When people think of disability services, the first thing that might come to mind are the CABS vans that drop physically handicapped students off at class, but the Office of Disability Services offers much more than a free ride.

ODS provides facilities and programs to assist students with everyday learning activities from computer programs to alternative media to distraction-free study spaces.

“The services we provide depend on what the student’s disability is and what their impairments are,” said Jennifer Hertzfeld, a counselor and supervisor of the Assistive Technology Training Center.

To qualify students must have a disability that affects them in an academic setting. The disability must be documented prior to signing up for services with ODS.

“Sometimes students get registered just in case, if they have something that might impact them academically, some disabilities like cancer or multiple sclerosis that might be different per quarter,” Hertzfeld said.

The largest population of students enrolled at ODS are those who suffer from one or more general learning disabilities.

“We don’t ferret them out into reading, writing or math. Some students have a combination of two or more of them,” Hertzfeld said.

Holly Conner, a fifth-year student who is undecided about her major, has multiple learning disabilities and uses several of the facilities and programs offered by ODS.

Conner suffers from a traumatic brain injury she incurred from an automobile accident at age 17. The accident affected her memory, vision, balance and cognitive ability to think before she talks or acts.

Conner uses the ATTC computer lab for its software and peripheral devices that other labs on campus do not provide.

“In the computer lab, the monitor is bigger than the one I have in my room and if I’m expecting an important e-mail that I can’t read in my room, I come over here and read it,” Connor said. “I print off lecture notes that the teachers e-mail me because I have note-taking trouble and I use the scanner when I have to scan in a document and then enlarge it or decrease the size of it to finish my other homework,” she said.

The lab software can be designed to magnify the screen or allow students who are blind to have a book or Web site read to them.

“There are so many programs here to use. It all depends on what type of problems the person is having and what kind of help they need,” said Isaiah Taylor, a computer specialist for the ATTC.

One such program is JAWS, which “reads” what is on the computer monitor, a useful tool for students who have trouble reading or seeing what is on the screen.

The lab in Pomerene Hall is the largest center on campus for students with learning impairments to use, although there are a handful of buildings and departments around campus that offer some of the same programs.

The ATTC is looking for student volunteers this quarter to become members of an advisory group to discuss the technology needs of students with learning disabilities.