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Disability Students’ Program (DSP), University of California, Berkeley provides students with disabilities with appropriate accommodations and services that will allow them to reach their individual academic goals. The staff includes disability specialists, development counselors and accessibility experts which work with students that have disabilities throughout their education[2]. DSP, more specifically, serves 6 percent of the entire student population with disabilities in UC Berkeley who are currently enrolled and are trying to obtain their undergraduate or graduate degrees[1][2]. The program not only supports students, but also work jointly with the campus community to eliminate any barriers that stand in the way of any educational access. This pushes the campus community to embrace the values of inclusion and equity[2].

The first program, staffed by graduate students and overseen by the Dean of Students, gave its debut in 1956. It was not until 1962, that the Physically Disabled Students’ Residence Program was established at CAL. After the campus produces the ADA self-Evaluation, in 1998, UC Berkeley was named the second most “disability friendly”[3]. As time went by, the name was changed to Disabled Students’ Program.

DSP provides students with information to be able to navigate the campus such as maps of buildings, policies and procedures, parking locations and transportation routes. The university strives to have programs and services that are equally accessible to people who have disabilities. The Campus Access Services at UC Berkeley, which is in conjunction with the DSP, is organized to facilitate accommodations and services for activities that are not on campus such as access information resources, golf cart requests, card key access, accessible furniture and parking permit accommodations for students who have disabilities. Campus Access Services is also managing requests for effective medication accommodations which includes Sign Language Interpreting, Real-Time Captions, and alternative formatting for print materials. The DSP continues to grow and positively change by showing and allowing students to report an access barrier which includes physical and electronic access barriers anywhere across the campus[2].

Citations:

(1) Athalye, Priyanka. “Navigating UC Berkeley as a Student with a Disability.” The Daily Californian, 30 Oct. 2018, www.dailycal.org/2018/10/30/navigating-uc-berkeley-disabled-student/.

(2)“Berkeley Disabled Students' Program.” Division of Equity & Inclusion - Berkeley Disabled Students' Program, dsp.berkeley.edu/.

(3)“History of Disability Inclusion at UC Berkeley.” UC Berkeley News, Office of Public Affairs, UC Berkeley, www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2005/01/12_disability_history.shtml.