WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.000 [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:00:21.977 --> 00:00:23.060 SHERYL BURGSTAHLER: Hello. 00:00:23.060 --> 00:00:24.260 I'm Sheryl Burgstahler. 00:00:24.260 --> 00:00:26.780 I direct the DO-IT Center at the University 00:00:26.780 --> 00:00:31.250 of Washington -- Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking 00:00:31.250 --> 00:00:32.549 and Technology. 00:00:32.549 --> 00:00:35.780 And part of that program, we have the DO-IT Scholars 00:00:35.780 --> 00:00:39.350 program, which is for teenagers later 00:00:39.350 --> 00:00:44.240 in high school that are working to transition 00:00:44.240 --> 00:00:45.933 to college and on to careers. 00:00:45.933 --> 00:00:47.600 SCOTT BELLMAN: My name is Scott Bellman. 00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:50.480 I'm the program manager at the DO-IT Center. 00:00:50.480 --> 00:00:52.580 Our Scholars program offers a variety 00:00:52.580 --> 00:00:54.050 of college preparation activities 00:00:54.050 --> 00:00:55.250 throughout the school year. 00:00:55.250 --> 00:00:58.280 The most exciting time being during our summer camp, which 00:00:58.280 --> 00:01:00.110 we call DO-IT Summer Study. 00:01:00.110 --> 00:01:03.630 That's where students visit campus to live in dorms, 00:01:03.630 --> 00:01:06.770 and learn how to navigate the campus and eat in cafeterias, 00:01:06.770 --> 00:01:09.230 and take college classes as they learn 00:01:09.230 --> 00:01:13.370 about how to get ready for school after high school. 00:01:13.370 --> 00:01:15.650 NAOMI: My name is Naomi. 00:01:15.650 --> 00:01:19.700 I've been a DO-IT Scholar since 2016. 00:01:19.700 --> 00:01:24.530 And it's been a really fun journey, 00:01:24.530 --> 00:01:27.980 full of great opportunities from DO-IT 00:01:27.980 --> 00:01:32.823 and connecting with DO-IT throughout the years. 00:01:32.823 --> 00:01:33.740 FINN: My name is Finn. 00:01:33.740 --> 00:01:36.320 When we did DO-IT in person, there 00:01:36.320 --> 00:01:45.200 was a focus on disability advocacy and also on STEM, STEM 00:01:45.200 --> 00:01:49.400 things, like we had daily workshops. 00:01:49.400 --> 00:01:51.830 We would go to the facility where 00:01:51.830 --> 00:01:54.200 they monitor seismic activity. 00:01:54.200 --> 00:01:55.790 That like the STEM element. 00:01:55.790 --> 00:01:59.660 And then, we would also have the disability element where 00:01:59.660 --> 00:02:02.900 we would learn, OK, here's how to get accommodations 00:02:02.900 --> 00:02:04.400 at college. 00:02:04.400 --> 00:02:09.490 ALEXIS: My name is Alexis, and I was a DO-IT 2019 Scholar. 00:02:09.490 --> 00:02:11.920 While being there physically I was 00:02:11.920 --> 00:02:16.870 able to learn the ropes of how a college functions, 00:02:16.870 --> 00:02:21.520 traveling all over the campus, eating at the different places, 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:23.950 sitting through several hours of class, 00:02:23.950 --> 00:02:27.700 and I also learned to advocate for myself. 00:02:27.700 --> 00:02:31.720 A while ago, I had to do a meeting with, well, 00:02:31.720 --> 00:02:35.230 I arranged a meeting with the disability services at DigiPen. 00:02:35.230 --> 00:02:37.150 I was able to get through it myself. 00:02:37.150 --> 00:02:44.410 SHERYL BURGSTAHLER: So when 2020 hit us all with the pandemic, 00:02:44.410 --> 00:02:46.815 we were stunned, like the rest of the world. 