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Boston UniversityAccess RadioSpeakers: Stacey Harris, HostLorre Wolf, GuestTranscription provided by:Caption First, Inc.P.O. Box 3066Monument, Colorado 80132877-825-5234>> This is Access Radio. >> STACEY HARRIS: Welcome to our first show. This podcast will be a place for discussing many aspects of disability issues in higher education, from current issues facing students with disabilities to providing advice and resource. Each show we will meet with a new community partner and generate some great ideas for our students and the larger Boston University community. I am so excited to kick off our inaugural show with my dear friend and colleague, Dr.?Lorre Wolf. Lorre, welcome to the show. >> LORRE WOLF: Well, thank you, Stacey. I'm thrilled to be here. >> STACEY HARRIS: I am so glad. So let's jump on in. So we have been in this field for a long time. >> LORRE WOLF: Yes. >> STACEY HARRIS: Tell me a little bit -- we're not going to say how long. Tell me a little bit about, you know, how you came to be you and really what drew you to disability services. >> LORRE WOLF: Sure. That's kind of? that was a long time ago. You know, by training, I'm a neuropsychologist. I was a clinician and a researcher specializing in hidden disabilities like learning disorders, autism, and ADHD. Then I saw this job ad. And who doesn't want to come to Boston? >> STACEY HARRIS: Right? >> LORRE WOLF: It looked like an interesting legal and clinical interface, a kind of a change of pace, which I was ready for in my career, and things just kind of clicked. >> STACEY HARRIS: How wonderful. And you didn't have a problem with the Yankees/Red Sox thing? >> LORRE WOLF: Oh, a little bit. But, you know, with offices in the shadow of Fenway, I kind of turned coat. >> STACEY HARRIS: Got it. Well, we're thrilled and honored that you chose Boston. We are all better for it. >> LORRE WOLF: Well, thank you. >> STACEY HARRIS: So, tell me, you know, over the years, we have seen so many changes in disability services, all different aspects, but this year, suddenly going remote, you know, it's certainly a new twist. So for new students, you know, what do you think is the best way to get connected with our office in this era of remote learning? >> LORRE WOLF: Sure. You know, I think the first thing is to know yourself, to know how you learn in the regular environment, and how the remote environment might challenge you, and then to really think about what would work for you, what would help, what wouldn't help, and not to be afraid to contact us and discuss it. There's really no need for people to go it alone or suffer in silence or try to be brave about it. Everyone is new at this remote thing, and everyone is struggling to some degree even if they don't admit it. So there's nothing wrong with stepping up and saying, "You know, I need to figure out how to do this." >> STACEY HARRIS: And that's a great point. I mean, we're all? it's kind of a unifying force. We're all kind of bumbling through it together. And certainly, to some extent, it's easier to reach out. Right? And you can reach out from anywhere you are, and certainly it's safer, contactless -- >> LORRE WOLF: Absolutely. >> STACEY HARRIS: -- you know, for the way the world is right now. So this fall? >> LORRE WOLF: And you don't even have to put on? >> STACEY HARRIS: Oh.>> LORRE WOLF: You don't even have to put on clothes. >> STACEY HARRIS: This is very true. Very true. So this fall, you know, BU is moving to a hybrid model. And I was thinking about students with disabilities and how they're going to connect in person and in a hybrid model, and I'm wondering if you could talk a little bit about, you know, what you think it would take to be successful in that kind of fluid, flexible system. >> LORRE WOLF: Right. Well, you know, the hybrid model is really the best of both aspects. If a student can't get here for a health reason or a travel reason or a disabilityrelated reason, they can still fully participate in the environment. If they can get here but there are times that they can't participate, they can, you know, cross in and out. And if they fully want to be engaged in the classroom, they can go ahead and do that. The university is doing everything possible to make the inclass environment safe for all students, but there are students who just won't feel comfortable, and so the hybrid is a way for them to engage, to be in a classroom, to be with a professor. The details of what that's going to look like are still being worked out and will come together in the next week or two, as far as I know, but, you know, lots of smart people are figuring out how this is going to work. And I think it's a really exciting and interesting way to look at particularly education for students with disabilities when you can't -- just can't get to class. >> STACEY HARRIS: Oh, absolutely. I'm so proud of this model, and it really feels like a caring and loving approach to learning for all students: disability, without disability. It feels good. It feels like everyone will be able to access. So I think it'll be positive. >> LORRE WOLF: I think so too. And I think it puts everyone from day one on a more level playing field. Because, again, this is new for everybody, and there isn't going to be anybody come September who can sit back and say, "I'm an expert." >> STACEY HARRIS: Good point. That's a great point. So, you know, something that is kind of the bread and butter of our work are students transitioning to higher ed, whether it's from high