...and yet, it feels like we're only getting into the swing of things. 

Despite being in November, and due to the timing of the Thanksgiving recess and finals, everything seems to be approaching much faster than we'd like. Many events over the past month have contributed to the sense of urgency.

The photo above is from DRS's attendance at Heinz History Center's "Using Disability History to Ensure Disability Rights" fundraising event on October 22. We've also included some photos, below, from other DRS-related events to add some autumnal spice to the regular notices of upcoming events, resources, and other helpful tidbits.

The other event we wanted to highlight from October, and National Disability Employee Awareness Month (NDEAM), was DRS's celebration of the Americans with Disabilities Act's thirty-fifth anniversary. The event was held in the Dick Thornburgh room in the Hillman Library and celebrated our two ACCESS Award winners: Maureen Lazar and Sam Pittman. Congratulations again to them, and we look forward to celebrating NDEAM again next year!

Last but not least, we also have an article by a student expressing how certain language and ideals, ever-present in our society, can be hurtful and even harmful. We thank Noor for her contribution to this month's newsletter.

If you'd like to contribute your own thoughts or feelings, we'd be happy to include more students. 

Log in to the Student Portal to request accommodations, exams, and appointments with your accessibility coordinator.

Alternative Testing Requests: All exam requests must be submitted at a minimum of three [3] business days before the exam. (Seven [7] business days for finals.) Business days exclude weekends and University-observed holidays. Please note that the Alternative Testing process is for in-person, paper exams. See: Alternative Testing Request Instructions for Students.

If you have any questions, please contact DRS!

DRS would like to thank all of those who attended our September College to Career virtual workshop on resume writing!

Our next College to Career virtual workshop will be on November 13th from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm. The topic will be interviewing and networking skills. We will have a guest speaker from Career Services who will cover information related to interview etiquette, preparing for an interview, best practices for networking, creating an "elevator pitch," and much more!

As a reminder, our College to Career virtual workshop series is designed to prepare students with disabilities for entering the workforce by focusing on all aspects of employment, from pre-employment job searching to post-employment disability disclosure and accommodation requests.

All workshops will take place from 3:00 pm to 4:00 pm via Zoom.

November 13th – Interviewing/Networking
January 15th – Disability Disclosure
February 12th – Workplace Barriers
March 19th – Accommodations Overview
April 9th – Self-Advocacy

We look forward to seeing you there!

November is COPD, Pancreatic Cancer, Alzheimer's, Diabetes, and Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, among others.

Nov. 3 through 7: International Stress Awareness Week
Nov. 7: Cancer Awareness Day
Nov. 8: Aicardi Syndrome Awareness Day
Nov. 12: World Pneumonia Day
Nov. 13: World Usability Day
Nov. 14: World Diabetes Day
November 27 and 28, the university will be closed!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Peer Mentoring program will meet on Tuesday, November 11th, in the Center for Creativity (located in thebasement of the University Pitt Store on Fifth Avenue).

We will be there from 2-4 pm to make gratitude boards or journals.

On Friday, October 3rd, Delta Alpha Pi inducted 73 new members into the University of Pittsburgh’s Alpha Iota Chapter.

This ceremony provides us with the opportunity to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of undergraduate and graduate students who are registered with DRS, and to honor the dedication, perseverance, and excellence that students have demonstrated as members of the University of Pittsburgh community.

The Delta Alpha Pi board members for the 2025-2026 academic year include:
President: Nancy Ho
Vice President: Jade Davis
Secretary: Sarah Biondi
Treasurer: Julianna Davoni

The Office of Planning, Design, and Construction is introducing three ways to keep you updated on campus changes due to preservation and construction projects. The goal is to help students, staff, and the Oakland community stay informed and navigate campus safely.

• NotifyU Text and Email Alerts - Receive text and email alerts from NotifyU about construction and facility updates, such as road closures, detours, and elevator outages. To subscribe, visit my.pitt.edu, search for NotifyU, select "Opt-In Lists," and check "Construction and Facilities." Alternatively, text “Sub [Your Pitt Username] CAF” to 1-970-610-6092.
   
• Map.pitt.edu - View construction updates on map.pitt.edu. Use the map to view active closures for Pitt projects by selecting "Construction" in the map key.
   
• Newsletter - PDC has a newsletter with updates on project progress, upcoming road or garage closures, and other news about campus construction. It will help you stay informed and plan for detours or delays. Subscribe now!

The new Recreation Wellness Center will host targeted events over the last two months of the fall semester, highlighting and educating the community on adaptive recreation.

Registration opens seven days prior to the event.

Community Climbing - This Sunday, November 9, from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. There will be a Climbing workshop partnered with the Pittsburgh Steelwheelers designed for climbers with mobility and visual impairments. Register for Community Climbing.

Community Yoga - 11/17 from 6-7:15 there will be a yoga class for the visually impaired, and blindfolds will be available for anyone who would like to utilize one. Register for Community Yoga.