00:02:46.815 --> 00:02:48.940 But we thought, well, this will last a week or two. 00:02:48.940 --> 00:02:50.950 And we'll have our program, because we 00:02:50.950 --> 00:02:54.160 were planning a program in 2020 to be on-site, 00:02:54.160 --> 00:02:55.150 like the other ones. 00:02:55.150 --> 00:02:57.490 But very quickly, we realized this wasn't 00:02:57.490 --> 00:02:59.350 going to be over that fast. 00:02:59.350 --> 00:03:02.680 We had to convert totally online. 00:03:02.680 --> 00:03:04.210 It was clear the students weren't 00:03:04.210 --> 00:03:06.340 going to be safe in an on-site program. 00:03:06.340 --> 00:03:07.710 And so we got to work. 00:03:07.710 --> 00:03:09.750 What I said to my staff is, well, 00:03:09.750 --> 00:03:12.320 who better than this team for going online? 00:03:12.320 --> 00:03:13.982 We're always about technology. 00:03:13.982 --> 00:03:16.190 TAMI TIDWELL: I'm Tami Tidwell, a program coordinator 00:03:16.190 --> 00:03:16.880 with DO-IT. 00:03:16.880 --> 00:03:20.300 And I've worked with Summer Study for almost two decades. 00:03:20.300 --> 00:03:23.900 The decision to move online, like most youth programs, 00:03:23.900 --> 00:03:27.770 was something that we knew was not going to be easy. 00:03:27.770 --> 00:03:29.270 KAYLA BROWN: My name is Kayla. 00:03:29.270 --> 00:03:34.370 And I am a program coordinator at the DO-IT program. 00:03:34.370 --> 00:03:36.740 I'm also a past Scholar. 00:03:36.740 --> 00:03:39.980 I was a Scholar in 2005. 00:03:39.980 --> 00:03:44.990 And right now, I work with students who 00:03:44.990 --> 00:03:47.090 are in our Scholars program. 00:03:47.090 --> 00:03:51.260 And so we use Zoom as our primary way 00:03:51.260 --> 00:03:54.260 of communication and facilitation 00:03:54.260 --> 00:03:56.120 of all of our programming. 00:03:56.120 --> 00:03:59.750 And students who felt comfortable talking 00:03:59.750 --> 00:04:03.290 outloud and answering questions, they could do that. 00:04:03.290 --> 00:04:07.400 Students who were more comfortable with text, 00:04:07.400 --> 00:04:09.140 they would write in the chat. 00:04:09.140 --> 00:04:13.370 And so we were able to accommodate different learning 00:04:13.370 --> 00:04:16.490 styles and communication styles. 00:04:16.490 --> 00:04:21.079 And in a lot of ways, it made it more inclusive. 00:04:21.079 --> 00:04:23.540 And we were able to keep people safe, 00:04:23.540 --> 00:04:28.747 which, of course, was our primary concern at the time. 00:04:28.747 --> 00:04:31.080 TAMI TIDWELL: We wanted to make sure that students still 00:04:31.080 --> 00:04:33.300 had some of those interactive pieces, 00:04:33.300 --> 00:04:37.200 like mock interviews or meeting with faculty. 00:04:37.200 --> 00:04:40.380 And what we found was those interactions were actually 00:04:40.380 --> 00:04:42.300 more focused, because students were 00:04:42.300 --> 00:04:44.820 in a breakout room with the faculty 00:04:44.820 --> 00:04:46.890 or the mock interviewers and could really 00:04:46.890 --> 00:04:48.600 focus on what they were doing. 00:04:48.600 --> 00:04:51.000 And they got to be in the spotlight 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:53.700 and really say what they wanted to say. 00:04:53.700 --> 00:04:56.250 Whereas, in a normal situation, we 00:04:56.250 --> 00:04:58.230 would have an entire room of interviews 00:04:58.230 --> 00:05:00.270 happening at the same time, which is very loud 00:05:00.270 --> 00:05:01.380 and distracting. 00:05:01.380 --> 00:05:05.340 FINN: It was the same deal as the previous two years, 00:05:05.340 --> 00:05:06.270 but just online. 