The college’s Center for
Students With Disabilities
held an open house Wednesday
to educate students and faculty
members about the vast array of
high-tech and instructional assistance
services available to students
with learning and physical
disabilities.

The Center for Students with
Disabilities currently serves
about 10 percent of the GCC’s
student population, according to
the coordinator of the
Instructional Assistance Center,
Ellen Oppenberg.

Many students
seek help on their own, while
others are referred by members
of the faculty or the community.
Four learning specialists, two
college-graduate tutors and a
proctoring coordinator help students
with disabilities succeed in
their college courses. Each
semester about 50 students are
assessed for possible learning
disabilities. No student is turned
away or asked to wait.

“We don’t
believe in waiting lists,” says
Cindy Daniels, a clinical psychologist
and a staff member.

Currently more than 150 students
use test proctoring, which
involves special accommodations
for those who are unable to
take tests in a regular classroom
setting. About 100 students use
the ISC tutoring services in Math
and English.

The High Tech division of the
center features 20 computer
workstations equipped with various
educational aids. Available to students with learning or physical disabilities are a text
enlargement program, speech
recognition, text-to-speech, and
outlining software, alternative
keyboard and height adjustable
tables.

The Instructional Assistance
Center is located in San Gabriel
building, Room 112. For information,
call (818) 240_”1000,
ext. 5530.

The High Tech Center is
located in San Gabriel Room 108. For information,
call (818) 240_”1000, ext. 5402.