Disability Services opens new office at West Campus

With an increase in the number of students seeking disability-related accommodations, Del Mar has established a full-time Disability Services Office at West Campus. 

Since 2014, there has been an increase of 77 percent in students seeking accommodations through Disability Services on West Campus, the office said. The new office there aims to make it easier for students to get assistance.

Longtime employee Brenda Garcia, a student disability specialist, said it was her top priority to establish a full-time presence on West Campus to make it simpler and convenient for students. 

“Students were having to take their lunches to try to go out to East Campus and I know your time is cut short and you don’t have a lot of time,” Garcia said. “It’s difficult when you have to go to one campus for DSO services, but you’re 100 percent of the time on another campus.”

The Disability Services Office provides assistance for individuals who may have a physical or mental impairment that can limit major life activities or disrupt their ability to gain an education. 

Disability Services provide students with different types of accommodations such as extended test time, interpreters for the hard of hearing, scribes, audio recorders and color overlays.

The office also provides technology such as magnifiers and programs such as Kurzweil, which produces text to speech and helps read material to the student as needed. 

They also provide an auditory aid called Compex, which allows the student to wear a microphone piece in their ear, while the instructor wears one as well and while the instructor speaks into their mic, it will clear out any distracting noise for the student. 

“We try to do our best to stay up with the most up-to-date technology as possible while also following the ADA laws as well,” Garcia said. 

If ever wanting to meet with Disability Services, students can go online to delmar.edu to make an appointment. Students should also be prepared to bring documentation regarding their disability to the appointment. 

The office can be found in the Emerging Technology building Room 102 on West Campus and in the Harvin Center Room 188 on East Campus. They are available from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Fridays. 

“We’re a team here, our number one purpose is the students and our number one goal is to serve those students,” Garcia said.

If interested in learning more about Disability Services please contact Garcia at 361-698-1731 or bgarcia@delmar.edu. 

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