00:05:06.270 --> 00:05:09.150 So you'd have the different sessions 00:05:09.150 --> 00:05:12.150 and instead of going somewhere, you'd just log on, 00:05:12.150 --> 00:05:14.820 and your classroom would be the Zoom room. 00:05:14.820 --> 00:05:17.640 I think what I enjoyed most about the virtual program 00:05:17.640 --> 00:05:21.240 is in the lecture setting and the group discussion setting, 00:05:21.240 --> 00:05:23.790 I felt like it was a lot easier for people-- 00:05:23.790 --> 00:05:26.640 for everyone to be able to get their ideas across. 00:05:26.640 --> 00:05:29.200 I felt like it was a lot easier for people 00:05:29.200 --> 00:05:33.400 to share ideas in that way. 00:05:33.400 --> 00:05:38.652 I felt like it was a lot easier for people to-- 00:05:38.652 --> 00:05:40.110 if they didn't understand something 00:05:40.110 --> 00:05:42.080 or wanted clarification, you could 00:05:42.080 --> 00:05:45.200 raise your hand, the virtual hand, 00:05:45.200 --> 00:05:46.880 or you could type something in the chat. 00:05:46.880 --> 00:05:49.610 I felt like the chat was helpful in terms of, 00:05:49.610 --> 00:05:52.550 hey, I didn't understand this, or what does this mean? 00:05:52.550 --> 00:05:54.380 Ask for clarification. 00:05:54.380 --> 00:05:56.750 NAOMI: You get more participation 00:05:56.750 --> 00:06:00.950 in classes and in activities if you 00:06:00.950 --> 00:06:09.080 turn on that chat feature, which made the virtual Summer Study 00:06:09.080 --> 00:06:12.023 exponentially more engaging. 00:06:12.023 --> 00:06:13.940 TAMI TIDWELL: One of the most important things 00:06:13.940 --> 00:06:16.700 about Summer Study, whether it's in person or online, 00:06:16.700 --> 00:06:19.130 is building community, making sure 00:06:19.130 --> 00:06:22.280 that students with disabilities that are headed to college 00:06:22.280 --> 00:06:24.620 feel like they belong, feel like they 00:06:24.620 --> 00:06:27.530 have other people like them out there. 00:06:27.530 --> 00:06:31.370 And that is definitely something we still saw happening online. 00:06:31.370 --> 00:06:35.450 We see that students find out more about disability history. 00:06:35.450 --> 00:06:37.520 They find out more about their roots. 00:06:37.520 --> 00:06:40.730 They find out more about this entire community 00:06:40.730 --> 00:06:45.590 around the world of people who have experiences like they do. 00:06:45.590 --> 00:06:46.550 MERRITT: Hi. 00:06:46.550 --> 00:06:47.690 My name is Merritt. 00:06:47.690 --> 00:06:50.990 I'm a 19-year-old autistic student 00:06:50.990 --> 00:06:54.950 who is a Scholar at DO-IT. 00:06:54.950 --> 00:07:00.530 In the virtual program, we did share videos 00:07:00.530 --> 00:07:04.970 about our disabilities and how important it is to us. 00:07:04.970 --> 00:07:09.120 It was interesting to hear about how many of my friends 00:07:09.120 --> 00:07:14.740 have persevered through their lives with a disability. 00:07:14.740 --> 00:07:16.830 SCOTT BELLMAN: We had to get pretty creative. 00:07:16.830 --> 00:07:20.400 We included activities, such as game nights, and movie nights, 00:07:20.400 --> 00:07:23.370 and opportunities for students to talk about their hobbies 00:07:23.370 --> 00:07:26.070 and pets and share a meal, so that we could still 00:07:26.070 --> 00:07:28.580 have that sense of community. 00:07:28.580 --> 00:07:30.560 ANDREA MANO: My name is Andrea Mano, 00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:33.350 and I'm an assistive technologist 00:07:33.350 --> 00:07:35.300 with the DO-IT program. 00:07:35.300 --> 00:07:39.890 We wanted to build a community, even before Summer Study. 00:07:39.890 --> 00:07:43.760 We had the Scholars meet with us in small groups over Zoom 00:07:43.760 --> 00:07:45.290 before Summer Study. 00:07:45.290 --> 00:07:49.310 The groups were chosen based on the shared assistive technology 00:07:49.310 --> 00:07:53.480 and what we thought the Scholars had in common. 