Dear Members, Students, Professors, and Friends,
We are pleased to invite you to the first Disability Awareness Week to be held November 15th-18th. The Association of Law Students for Disability Rights has partnered with the Office of Career Planning and the Student Bar Association to bring to students and faculty this important learning opportunity. Our theme for the week is based on a quote by Stevie Wonder—“We all have ability. The difference is how we use it”—and our intent is to spread awareness regarding issues that affect law students with disabilities, to help expand opportunities for lawyers with disabilities in all legal employment sectors and to provide information for students interested in the field of Disability Law.
The first event of the week, entitled, “How is stress affecting the students? Part 1,” will be held Monday, Nov 15th at 12:30 in Kendrick 101. It will feature Dr. Allison Waterworth, an Educational Testing Specialist and Psychotherapist, who specializes in testing and treating ADHD, anxiety, depression, learning disorders, women’s issues, and relationships problems. She has tested and treated many USF students and will present on the impact of stress on students with learning disabilities.
“How is stress affecting the students? Part 2” will be held Wednesday, Nov 17th at 12:30 in Kendrick 102. Part 2 will feature Barbara Thomas, Executive Director of USF's Counseling and Psychological Services program, and Tom Merrill, Director of USF's Academic Support Services and Disabilities Specialist, who will co-present on the effects of stress on students. Specifically they will discuss how stress affects the learning process, personal relationships, substance abuse, and students with learning disabilities.
The Final event will be a Disability Law Panel held on Thursday November 18 in Kendrick 102 from 5-6:30pm. We are so fortunate to have the Co-Chairs of The Disability Rights Committee, Betsy Johnsen and Christina Rubke, who have worked to break down barriers that have held back attorneys with disabilities from fully integrating into the field of law. The Co-Chairs will discuss how accommodations are viewed by employers, interview tips for students with disabilities, the difficulty of receiving reasonable accommodations in the work force, how students can make informed decisions when entering the workforce and other issues related to Disability Rights.
The Panel will also feature Anna Scholin, President of the National Association of Law Students with Disabilities, who will offer the student perspective of going through (and graduating) law school with a disability and life after law school. The NALSWD is a coalition of law students dedicated to disability advocacy and the achievement of equal access, inclusion, diversity and non-discrimination in legal education and in the legal profession. The future success of NALSWD depends on the active participation by disabled law students and we are honored to have Anna as a speaker to show our support.
The Disability Awareness Week is a celebration of diversity which all too often neglects to include people with disabilities. We hope to show the community at large as well as the USF community, that our law school means what it says on our website—that USF “strive[s] to train professionals who care about the well being of others and have a deep concern about justice.” We hope to have your support and are confident that you will find the weeks evens as a worthwhile way to further our schools commitment to social justice. We look forward to seeing you there!
Sincerely,
Katie Robert
President of the Association of Law Students for Disability Rights
Vice President of the Student Bar Association (pt)
University of San Francisco School of Law
