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SPEAKER: Mentoring
students with disabilities

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in research experiences.

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RICHARD LADNER: My
name is Richard Ladner.

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I'm the principal investigator
for access computing,

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an NSF-funded project with
the goal of increasing

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the participation and
success of students

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with disabilities
in computing fields.

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Every summer, we
support students

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in the Computing Research
Association's Distributed

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Research Experiences for
Undergraduates program.

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Many of these students
continue their research

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and go on to graduate school.

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ERIN HOWARD: Hi, everyone.

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My name is Erin Howard.

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I use she and they
pronouns, and I

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am a student at Western
Washington University.

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I applied a lot of statistical
analysis via Python

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to programmatically pre-classify
over 275,000 light curves

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from stars in the Transiting
Exoplanet Survey Satellite

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database.

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EMELIA BELDON: Hi.

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My name is Emilia Beldon, and
I am from Gallaudet University.

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The project is about
improving live captioning

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and teleconferencing, like
Zoom, Hangouts, and Meet.

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When I first saw the
project, I thought, yes,

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what better than to help
improve the accessibility

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of the deaf community and
those who need access?

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For me, mentors were what
helped me be successful

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in computing and the IT field.

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They have disabilities
themselves.

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They can't hear, can't speak,
but that didn't stop them

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from being successful.

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BRIANNA WEIMER: Hi.

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My name is Brianna Weimer,
and I am currently a student

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at the University of Alabama.

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My disability is ADHD.

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And so just for
me, it's helped me

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develop a passion of
what I want to work in

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and develop that kind of
determination behind it.

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My project over the
summer was basically

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about making a
biofeedback game that

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increases emotional regulation
through respiration techniques

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and uses positive reinforcement.

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ERIN HOWARD: The advice I'd
give to research mentors working

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with students who
have a disability,

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be patient and be kind of
aware of their situation.

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EMELIA BELDON: Also, be sure
to check in with the student

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frequently and make sure they
have access to information

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as well as be able
to communicate.

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BRIANNA WIMER: Take
your time with them.

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Allow them to open
up to you about it.

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Don't kind of push for it.

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Just allow them to get
close enough to you.

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Because when they do, they
will feel comfortable enough

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to talk to you about
their disability

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and talk to you
about what they need

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as a student with
disability to help them.

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And then once you
know that information,

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you can help them to the
best of your abilities.

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