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[MUSIC PLAYING]
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SPEAKER: Mentoring
students with disabilities
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in research experiences.
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RICHARD LADNER: My
name is Richard Ladner.
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I'm the principal investigator
for access computing,
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an NSF-funded project with
the goal of increasing
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the participation and
success of students
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with disabilities
in computing fields.
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Every summer, we
support students
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in the Computing Research
Association's Distributed
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Research Experiences for
Undergraduates program.
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Many of these students
continue their research
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and go on to graduate school.
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ERIN HOWARD: Hi, everyone.
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My name is Erin Howard.
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I use she and they
pronouns, and I
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am a student at Western
Washington University.
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I applied a lot of statistical
analysis via Python
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to programmatically pre-classify
over 275,000 light curves
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from stars in the Transiting
Exoplanet Survey Satellite
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database.
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EMELIA BELDON: Hi.
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My name is Emilia Beldon, and
I am from Gallaudet University.
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The project is about
improving live captioning
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and teleconferencing, like
Zoom, Hangouts, and Meet.
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When I first saw the
project, I thought, yes,
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what better than to help
improve the accessibility
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of the deaf community and
those who need access?
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For me, mentors were what
helped me be successful
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in computing and the IT field.
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They have disabilities
themselves.
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They can't hear, can't speak,
but that didn't stop them
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from being successful.
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BRIANNA WEIMER: Hi.
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My name is Brianna Weimer,
and I am currently a student
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at the University of Alabama.
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My disability is ADHD.
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And so just for
me, it's helped me
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develop a passion of
what I want to work in
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and develop that kind of
determination behind it.
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My project over the
summer was basically
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about making a
biofeedback game that
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increases emotional regulation
through respiration techniques
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and uses positive reinforcement.
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ERIN HOWARD: The advice I'd
give to research mentors working
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with students who
have a disability,
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be patient and be kind of
aware of their situation.
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EMELIA BELDON: Also, be sure
to check in with the student
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frequently and make sure they
have access to information
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as well as be able
to communicate.
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BRIANNA WIMER: Take
your time with them.
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Allow them to open
up to you about it.
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Don't kind of push for it.
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Just allow them to get
close enough to you.
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Because when they do, they
will feel comfortable enough
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to talk to you about
their disability
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and talk to you
about what they need
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as a student with
disability to help them.
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And then once you
know that information,
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you can help them to the
best of your abilities.
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[MUSIC PLAYING]