Chosun University’s ‘Support Program for Students with Disabilities’ Draws Attention

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] As university lectures have moved entirely online due to COVID-19, students with disabilities have been facing difficulties, and the ‘Support Program for Students with Disabilities’ operated by the Chosun University Center for Students with Disabilities is attracting attention.

According to Chosun University on the 6th, the Center for Students with Disabilities, which opened in January 2009, provides various customized academic support services to guarantee the learning rights of students with disabilities, improve awareness of people with disabilities, and enhance the quality of life for students with disabilities.

This year, the Center for Students with Disabilities is providing multifaceted support for students with disabilities attending online classes.

First, 42 students with disabilities on campus are being individually monitored weekly to check if they are keeping up with the curriculum.

Additionally, to ensure the learning rights of hearing-impaired students, an additional budget was allocated to purchase licenses for ‘Soboro,’ an AI real-time captioning assistive technology program.

Through this program, real-time captioning services are provided to students with hearing impairments to support their online learning.

Disability student assistants (volunteer-type working scholarship students) have also been assigned to visually impaired students.

These assistants convert visual lecture materials into text files (textualization) so that visually impaired students can access the content through assistive devices such as braille information terminals, producing alternative materials and supporting tasks such as assignments.

Furthermore, even during non-face-to-face online classes, communication with students with disabilities is maintained by renovating the center’s website and adding a banner for smooth individual counseling.

This multifaceted support by the Chosun University Center for Students with Disabilities has recently yielded results.

In March, Yang Soyoung, a first-year student in the Department of Public Administration and Welfare, was selected for the ‘Support Project for Digital Learning Assistive Devices for New Students with Disabilities,’ sponsored by KB Kookmin Bank and organized by the Korea Federation of Organizations of the Disabled. Yang Soyoung received a state-of-the-art laptop through this support project.

The center judged that although Yang Soyoung has a brain lesion disability causing stiffness and paralysis throughout the body due to an unexpected accident, she has a strong passion for learning and uses a rehabilitation chair, so assistive devices necessary for augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) should be supported. Accordingly, the center guided Yang Soyoung to apply for this project and assisted with writing recommendation letters and the application process.

Yang Soyoung and her parents expressed their gratitude, saying, “Thanks to the detailed project guidance and the recommendation letter provided by the Center for Students with Disabilities, we were able to achieve valuable results.”

Cho Gyuseon, director of the Chosun University Center for Students with Disabilities, said, “The Center for Students with Disabilities will actively work to resolve the difficulties faced by students with disabilities caused by the COVID-19 situation.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.