COMMITMENT TO ACCESS
COMMITMENT TO ACCESS
ot long after starting her second master’s degree and her first semester as an international student in the United States, Asma Hadidi began struggling. She’d long battled a tendency to procrastinate, and in recent years had begun treatment for depression.
But being away from her family in her native Iran and on her own for the first time seemed to worsen her mental health. One day, leadership in the Religious Studies Department, where she’s also now an instructor, suggested she visit Georgia State’s Counseling Center. She was diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and counselors recommended she register for accommodations for a disability.
The diagnosis made sense, Hadidi says. Though she attended schools for gifted students in her home country, she often struggled with deadlines and found herself scrambling at the last minute to complete assignments.
“From an early age, I had problems with staying focused and sitting in class,” she says.
It started to affect her self-esteem and five years ago, she began treatment for depression.
After registering with the Georgia State’s Margaret A. Staton Access and Accommodations Center, Hadidi learned of its Accessibility Mentoring Program Uplifting Panthers (AMP-UP), which provides extra support for students with disabilities, particularly those navigating transitions from one learning environment to another. It’s not tutoring, and it’s not counseling. But for students like Hadidi, it’s become vital.
“That was one of the most pivotal points of my time at Georgia State,” Hadidi says of entering the program in summer 2024. “It really helped me stay on top of things. It’s really had a positive effect on my life, not just my schoolwork. And it has increased my self-confidence.”
Through the AMP-UP program, led by AACE Assistant Director Rose Payne, Hadidi says she’s learned organizational skills and strategies she’s put to use combatting her tendency to procrastinate. Through weekly sessions with Payne, she’s been able to better keep track of her own schedule and organize tasks in a way that keeps her focused and productive.
On top of completing the final semesters of her master’s in religious studies, Hadidi is navigating work as an undergraduate instructor and working toward her long-held goal of earning a doctorate by applying to Ph.D. programs — more than a few spinning plates to keep balanced.
“There are so many resources available at Georgia State,” she says. “Things that help you do better not just in school, but help your whole being.”
Advancing A Legacy
While the AMP-UP program is relatively new to AACE, the center has been serving students for 25 years. Previously known as the Office of Disability Services, the center is now known as the Margaret A. Staton Access and Accommodations Center in memory of the two-time Panther who earned a degree in classics (’68) and a Master of Education (’74) from Georgia State.
At the age of 2, Staton became paralyzed by a tumor on her spinal cord. She would go on to establish scholarships for Georgia State students with disabilities and an endowment that supports the center’s work. She also founded the Ethel Louise Armstrong Foundation, named for her grandmother, which seeks to “change the face of disability on the planet.”
Staton died in 2018 at the age of 71.
Serving nearly 10 percent of Georgia State’s student population, AACE administers a variety of accommodations, depending on a student’s documented disability. After self-identifying with AACE, Access Coordinators conduct an intake meeting with students to understand their disability and their goals.
“It’s all about equity,” says AACE Assistant Director Dr. Carrie Kim. “It’s about providing equitable learning opportunities and a fair playing field.”
Access and Accommodations Center Assistant Director Rose Payne leads the AMP-UP program.
AACE strives to ensure that students with diagnosed disabilities are provided the tools they need to fully access all aspects of student life inside and outside of the classroom. Some of the most widely accessed accommodations are additional time for testing and use of AACE’s distraction-free testing centers, where students are provided lockers for their belongings and a calm, quiet space in which to complete exams — even noise-canceling headphones, if desired.
AACE has also worked to make the latest assistive technology available to registered students. AACE provides interpreting services and captioning for deaf and hard of hearing students as well as assistive software and hardware for taking notes and capturing lectures.
AACE Access Coordinator Victor Robertson also works with publishers, through the Georgia State Bookstore, to ensure textbooks are available in braille and in digital formats that students can download to e-readers for visual ease.
Students with physical disabilities can also request accommodative classroom furniture for classrooms they frequent. The institution has a variety of furniture pieces stored in various locations that students can make appointments to view and try out. Once selected, the furniture can be delivered and installed for the semester.
According to Assistant Vice President for Health Maggie Tennant, demand for accommodations skyrocketed as students began returning to class from pandemic-related remote learning. From 2021 to 2022, the center saw a 300 percent increase in the number of students served and since 2021 it’s grown from a staff of seven to a staff of 14.
Tennant says that while students with a diagnosed disability can also receive accommodations in grades K-12, there are some sometimes surprising differences when they get to college — one being the requirement to self-identify rather than relying on a parent or guardian or school staff to recognize a need.
Accommodations at the university level are also philosophically different.
“In K-12 education, they ensure success,” Tennant says. “But in higher education, accommodations ensure equal access. Our staff in AACE is committed to providing reasonable accommodations and support to students with diagnosed disabilities to help them reach their full academic potential. AACE recognizes disability as an aspect of diversity that is integral to society and to our campus community. Accessibility is an essential feature of the Georgia State campus, and we strive to create an inclusive community for our students.”
Strategies For Success
Arya Devkota may not have seemed, to those around her, to have a disability. At Chattahoochee High School in Alpharetta, Ga., she took so many Advanced Placement courses and exams she started Georgia State in 2023 with 15 credit hours already under her belt.
Her sophomore, junior and senior years, she worked on her high school paper, never once missing a deadline.
But beneath her success was a struggle. Unable to focus on the task at hand, she says she took hours longer than her peers to complete homework, and often read and re-read exam questions over and over before understanding them. She knew she was different from her classmates.
“Procrastinating was the only thing I was good at,” says Devkota, a computer information systems major. “And not having a diagnosis was the hardest thing. I felt like I was fighting myself, and nobody understood why I was the way I was.”
In fall 2023, she was diagnosed, at 18 years old, with ADHD.
Through the Access and Accommodations Center, she’s been given extra time to complete exams and has thrived. AACE’s testing center ensures she has a distraction reduced environment to focus. Last summer, she completed a paid full-time internship with Newell Brands, impressing supervisors with her speed and eagerness.
Organizational skills she’s learned through Payne’s AMP-UP program, along with the accountability that comes with weekly check-ins, have given her confidence and helped her reign in her tendency to delay important tasks.
“I feel like I’m in control of my life and have confidence in my abilities,” she says. “It really has helped me so much just to join a call once a week with a mentor and hear a word of encouragement.”
Photos by Meg Buscema