00:07:53.480 --> 00:07:56.900 Allowing the students to attend virtually 00:07:56.900 --> 00:08:00.930 enabled them to experiment with technology in their own homes. 00:08:00.930 --> 00:08:04.070 And if the students wanted, they could 00:08:04.070 --> 00:08:07.340 have their parents involved too, which is always really helpful 00:08:07.340 --> 00:08:10.252 to have another set of eyes when you're learning something new. 00:08:10.252 --> 00:08:11.960 TAMI TIDWELL: We also realized that there 00:08:11.960 --> 00:08:15.230 was an essential piece of what we do in person that we 00:08:15.230 --> 00:08:16.520 couldn't let go of. 00:08:16.520 --> 00:08:20.420 And that was making sure we had evening activities and fun 00:08:20.420 --> 00:08:22.520 things interspersed throughout. 00:08:22.520 --> 00:08:25.340 So during the day, we would take museum tours, 00:08:25.340 --> 00:08:28.770 and go online, and visit some museums around the country. 00:08:28.770 --> 00:08:32.232 And at night, we made sure we had movie nights and game 00:08:32.232 --> 00:08:33.690 nights, where students could really 00:08:33.690 --> 00:08:37.110 participate and get to know each other and their senses 00:08:37.110 --> 00:08:37.950 of humor. 00:08:37.950 --> 00:08:41.200 And what we found was the movie night was actually, 00:08:41.200 --> 00:08:45.090 in my opinion, more fun online, because normally, 00:08:45.090 --> 00:08:47.010 people are shushing each other if you're 00:08:47.010 --> 00:08:48.720 in person watching a movie. 00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:51.180 But we watched movies, and they could 00:08:51.180 --> 00:08:53.910 talk about the disability-related content 00:08:53.910 --> 00:08:55.860 that they may be really-- didn't really 00:08:55.860 --> 00:08:58.935 realize was there before, or talk 00:08:58.935 --> 00:09:01.560 about their favorite characters, or talk about what they didn't 00:09:01.560 --> 00:09:04.620 like about a scene or what they really loved about that movie. 00:09:04.620 --> 00:09:06.120 SHERYL BURGSTAHLER: So on pet night, 00:09:06.120 --> 00:09:10.050 you can bring your pet, ideally in costume, by the way, 00:09:10.050 --> 00:09:13.470 and perhaps in a matching costume to yours. 00:09:13.470 --> 00:09:15.270 That's not something we would have done-- 00:09:15.270 --> 00:09:18.670 ever do in an on-site program, have their pets come along. 00:09:18.670 --> 00:09:22.890 And so that translated really funny, funny, funny, funny 00:09:22.890 --> 00:09:23.710 activity. 00:09:23.710 --> 00:09:26.580 And as usual, the evening activities were optional. 00:09:26.580 --> 00:09:29.820 So some students that were experiencing some Zoom fatigue, 00:09:29.820 --> 00:09:32.280 or just needed a break, or weren't interested in pets, 00:09:32.280 --> 00:09:36.070 well, they could easily plan their whole evening without us. 00:09:36.070 --> 00:09:39.900 SOPHIA: My name is Sophia, and I became a DO-IT Scholar in 2021. 00:09:39.900 --> 00:09:44.010 I was able to meet people throughout the community. 00:09:44.010 --> 00:09:47.220 But mostly, I felt like I connected with them 00:09:47.220 --> 00:09:50.700 more throughout the optional evening 00:09:50.700 --> 00:09:53.610 activities, where I had more time 00:09:53.610 --> 00:09:55.290 to engage with the community. 00:09:55.290 --> 00:09:56.790 I was in the-- 00:09:56.790 --> 00:09:58.650 I think it was a talent show. 00:09:58.650 --> 00:10:01.590 I just showcased my origami. 00:10:01.590 --> 00:10:04.320 And that was just pretty fun, because I 00:10:04.320 --> 00:10:08.310 got to see people's reaction to my crafts 00:10:08.310 --> 00:10:10.470 that I've worked on during the pandemic. 