Previously, the reading room for students with disabilities was situated in the University Library. For more convenience, however, the reading room was moved to a room on the third floor of the Ewha Campus Complex (ECC), which used to be the YBM ECC Notebook Zone.
“We have decided to move the reading room to the ECC for easier access,” said Hwang Hee-jeong, a member of Support Center for Students with Disabilities. “Compared to the University Library, ECC is much closer to other lecture rooms and has convenient facilities, so it would take less time to get to the reading room.”
Along with the change of location, high-tech devices were also introduced to help students. Previously, the reading room was equipped with a braille printer, an electric magnifier and several computers. This semester, new assistive technology devices were added, including a computer with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and a big monitor.
“We understand that these devices may be unfamiliar to students,” Hwang said. “Therefore, we are planning to arrange students with disabilities helpers, who are going to explain how to use these new devices. Also, the helpers are going to support disabled students’ learning and commuting.”
Students with disabilities helpers are selected every semester to aid students in their campus life.
Their main duties are to attend the same classes as the students with disabilities and quickly type the content of the lecture into a document so that students with disabilities can always go back to the notes to help their understanding.
Moreover, the helpers are each assigned to students with physical disabilities to aid them in moving to various destinations.
As the YBM ECC Notebook Zone was replaced by the reading room, the only place that students can now use their laptops in reading rooms at ECC is Ewha-Shinhan Notebook Zone.
“The reading room for students with disabilities was made for the educational purposes of such students, and is vital for the diversity of campus life as well as special educational needs,” Hwang said. “We hope that other students understand the necessity of this change and be considerate to students with disabilities.”
Lim Ye-ju
yejulim@ewhain.net