Learn to play with the Pittsburgh Steelwheelers - 12/3 from 6:30 - 8:30 the Steelwheelers are coming back to the RWC to lead a Wheelchair basketball workshop. They are providing sport chairs and will take students through a team workout including playing against the athletes! Register for the Wheelchair Basketball workshop.

A potential final event we may offer in December depending on when our equipment gets here is a single-handed Rocket League tournament. This is using mice that also have keyboard functionality. We are still waiting on the mice to arrive, but this event will happen either in December or the Spring semester.

The Inclusion and Belonging Place (IBP) is developed and operated as a partnership between the University Library System (ULS) and the Office of Institutional Engagement and Wellbeing. It is located on the first floor of Hillman Library, to the left of Saxby's Cafe.

View the ULS Event Policies and reserve the space on the ULS website or learn about other spaces available in the library.

You are invited to participate in a research study on assessing and improving the accessibility and usability of digital libraries for blind and visually impaired users in mobile environments. This study, conducted by a research team at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, aims to develop design guidelines that enhance digital library accessibility and usability.

People chosen as study participants will be invited to complete an electronic survey soliciting input and feedback on these design guidelines. Participation may take between two to four hours at a time convenient to the participant. Participants will first be asked to review the guidelines and then rate the guidelines based on various criteria, in addition to providing feedback and recommendations for improvement. Upon completion of the study, each participant will receive a $100 gift card as a token of appreciation.

If you are interested in participating, please complete the screening questionnaire and consent form.

Any questions, contact Bo Hyun Hong. When reaching out, please reference the project title: “Assessment of the Mobile Digital Library Accessibility and Usability Guidelines (mDLAUG)” (IRB#: 25.128) in the subject line.

By Noor Khraisat

Every so often, someone tells me I’m “so inspiring.” Sometimes it’s because I’ve walked into class with my cane, participated in an event, or crossed the street. It’s meant kindly, an attempt at encouragement, but it leaves me uneasy every time. Because what they’re really saying is that it’s impressive that a blind person can do that, or that they can’t believe a blind person is capable of doing the same basic things as their peers.

Let’s be clear: I’m not inspiring because I am blind. I’m inspiring, if at all, because I’m human. Because I show up, try hard, and care about my work. The same things that make anyone else inspiring.

When people treat disability as a tragedy that must be “overcome,” they miss the truth. Being disabled is not a flaw or a limitation that defines who I am. What often holds disabled people back is not our lack of sight, but the lack of accessibility, the low expectations, and the quiet disbelief that we “can even do that.”

When you call someone “inspiring” for doing ordinary things, you turn their existence into a spectacle. You say, “Wow, you live a normal life despite that. I can’t imagine what that would be like!” Imagine saying, “I can’t imagine how you go to college independently despite being left-handed! Must be very hard for you!” It sounds strange, right? I hold the view that disability is not what limits us, nor is it what makes us extraordinary.

One of my favorite quotes by the late Dr. Kenneth Jernigan, former President of the National Federation of the Blind, is “Blindness is only a characteristic. It is nothing more or less than that. It is nothing more special, or more peculiar, or more terrible than that.”

This quote stands out to me because it reminds me that I am not limited by blindness itself, but by the ways the world has chosen not to include me. For so long, society has operated under what is called the medical model of disability. The medical model views disability as an individual problem, something to be fixed, treated, or cured. It focuses on what a person cannot do and assumes that the solution lies in changing the person. The social model of disability, on the other hand, turns that idea on its head. It argues that disability is created by physical, structural, and attitudinal barriers in the environment. Under this model, blindness does not make life difficult. Inaccessible technology, poorly designed buildings, and biased attitudes do. The social model shifts responsibility from the individual to the collective, challenging everyone to build a world where all people can participate fully.

Unfortunately, the media often reinforces the medical model without realizing it. News articles and television stories love to frame disabled people as “heroes” for doing everyday activities. How many times have you read a headline calling a blind student’s graduation or a wheelchair user’s marriage “heartwarming” stories of triumph, or how many times have you read the comment “she gets out of bed despite her disability”? While these pieces are meant to uplift, they end up sending a harmful message: that living a normal life with a disability is exceptional. This narrative may make viewers feel good, but it reduces disabled people to sources of inspiration instead of equals. We rarely see stories about systemic barriers, policy changes, or disabled professionals leading in their fields. Instead, we see headlines that praise us for existing. True representation should not make people say “wow, that’s amazing for them,” but rather “that’s normal, that’s equality.”

True inclusion is not about admiration. It is about equity. It means designing classrooms where all students can participate, campuses where everyone can move freely, and communities where blind students are not treated as brave for existing, but as capable and complete members of the university.

I don’t want to be your symbol of perseverance. I want to be your peer. I want to be part of a university that recognizes accessibility as a foundation, not an afterthought.

So the next time you feel tempted to call someone like me “inspiring,” pause and ask yourself why. If it’s because we’ve done something brave, kind, or exceptional, thank you. That’s a compliment. But if it’s simply because we exist and participate, remember: existence is not extraordinary. It is universal.

And that is what makes us all equal.

That's all for now! We'll see you next time.