00:10:10.470 --> 00:10:12.090 MERRITT: It made us feel like we were 00:10:12.090 --> 00:10:17.070 all one class or one family. 00:10:20.070 --> 00:10:26.790 It was very nice to see so many new faces. 00:10:26.790 --> 00:10:29.940 I think we were able to make plenty of friends, 00:10:29.940 --> 00:10:32.820 even though it wasn't in person. 00:10:32.820 --> 00:10:35.670 FINN: Well, DO-IT, I think, was able to build 00:10:35.670 --> 00:10:41.610 a sense of community just in virtue of how welcoming 00:10:41.610 --> 00:10:43.800 and open the program is. 00:10:43.800 --> 00:10:46.470 NAOMI: What I enjoyed most about virtual 00:10:46.470 --> 00:10:49.890 was probably the fact that it felt like DO-IT. 00:10:49.890 --> 00:10:55.650 So even if we're not together, we're still together. 00:10:55.650 --> 00:10:59.100 And it was like coming back home, honestly. 00:10:59.100 --> 00:11:04.500 I just felt like, I'm back home. 00:11:04.500 --> 00:11:05.610 SPEAKER: Lessons learned. 00:11:08.650 --> 00:11:10.360 SHERYL BURGSTAHLER: Well, we learned 00:11:10.360 --> 00:11:13.280 that you can pull this off. 00:11:13.280 --> 00:11:15.610 We've learned some things that we 00:11:15.610 --> 00:11:18.370 share with others who are in a similar situation that 00:11:18.370 --> 00:11:21.070 are moving an on-site program online or maybe even starting 00:11:21.070 --> 00:11:22.480 an online. 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:25.600 One thing that we did the first year and continue to do 00:11:25.600 --> 00:11:27.800 is made our program a little bit longer. 00:11:27.800 --> 00:11:30.670 And so it's going three weeks rather than two. 00:11:30.670 --> 00:11:33.190 Because we wanted to avoid Zoom fatigue, 00:11:33.190 --> 00:11:35.080 we hear a lot about that. 00:11:35.080 --> 00:11:37.600 We thought it was important that we 00:11:37.600 --> 00:11:40.150 keep the screen time a little shorter than maybe we 00:11:40.150 --> 00:11:41.710 would want to. 00:11:41.710 --> 00:11:44.380 ANDREA MANO: DO-IT staff was very thoughtful about moving 00:11:44.380 --> 00:11:46.740 Summer Study online. 00:11:46.740 --> 00:11:52.260 And in being thoughtful in that way, they had a lot of staff 00:11:52.260 --> 00:11:55.860 in the online sessions. 00:11:55.860 --> 00:11:59.670 One staff could monitor the faces on the screen. 00:11:59.670 --> 00:12:01.950 One staff could monitor the chat. 00:12:01.950 --> 00:12:05.040 One staff could be monitoring email 00:12:05.040 --> 00:12:09.450 when a Scholar couldn't get into the session. 00:12:09.450 --> 00:12:11.520 I think that's really helpful. 00:12:11.520 --> 00:12:14.190 And it seems like that's a lot of people, 00:12:14.190 --> 00:12:17.610 but you do need a lot of people in case something 00:12:17.610 --> 00:12:19.350 unexpectedly happens. 00:12:19.350 --> 00:12:20.850 KAYLA BROWN: Some of the things that 00:12:20.850 --> 00:12:25.860 were particularly successful that we hadn't thought 00:12:25.860 --> 00:12:29.610 about before was we were able to engage people 00:12:29.610 --> 00:12:32.110 from all over the state. 00:12:32.110 --> 00:12:33.900 And so it wasn't just the students 00:12:33.900 --> 00:12:40.020 that we were engaged with but also their families. 00:12:40.020 --> 00:12:44.430 We do involve the parents with the process 00:12:44.430 --> 00:12:47.320 of working with the Scholars. 00:12:47.320 --> 00:12:51.610 And so we felt like we made a deep connection 00:12:51.610 --> 00:12:55.060 with that aspect of the student's life. 00:12:55.060 --> 00:12:57.310 So we could know what the support 00:12:57.310 --> 00:13:01.930 system looks like and maybe how we could help them. 00:13:01.930 --> 00:13:05.540 But we also got to know the students in a different way 00:13:05.540 --> 00:13:06.040 as well. 00:13:06.040 --> 00:13:07.930 They were in their own environments, 00:13:07.930 --> 00:13:13.122 and some of our students felt more comfortable. 