Testimonials

UC Irvine DSC ROCKS!!!

Submitted by former DSC student,
Dr. Jill Marrington, student with a visual disability

I had never really thought of myself as having a disability until it came to writing my doctoral dissertation. Although I lost the sight in one eye at age 15 as a result of a motor vehicle accident, I spent the following 30 years treating the problem more as an occupational hazard than a condition suffered by many in much worse circumstances than I. OK, so I couldn't play ball games, view 3D images or pour a cup of coffee safely, but word-processing had been manageable up to the point when I was doing it 18 hours a day.

As I passed the DSC every day, it occurred to me to enquire whether there was any chance that they could offer me a solution to my computer-generated migraines, and whether my poor eyesight qualified in real terms as a "disability." Being of a sceptical turn of mind, I did not really expect anything other than a polite brush-off from people who deal every day with students facing the additional hurdle of serious disability.

I could not have been more wrong. The advisors and staff at the DSC were receptive and immediately supportive of my problem, offering real solutions and solid back-up in equipment and facilities upon which I have relied for the past 3 years. The loan of a notebook computer and the most advanced software available for those with reading disabilities made the dissertation begin to look achievable. Reading hundreds of articles was facilitated by the Kurzweil 3000 program which reads them aloud, and dictating notes was possible (though not always successful!) with the Dragon Naturally Speaking program.

Not only this, but even more substantial assistance was offered by the willing and helpful staff, who took the piles of documents I had already gathered for citations and scanned them for me, sending completed documents to my computer. Now when I needed to cite evidence, the laborious business of copying out quotations was reduced to a quick cut-and-paste. When it came time to produce the final version for submission, the DSC was once again first-in-line to offer its assistance with downloading and printing, ensuring the completion of a project which I could not have accomplished without their help.

I cannot say enough in praise of the DSC at UCI. The friendliness and charm of the staff, their willingness to support students through all ranges of disability with advice, encouragement and facilities offers an unbeatable service. Through the DSC I have been enabled. I have been given the chance to fulfil my potential with unfailing kindness and assisted to completion of a PhD dissertation which, without them, would not have been possible to present in the form I envisioned. The Irvine DSC rocks! What more can I say?