WEBVTT

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>>Sheryl: What we're trying 
to do in the DO-IT Center is

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to help students with disabilities

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be successful in college and careers,

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but also using technology as an empowering tool.

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I founded the DO-IT program in 1992

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with a grant from the National Science Foundation,

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and the idea was to help students 
with disabilities from high school,

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transition to college, into 
graduate school and onto careers.

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We have summer programs 
for teens with disabilities

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to get ready for college.

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We have an online mentoring program

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and we work with faculty to help 
them make their courses accessible

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and technology companies 
in making their technology

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accessible to people with disabilities

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and even with parents, to help their children

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with disabilities prepare for adult life.

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>>Scott: One of the things that 
makes the DO-IT Center unique

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is that we embrace students with 
a wide variety of disabilities

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and so as we engage in all of our activities,

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students learn about one another's challenges

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and the access barriers that they face.

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>>Sheryl: Many of our projects are funded

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by the National Science Foundation,

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for example, AccessComputing.

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We work with computing faculty nationwide

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to help them include students
with disabilities in their programs.

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We have a similar project
called AccessEngineering,

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where we work with engineering faculty.

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Another project that we have is called AccessISL,
Informal Science Learning and

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there we're working with people 
that develop museum exhibits,

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helping them make them more accessible 
to people with disabilities.

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The DO-IT Scholars program

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is where we work with teens with disabilities,

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to get them ready for college and careers.

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>>Scott: The DO-IT Scholars program draws students

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from all over the State.

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And we really work with each 
student to help them identify

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what post-secondary experience will 
be best for them and their family.

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What we find most important 
is to talk with that student,

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about what they are interested 
in, where they want to go,

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and help them go there.

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For the DO-IT Scholars program, we'd like 
to start engaging students and families

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when they're sophomores in high school.

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We invite them to come and live with us

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on the University campus for three summers:

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after their sophomore year, 
after their junior year,

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and then as they're graduating high school.

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When the DO-IT Scholars are at summer camp,

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they take a lot of classes and courses with us

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and so some of those are related 
to leadership and advocacy.

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Some of those are related 
to different career fields

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that they might want to learn about

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and some of it is related to college access

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and how to advocate for what you 
might need in a college environment.

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>>Kat: We always love working 
with the DO-IT Scholars.

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They bring energy, creativity and innovation

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to every program, whether it's 
the classroom, a summer program

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or another event going on on campus.

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AccessEngineering is a program 
where our goals are to both

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encourage more individuals with disabilities 
to pursue careers in engineering

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and to also train all of our engineers in
principles of universal design.

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AccessEngineering has partnered tightly 
with the DO-IT Center and the Scholars.

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Each summer we run instructional 
programs to help the DO-IT Scholars

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explore different career paths in engineering.

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However, the DO-IT Scholars also have 
helped us immensely in making the campus,

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and in particular, engineering, more inclusive.

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>>Scott: For their third summer, 
as high school graduates,

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many of whom have been accepted into college,

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they work as leaders and 
mentors to the younger students

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who are with us for the summer.

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>>Randy: I was one of the first DO-IT Scholars.

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The mentorship that I had early on from DO-IT

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was sufficient to show me how 
to actually mentor people

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and that has specifically influenced 
my career because I manage people now.

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>>Rochelle: What my high 
school didn't necessarily have

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and the DO-IT program did was a community

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that focused on disability empowerment.

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It's very nice to finally be in a community

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where I didn't feel as 
isolated as I did in the past.

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>>Anita: The DO-IT Scholars program taught me

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that I really need to be 
willing to advocate for myself,

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not just out in the typical everyday world,

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but in classes with professors and saying,

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That's not going to work for me 
or I really need my extended time.

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>>Kayla: I got into the program 
when I was a junior in high school

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and that was the first time that I 
met other people with disabilities who

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wanted to go to college, who had expectations

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that they were gonna go to college.

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and were thinking about a career even beyond.

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>>Sheryl: I've hired a lot of people in my
life,

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and I've never hired them 
because of what they can't do.

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It's always because of what they can do

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and the DO-IT program, these 
kids have an opportunity

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to meet adults that see their opportunities before them

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and figure out how they can 
maximize the use of those skills and

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interests they have to be successful.