00:13:13.122 --> 00:13:14.830 TAMI TIDWELL: For other programs thinking 00:13:14.830 --> 00:13:18.580 about going to an online program or even a hybrid program, 00:13:18.580 --> 00:13:20.440 some of the positives are that you 00:13:20.440 --> 00:13:22.990 can get mentors, people who've been through your program 00:13:22.990 --> 00:13:23.800 in the past. 00:13:23.800 --> 00:13:25.670 They can come from wherever they are. 00:13:25.670 --> 00:13:28.870 So if they're away at school or they're not 00:13:28.870 --> 00:13:31.090 able to get to campus on a certain day, 00:13:31.090 --> 00:13:32.680 they can still be engaged. 00:13:32.680 --> 00:13:35.960 It engages a bigger and wider community. 00:13:35.960 --> 00:13:40.510 We also had end-of-the-day team meetings, which were essential. 00:13:40.510 --> 00:13:43.690 When we were in person, we can't pull all those staff together, 00:13:43.690 --> 00:13:46.450 because there are staff working with the students 00:13:46.450 --> 00:13:47.530 and supervising. 00:13:47.530 --> 00:13:51.430 But online, we were able to stay in touch with each other 00:13:51.430 --> 00:13:54.450 every single day. 00:13:54.450 --> 00:13:57.838 SPEAKER: Unexpected benefits. 00:13:57.838 --> 00:14:00.380 TAMI TIDWELL: What I realize is that the students who've only 00:14:00.380 --> 00:14:02.930 participated in DO-IT Summer Study online 00:14:02.930 --> 00:14:04.880 have gotten a lot out of the experience. 00:14:04.880 --> 00:14:07.610 I see their growth in their IEP or 504 00:14:07.610 --> 00:14:11.180 meetings, during reunions and also in the emails 00:14:11.180 --> 00:14:12.230 that they send us. 00:14:12.230 --> 00:14:13.310 They've gotten a lot. 00:14:13.310 --> 00:14:14.420 They've grown a lot. 00:14:14.420 --> 00:14:17.480 And the program has still made a really big impact. 00:14:17.480 --> 00:14:19.070 SOPHIA: I had a lot of flexibility, 00:14:19.070 --> 00:14:21.140 because I was also balancing another summer 00:14:21.140 --> 00:14:24.380 program I was doing along with the Summer Study session. 00:14:24.380 --> 00:14:28.970 So I met with Tami just to talk over 00:14:28.970 --> 00:14:34.010 a meeting about how I can balance those two programs. 00:14:34.010 --> 00:14:36.080 SHERYL BURGSTAHLER: If anyone asks me 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:38.300 for some advice when they're forced 00:14:38.300 --> 00:14:41.060 into turning an on-site program into online 00:14:41.060 --> 00:14:45.920 or maybe even optionally doing it on-- doing that transition, 00:14:45.920 --> 00:14:48.140 the first thing I'd like to say is just 00:14:48.140 --> 00:14:53.210 from the get-go embrace and help your staff embrace the problem 00:14:53.210 --> 00:14:56.760 to solve, that this is really kind of exciting. 00:14:56.760 --> 00:14:58.590 It's stressful too. 00:14:58.590 --> 00:15:00.750 But we've shown that it can be done. 00:15:00.750 --> 00:15:03.420 And you just need to do things one step at a time. 00:15:03.420 --> 00:15:05.299 [MUSIC PLAYING] 00:15:05.299 --> 00:15:08.734 For more resources about supporting students with disabilities, 00:15:08.734 --> 00:15:14.339 consult: uw.edu/doit 00:15:14.339 --> 00:15:18.597 Copyright 2023 University of Washington 00:15:18.597 --> 00:15:22.911 Permission is granted to copy this material for non-commercial purposes 00:15:22.911 --> 00:15:26.400 provided the source is acknowledged.