OPENING DOORS; COLLEGE ASSISTS DISABLED STUDENTS.Byline: Sharline Chiang Daily News Staff Writer Three years after a runaway truck smashed her Jeep, Lorena Avantes still walks with a cane, but her difficulty walking is not all that stands in the way of her dream of finishing college. The severe head injuries she suffered weakened Avantes' memory, so while numbers pose few problems, she struggles with abstract subjects such as grammar and analytical writing. ``I'll study a subject like English. I'll work and practice and next week I won't remember,'' said Avantes, 25, of Montrose. At Glendale Community College Glendale Community College can refer to one of two colleges in the United States.
Tutors and other specialists available to Avantes are among the services that have contributed to Glendale College's reputation as one of the most accessible and service-oriented community colleges in the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. area for disabled individuals. With more special programs and services added, the college's disabled student population has doubled over the past five years. New buildings offer more handrails, ramps and elevators. Last year, 10 percent of the college's population - or about 1,300 students - received services for a learning or physical disability or both, compared with 650 students in 1994. ``The word is out our students do well here,'' said Joy Cook, associate dean of disabled students programs and services. ``They persist as well as their nondisabled peers. They carry the same GPAs. They're successful.'' Students are offered vocational training and classes in personal development, physical education, nutrition, self-defense and dance. A high-tech center provides word-processing training for the disabled and special computers for the blind. ``Everyone helps each other. It's a team,'' said Asunchion ``Chuy'' Hernandez, 24, a receptionist at the center. Hernandez, of Glendale, has muscular dystrophy muscular dystrophy (dĭs`trōfē), any of several inherited diseases characterized by progressive wasting of the skeletal muscles. There are five main forms of the disease. and uses a motorized mo·tor·ize tr.v. mo·tor·ized, mo·tor·iz·ing, mo·tor·iz·es 1. To equip with a motor. 2. To supply with motor-driven vehicles. 3. To provide with automobiles. wheelchair. ``Nothing is impossible. Just because you're disabled doesn't make you less than anything.'' Many students transfer to four-year colleges like the University of Southern California The U.S. News & World Report ranked USC 27th among all universities in the United States in its 2008 ranking of "America's Best Colleges", also designating it as one of the "most selective universities" for admitting 8,634 of the almost 34,000 who applied for freshman admission and California State University Enrollment  campuses. Others
land jobs as receptionists, advocates or computer workers, among other
professions.
Norma Vescovo, director of the Independent Living Center of Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, , a Van Nuys-based nonprofit advocacy group for the disabled, says she hires Glendale College alumni. ``Most of the students there say that their individual problems were looked at and that (the school) carved out whatever they needed,'' she said. ``It's good. What it really means is that they're treating people as people.'' Overall, the number of disabled students attending colleges is growing, Cook said. Advocacy groups have convinced parents of their children's rights The opportunity for children to participate in political and legal decisions that affect them; in a broad sense, the rights of children to live free from hunger, abuse, neglect, and other inhumane conditions. to higher education higher education Study beyond the level of secondary education. Institutions of higher education include not only colleges and universities but also professional schools in such fields as law, theology, medicine, business, music, and art. . Computers and other technological advances in learning aids for wheelchair users and blind and deaf people This is an incomplete list of notable deaf people. Important historical figures in deaf history and culture The idea that a person who was deaf could achieve a notable or distinguished status was not common until the latter half of the 18th century, when Abbé Charles-Michel de also help. In addition, since the passage of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act Americans with Disabilities Act, U.S. civil-rights law, enacted 1990, that forbids discrimination of various sorts against persons with physical or mental handicaps. , campuses are often easier to navigate. Campuses also are seeing more students disabled from crime and accidents, Cook said. Advances in medicine and rehabilitation enable them to pursue college. ``I think it's a reflection of society. We see a lot of (victims) of violence, of drive-bys and gangs,'' Cook said. ``In the past, we didn't see them because they'd either be dead or college wouldn't be realistic.'' On a recent day, Glendale College students could be found lounging under the sun on steep lawns or sitting under white umbrellas drinking coffee. Among them was Douglas James, 36, of Glendale, sharply dressed in a black leather jacket (Zool.) A California carangoid fish (Oligoplites saurus). A trigger fish (Balistes Carolinensis). See also: Leather Leather and dark brown sunglasses. James left Pierce College in Woodland Hills after losing his eyesight in a car crash in 1991. Two years later when he considered re-enrolling he didn't find the services he wanted. ``They didn't help me with a plan or have recording for the blind. My poor roommate was reading everything to me every night,'' James said. He transferred to Valley College but found the sprawling campus difficult to navigate. In 1997, he enrolled at Glendale. The services for the blind ``were more than I thought they would have,'' James said. ``It's amazing. Like the High Tech Center. There is no way I could be on equal footing as the sighted students. Here I can take a 12-credit load like everyone else.'' Avantes said she would love to transfer to a university, as she was on the verge On the Verge (or The Geography of Yearning) is a play written by Eric Overmyer. It makes extensive use of esoteric language and pop culture references from the late nineteenth century to 1955. of doing so right before her crash. ``All I wanted to do was to learn, transfer and make something with my life,'' Avantes said. If she decides to work, she has her eye on a job in data entry. ``I've started to adjust and accept,'' she said. ``I started to look at things differently. I stopped thinking about all the things I missed and started appreciating the services here.'' CAPTION(S): 2 photos PHOTO (1) Lorena Avantes said she found a supportive environment at Glendale College after a bad car crash left her with learning difficulties. (2) Asunchion ``Chuy'' Hernandez works as a receptionist at the college. David R. Crane/Daily News |
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