Six panelists shared their experiences with their disabilities and how they impact their lives and relationships with others, along with the different ups and downs each has gone through, during an Equal Access panel last Thursday in the Greek Room. The panelists spoke on a variety of topics, from mental to physical health and the ability to access support services and areas on campus.
“You don’t think about accessibility until you actually need it,” said Lorenzo Tuero, freshman communication major who has severe back pain.
Panelists also spoke about the stigmas that they face and how being diagnosed sometimes felt freeing to them.
“For some people, this diagnosis might have been kind of stigmatizing or embarrassing,” said Robert Kornowski, instructor of mathematics, who was diagnosed with attention-deficit disorder. “For me, it wasn’t at all. It was tremendously freeing. I finally felt like I understood all of these different symptoms that I had my entire life…now everything makes sense.”
The diagnosis helped him understand himself better and he is able to find accommodations to assist him, after having symptoms for over forty years, Kornowski said. His experiences have also allowed him to relate with students and assist them when they’re struggling, he said.
“In some ways, it’s made me a better teacher because when I have students who I see struggling, I feel more empathetic with them and can relate to them better and hopefully able to help them more as a result of own experience,” Kornowski said.
The panel also discussed their experiences with mental health.
According to Stephanie Adams, director of Student Accessibility and Support Services, mental health issues also count as a disability, which many people are not aware of.
“Mental health issues can be very debilitating and it is more common now,” Adams said. “Mental health issues are climbing. Even here at ESU, the population is growing.”
Part of the growth can be attributed to how young adults are bombarded with information through the internet, social media and television, which wasn’t the case for older generations, Adams said.
Lexi Elbrader, graduate clinical psychology student, spoke about major depressive disorder and how she stays open about her depression to help normalize it.
“I’ve always been a person who’s been extremely open with my depression because I don’t like the norms of disability,” Elbrader said. “We’re all unique and individual and this shouldn’t be something that someone should look down on you for.”
Elbrader also offered suggestions for how people can support those who are dealing with issues like depression and other disabilities, which included being there for that person and asking what they need you to do.
