive Excellence Grant, one recent MSU graduate was able to contribute to these efforts by designing an improved method of teaching English to students with visual impairments. A recent MA in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) graduate and Columbian Fulbright scholar, Maritza Medina G. faced difficulties as a blind student when learning phonetics. She received a Tinker Field Research Grant from the MSU Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies and wanted to conduct her thesis research on phonetics through assistive technology’s universal design.
Every year for one week in June, Big Tech titan Apple Inc. hosts the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) showcasing new and innovative technologies for software developers of all skill levels. The event is a chance for attendees to gain early access to the future of iOS through diverse presentations delivered by Apple employees as well as hands-on experience with Apple engineers. One such engineer is Jordyn Castor, an MSU Alumna who began her career at Apple as an intern in 2015 shortly after receiving her undergraduate degree in Computer Science.
The Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities is pleased to announce a brand-new initiative launching Fall 2020: RCPD will provide electronic braille displays to incoming blind students who use braille at no cost to them – the first program of its kind at any university in the United States!
The Michigan Bureau of Services for Blind Persons (BSBP) believes in the capacity of achieving employment and independence for people who are blind or visually impaired. The award-winning program Transitions in Training was developed with the BSBP to share the benefits of higher education and job opportunities for students who are blind or visually impaired.
During the summer of 2019, RCPD student Ellie M. took part in an Education Abroad program to the UK, which gave her the opportunity to travel to many exciting locations around England. At the start of the fall semester, we got in touch with Ellie for a little Q&A about her trip:
Matthew Miller is an RCPD student with a visual impairment with a love for the game of ice hockey. Despite his disability, Matthew is able to enjoy watching the game due to the lighting and sounds that allow him to follow the plays.
For the first time ever, in recognition with the importance of maximizing opportunity, Tower Guard members experienced the intensity of learning Braille this year when a Braille class was offered by the RCPD.
During the month of May this year, the Michigan Historical Museum provided a free exhibit focused on informing the public about blindness and visual impairment in education.
The Exceptions Journal, an MSU Student Organization,hosted the communities’ first ‘Accessible Art Exhibit’. Several community and campus partnerships were instrumental in the success of this inclusive event.
Jordyn Castor is not your average sophomore. Despite a visual impairment, she is pursuing a major in computer science while helping other students at MSU and around the world along the way.
The RCPD showed its support at the second annual Braille-A-Thon by raising community awareness about our ability to produce Braille books and electronic texts, furthering the educational abilities of students who are blind or visually-impaired.
Families of blind and visually impaired students celebrated the value of education and communication with community leaders on Tuesday, June 23rd at Michigan's first Braille-A-Thon.
Take a moment and imagine what it would be like if you could not read or write and there was no way for you to learn. 200 years ago this is what life was like for persons who had little or no vision.
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