Disability Awareness Week aims to spark discussion

Fourth-year political science student Hugo Muñoz recounted his childhood experience with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

“My teacher grabbed me by my shoulder, took off her sweatshirt and tied me to the chair,” Muñoz said.

ADHD is a neurobehavioral disorder that is characterized by persistent inattention, hyperactivity and impulsiveness, or all three, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

Muñoz sees the ongoing Disability Awareness Week as a step toward integration and increased understanding of the disorder.

“It is a way of encouraging people to become their own advocates and seek out help because the resources are out there,” Muñoz said.

Disability Awareness Week is comprised of several different lectures, programs and interactive activities and is being held at various locations on and off-campus.

Office for Students with Disabilities Assistant Director Dan Levitt said events such as Disability Awareness Week will give conditions that are not visible, such as hearing impairment, learning disabilities, health conditions and psychological conditions, the opportunity to be addressed.

The activities will also allow the community to meet and interact with students with disabilities.

“Programs like the Office for Students with Disabilities encourages the campus community to seek and get involved in programs that help persons with disabilities,” Levitt said.

Muñoz attributes much of his high energetic personality to ADHD but claims that his diagnosis allowed him to understand the disorder better.

“(ADHD) requires lifestyle changes,” Muñoz said.

But he said that it has also allowed him to be more compassionate towards himself and others, while also being aware of his strengths and weaknesses.

The Office for Students with Disabilities seeks to help UCLA students with disabilities like Muñoz.

The office, which also works in conjunction with faculty, provides services which are designed to facilitate and accommodate students’ stays at the university, as well as promote independence and educational potential in the students, according to the OSD Web site.

OSD’s confidential services are open free of charge to students with permanent and temporary disabilities according to the Web site. Students are required to submit a request for eligibility to the office at which point an evaluation of the documentation of the student’s impairment will be conducted in order to determine the required services.

Programs provided include the Learning Disability Program, the Mobility Assistance Program, and the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Program, which provide services that address note-taking, transcribing, test-taking procedures and transportation.

Disability Awareness Week is an overarching body of events established to address the National Disability Employment Awareness Month, according to Wendy Motch, associate director of UCLA Programs Operations.