Assignment 3.4: Literature Review
There are many challenges that people with disability face when accessing science laboratories, however, these issues has only been identified quite recently. Some of the major problems deals with inaccessibility of the laboratories that arise from the physical barriers created by the traditional design of the laboratory that restricts space and movement. Many groups of people are still in the progress of implementing different programs and alternative designs of the labs in response to these problems.
These obstacles in science laboratory access are identified and addressed by some educational institutions such as VCU and University of Washington. The Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences at VCU lists a number of highly specific requirements and expectations for people with disabilities. These requirements and expectations sets up a barrier for people with disabilities, preventing them from pursuing professions in the field of science that require laboratory practices (DCLS 2013). The physical aspect of these barriers are addressed by Burgstahler, the founder and director of the “DO-IT” project at University of Washington. In his proposal, “Making Science Labs Accessible to Students with Disabilities,” he identifies the inaccessibility of science laboratories that arise from the traditional design and suggests to solve this problem by re-designing the laboratories in a universal design that will remove the physical barriers in the laboratories. He also mentions about offering alternative method of learning for students with mental disabilities (Burgstahler 2013).
In response to these problems in the laboratories, some efforts to make laboratories more accessible have been made by students studying in the field of science. These efforts were acknowledged by Dutchen, a journalist of Purdue News. In his article, he addresses their attempt to make science labs accessible to other students with disabilities by instituting lab equipment that are adoptable to their conditions and other technologies that aid them in learning. Another student by the name of Brad Duerstock is acknowledged in his effort to make the science laboratories more accessible by inventing adoptable lab equipment for people with disabilities to provide an alternative way to approach labs (Dutchen 2012).
Ever since problems in the accessibility of science labs has been brought to attention, many group of people have proposed and implemented possible solutions to the inaccessibility of labs. One of these possible solutions is the CLASS program, which is a special program designed to help students with disability to actively engage and learn in science laboratory settings (Bargerhuff at el. 2013). Similarly, a project known as ILAB contributed to the elimination of physical barriers in science labs through finding Independence Science, an organization that produces lab equipment that is accessible to people with disabilities, particularly impaired eye sight (ILAB 2013).
To summarize, the problems of laboratory inaccessibility are one of the major obstacles that people with disability face when pursuing professions in the field of science that usually require extensive experiences with laboratories. Many groups of people have identified these problems and are making various efforts to solve them. These efforts are evident in the different programs and proposals for redesigning in universal design.
These obstacles in science laboratory access are identified and addressed by some educational institutions such as VCU and University of Washington. The Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences at VCU lists a number of highly specific requirements and expectations for people with disabilities. These requirements and expectations sets up a barrier for people with disabilities, preventing them from pursuing professions in the field of science that require laboratory practices (DCLS 2013). The physical aspect of these barriers are addressed by Burgstahler, the founder and director of the “DO-IT” project at University of Washington. In his proposal, “Making Science Labs Accessible to Students with Disabilities,” he identifies the inaccessibility of science laboratories that arise from the traditional design and suggests to solve this problem by re-designing the laboratories in a universal design that will remove the physical barriers in the laboratories. He also mentions about offering alternative method of learning for students with mental disabilities (Burgstahler 2013).
In response to these problems in the laboratories, some efforts to make laboratories more accessible have been made by students studying in the field of science. These efforts were acknowledged by Dutchen, a journalist of Purdue News. In his article, he addresses their attempt to make science labs accessible to other students with disabilities by instituting lab equipment that are adoptable to their conditions and other technologies that aid them in learning. Another student by the name of Brad Duerstock is acknowledged in his effort to make the science laboratories more accessible by inventing adoptable lab equipment for people with disabilities to provide an alternative way to approach labs (Dutchen 2012).
Ever since problems in the accessibility of science labs has been brought to attention, many group of people have proposed and implemented possible solutions to the inaccessibility of labs. One of these possible solutions is the CLASS program, which is a special program designed to help students with disability to actively engage and learn in science laboratory settings (Bargerhuff at el. 2013). Similarly, a project known as ILAB contributed to the elimination of physical barriers in science labs through finding Independence Science, an organization that produces lab equipment that is accessible to people with disabilities, particularly impaired eye sight (ILAB 2013).
To summarize, the problems of laboratory inaccessibility are one of the major obstacles that people with disability face when pursuing professions in the field of science that usually require extensive experiences with laboratories. Many groups of people have identified these problems and are making various efforts to solve them. These efforts are evident in the different programs and proposals for redesigning in universal design.
Works Cited
Adaptive Environments Center, Inc. Checklist for Readily Achievable Barrier Removal. August 1995. <http://www.ada.gov/checktxt.htm>.
Bargerhuff, Mary Ellen and Michele Wheatly. "Teaching with CLASS: Creating Laboratory Access for Science Students with Disabilities." The Journal of Teacher Education Division of the Council of Exceptional Children 27 (2004): 318–321. Document. 10 November 2013. <http://tes.sagepub.com/content/27/3/318.full.pdf+html>.
Burgstahler, Sheryl. Making Science Labs Accessible to Students with Disabilities. 2012. 28 October 2013. <http://www.washington.edu/doit/Brochures/Academics/science_lab.html>.
Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences. Admissions – VCU Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences. 2013. 28 October 2013. <http://www.sahp.vcu.edu/cls/admissions.html>.
Duerstock, Brad. "Students with disabilities put adaptive lab resources to test during summer program." Purdue News. West Lafayette, 24 June 2013. 25 October 2013. <http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2013/Q2/students-with-disabilities-put-adaptive-lab-resources-to-test-during-summer-program.html>.
Dutchen, Stephanie. Opening Up the Lab - September 2012 - Findings - Science Publication - National Institute of General Medical Sciences. 28 September 2012. 28 October 2013. <http://publications.nigms.nih.gov/findings/sept12/opening-up-the-lab.asp>.
ILAB. ILAB - Independent Laboratory Access for the Blind. n.d. 28 October 2013. <http://ilab.psu.edu/>.
Independence Science . Independence Science - Science Access Technology for Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired | Home. 2013. 28 October 2013. <http://www.independencescience.com/index.php>.
Bargerhuff, Mary Ellen and Michele Wheatly. "Teaching with CLASS: Creating Laboratory Access for Science Students with Disabilities." The Journal of Teacher Education Division of the Council of Exceptional Children 27 (2004): 318–321. Document. 10 November 2013. <http://tes.sagepub.com/content/27/3/318.full.pdf+html>.
Burgstahler, Sheryl. Making Science Labs Accessible to Students with Disabilities. 2012. 28 October 2013. <http://www.washington.edu/doit/Brochures/Academics/science_lab.html>.
Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences. Admissions – VCU Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences. 2013. 28 October 2013. <http://www.sahp.vcu.edu/cls/admissions.html>.
Duerstock, Brad. "Students with disabilities put adaptive lab resources to test during summer program." Purdue News. West Lafayette, 24 June 2013. 25 October 2013. <http://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2013/Q2/students-with-disabilities-put-adaptive-lab-resources-to-test-during-summer-program.html>.
Dutchen, Stephanie. Opening Up the Lab - September 2012 - Findings - Science Publication - National Institute of General Medical Sciences. 28 September 2012. 28 October 2013. <http://publications.nigms.nih.gov/findings/sept12/opening-up-the-lab.asp>.
ILAB. ILAB - Independent Laboratory Access for the Blind. n.d. 28 October 2013. <http://ilab.psu.edu/>.
Independence Science . Independence Science - Science Access Technology for Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired | Home. 2013. 28 October 2013. <http://www.independencescience.com/index.php>.