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[Music]
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>>Narrator: Human ability
varies greatly with respect to
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sight, hearing, learning, communication,
attention, and mobility.
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The best engineers design products
that are usable by a broad audience.
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Considering the needs of individuals
with disabilities in design decisions
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can lead to better products.
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>>Nils Hakansson: People with
disabilities are problem solvers
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and engineering is about
solving problems
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and improving quality of life
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and designing environments and
structures and devices to help people.
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And we’re experts at that
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because we do it
every day in our lives.
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>>Narrator: Engaging people with
disabilities in engineering fields
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can help to meet the demand
for innovative engineers.
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To make this possible, engineering
courses need to be welcoming
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and accessible to
students with disabilities
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and reasonable accommodations
need to be provided.
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>>Grace: In school I use an
interpreter, a sign language interpreter,
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and also have a note taker
for each of my classes
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whenever I request one.
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>>Nils: I was even able to
attend a machine shop class,
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working with a lathe and an end mill,
non-computer controlled, hand controlled,
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largely because the faculty
who taught that class
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were open-minded and really
allowed me to dictate my limits.
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>>Narrator: Engineering educators
can make their courses
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more welcoming and accessible
to students with disabilities
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by applying universal
design strategies.
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>>Narrator: Engineering faculty can also
teach accessibility and universal design
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in their courses.
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>>Cynthia: By including
accessibility and universal design
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in engineering curriculum,
you're making a statement
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to all the students
that you're teaching
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that the perspectives and the needs
of people with disabilities
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is something that they
need to think about,
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whether they’re engineering
specifically for that group
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or for any other group.
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>>Kat Steele: So just as we teach
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safety and material
properties and dynamics
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within our engineering curriculum,
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incorporating universal design
can ensure that our future engineers
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consider those small design tweaks
and consider the breadth of the population
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in their design
and future innovation.