{"id":332748,"date":"2023-04-19T14:14:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-19T19:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yfile.news.yorku.ca\/?p=332748"},"modified":"2025-04-02T12:29:24","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T16:29:24","slug":"york-staff-faculty-recognized-for-positive-change-in-student-accessibility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/2023\/04\/19\/york-staff-faculty-recognized-for-positive-change-in-student-accessibility\/","title":{"rendered":"York staff, faculty recognized for positive change in accessibility"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What does accessibility look like in the classroom? When this question was posed to Course Director Lorin Schwarz<\/strong>, in the Faculty of Education, he answered \u201cinclusion plus access.\u201d<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Schwarz, along with Mary Desrocher<\/strong> \u2013 associate professor of clinical developmental psychology \u2013 were among the many University community members nominated for Student Accessibility Services Awards ahead of its end-of-year celebration on April 6.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2018, students have been encouraged to nominate members of the York community they feel have exceeded the standard expectations of their role for the sake of expanding access to learning opportunities and services on campus. Repeat-nominee Schwarz was most recently among the award winners for the 2020-21 academic year, while first-time-nominee Desrocher received one of the 18 awards handed out at this year's ceremony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Desrocher described a \"lightbulb\" moment that first alerted her to the importance of an accessible learning experience. Over 20 years ago, when she was a newly inducted lecturer at York, a student approached Desrocher after class and disclosed a learning disability to her with some trepidation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt that time, we didn\u2019t have Moodle, we didn\u2019t have eClass, we might not even have had Student Accessibility Services,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inspired by the exchange, Desrocher decided to pre-emptively provide notes to all of her students, regardless of whether or not they had disclosed disabilities to her or other professors, in order to alleviate the additional pressure of having to do so for those who may have been struggling with ADHD, anxiety or other disorders that could make note-taking difficult. Ever since, Desrocher has reaffirmed that decision time and time again. That first student to privately ask her for assistance eventually graduated from York and followed a career in psychology, a fact which continues to motive Desrocher to help students reach their fullest potentials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simple changes can make a profound difference, according to Desrocher. In practice, those changes can look like note sharing; using classroom time to discuss, rather than lecture; and believing her students when they ask to be accommodated. She encourages everyone to remember the ethos of accessibility and reminds her peers that \u201cyou are not the expert in someone else\u2019s lived experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schwarz shared a similar guiding philosophy, explaining that \u201cwe\u2019re so afraid of making things personal now\u2026 but let yourself care about the students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re here to increase the joy in the world, not decrease it,\u201d he added. \u201cSee people as complicated human beings and not something that you can simplify.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A full list of 2022-23 Student Accessibility Services Award winners is included below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n