school or from other colleges. It's really what we've done forever. I'm wondering if you can also talk a little bit, you know, whether it's in the remote world or in person, kind of what are the tenets of success? What makes transitioning to higher ed with a disability -- you know, what do you need to be able to have to make that leap? Just a little bit of advice around that for new-to-BU students. >> LORRE WOLF: Yeah. You know, there's a fair amount of research about this that tells us that, you know, successful people with disabilities above all? and, you know, controlling for intelligence and course of study and all that great stuff? what they have in common is the ability to advocate for themselves, knowledge about themselves, knowledge about what accommodations work and what don't work, and the ability to stand up and ask for what they need. So that selfadvocacy, selfawareness, selfknowledge are really the most important things, and those don't happen overnight. People kind of? >> STACEY HARRIS: Right. >> LORRE WOLF: grow into that. So for the entering student, my recommendation would be to spend some time looking at the documentation that you're bringing to us. If you had psychological testing for a learning disorder, sit down with the psychologist and have them explain what those numbers mean. If you have a medical condition, understand what your meds do and how to get them, and really spend some time figuring out who you are, what you need, and who can help you get that. And then, you know, we come back to don't be afraid to ask. There's nothing wrong with that. >> STACEY HARRIS: That's a great point. And, you know, something you and I have talked about a lot is that not all of our students have been in the driver's seat. You know, maybe they've had parents or an IEP team, other people. So they might need a little practice ahead of time learning how to ask those questions. So I love that idea, reading documentation ahead, learning that language. Absolutely wonderful advice that I knew you would give. >> LORRE WOLF: You know, we are very happy to have those conversations with students, too, because sometimes it's just not feasible, and I love sitting down with a student and going through that report with them and saying, "You know what, this is what this test measures, and this is how you did, and here's what I think it means for you in a classroom on an exam at BU." >> STACEY HARRIS: Yeah. You know, one of my favorite moments working with students and looking at docs are when they say, "Oh, my God, I'm really smart. I didn't know that's what that meant." You know, those are wonderful moments. >> LORRE WOLF: That's true. >> STACEY HARRIS: So let me ask you, you know, tell me a little bit if you have a funny story or something you can think of that -- about your own transition to college or a student that -- just something about you that, you know, might be nice for incoming students to get to know you a little bit. Nothing too embarrassing. >> LORRE WOLF: No. I have a good one, but I'm going to have to sanitize it a little bit, because, you know, I'm old. I went to college in a different era. And when my parents moved me in, the college that I went to had coed dorms from the getgo. >> STACEY HARRIS: Wow. >> LORRE WOLF: My mother came screaming out of the joint coed bathroom and said, "You can't stay here. We're taking you home." >> STACEY HARRIS: I love that. >> LORRE WOLF: She noticed? she noticed a pair of feet pointing in a different direction, and she flipped out. >> STACEY HARRIS: Oh, my gosh, that's so funny. Well, I'll tell you a fun one. As a young college student, you know, with a disability, with dyslexia, which I have, I walked in the first day to my philosophy teacher's class, and I said, "I don't know what this class is. I've never taken it. I don't think I'm going to pass," and it ended up being my major. So my advice is try lots of things on. >> LORRE WOLF: You know, well, I always say that. And I tell students, I told my own kids, find three or four or ten trusted adults and ask them: What did you think you wanted to be when you grew up? What did you major in? How many times did you change your major? And what are you doing now? And find that the most interesting people have these, you know, ziggyzaggy ways of getting where they got. Almost nobody goes straight through. >> STACEY HARRIS: Right. For a much more interesting life. Right? >> LORRE WOLF: Exactly. >> STACEY HARRIS: Absolutely. Absolutely. So tell me, Lorre, you know, fall is coming. Well, not yet. We have to get through summer first. Tell me something you are looking forward to in the fall. >> LORRE WOLF: I'm looking forward to being back on campus where there's a vibrancy that just doesn't exist in my remote home office. >> STACEY HARRIS: The animals aren't doing it for you? >> LORRE WOLF: You know, we're training them to be quiet. >> STACEY HARRIS: Oh, gosh. Oh, gosh, I understand. Well, Lorre, you know, it has been a pleasure chatting with you. I'm so glad you were able to join me today. You know, hope we can keep these conversations going. >> LORRE WOLF: Absolutely. And, you know, my last word to students is not to be a stranger, to, you know, to come in, come in, come in often and, you know, come in with lots of questions. Don't be a stranger. >> STACEY HARRIS: Absolutely. Absolutely. I agree. So thank you again to Lorre Wolf. And thank you for listening to Access Radio. I'm your host, Stacey Harris. Please tune in again soon. ................
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