I am writing from Ankara, in Turkey, where I work at the Middle East Technical
University, METU.
8 years ago I began as an English teacher, but fairly quickly I noticed a few
blind students and began to wonder how they were managing.
To cut a long story short, I am still officially teaching English, but have
become the academic adviser of a student society aiming at supporting the few
disabled students we have identified (METU being not only a technical
university but one of the best in the country is out of reach of most
candidates) and also undermining prejudice against the disabled/ increasing
public awareness. In the 11 months since this group was formed, we have
organised a day workshop, to which we invited disabled students at 6 other
universities in Ankara. This was a way of 'encouraging' them to go and look
for at least some of their disabled students. By the day of the workshop, over
100 disabled students had been identified. In parliament we have one blind
MP, who has given me a lot of support. He is now planning to call on ALL
universities throughout Turkey to identify their disabled students, and then
call them for a meeting in Ankara!
This might seem few to you, but bear in mind that OECD figures for 1995 seem
to show that in Turkey only about 1% of disabled children were in school. And
that's without any suitable support at all in high school. So those who do
get through to university are true fighters (or their parents are). Another
point is the definition of disability. Only in the few mails I've had since
becoming a member of this list, I've noticed the importance of dyslexia -
which is only starting to be heard of here. We started with the obvious: a
few blind students, 2 wheelchair users and 3 deaf students (please forgive any
politically incorrect language - I've been out of Britain for so long, and
here the issues are more important than the terminology, so I might
occasionally slip up). We have some who are partially sighted/hearing
impaired etc but social stigma means they are often reluctant to join us ...
until I was invited to find '8 disabled people for a Euro-Med project' and 2
were suddenly a lot happier to talk about disability.
In Turkey there is no legal obligation for universities to provide any support
(not yet; a friend is writing the new law...) In fact I think I'm the first
person to have put this issue on the agenda. In the 1990s Bogazici University
in Istanbul organised a good system for blind students, but I am aiming for
something more comprerhensive: not just the blind, and not just one
university. Having no one to consult in Turkey, I went to Iran 3 weeks ago
and found some useful contacts and suggestions that can be applied in Turkey:
we are talking of a broad spectrum, from highly technological universities in
the major cities to much less developed - particularly in terms of attitudes -
institutions in the eastern towns. If a system can be developed to guide
students and members of staff in such areas, it could be applicable much more
generally, even perhaps as far as Afghanistan!
Who am I? A geneticist, cum primary teacher, cum English teacher. Having had
hydrocephalus as a child, I gained varied experience from voluntary work in
Britain. I moved to Turkey over 10 years ago, after 19 years in Manchester,
where my 8 years as a school governor proved very useful training for
single-handedly attempting to persuade vice-chancellors that they CAN do
something other than ignore matters. (They are very good at that! I got
another dose today. A psychological 'cold shower' ):
Why am I writing? Because I wonder if any of you might be able in one way or
another to 'give us a hand'.
--I've started to find out about exam accommodations (I think this could be
the US terminology. What is it in British English?) but some of you may have
other suggestions. For instance, a technical university in Switzerland gave
me a detailed description of how a blind student did a degree in Maths and
Computing without a single exemption. Another point is that METU is an
international university, teaching in English.
--If you had any students with a pioneer spirit, they may consider coming and
challenging some of the assumptions about 'normality'! We qualify for
Socrates exchanges now.
--Do you ever have any meetings that I could perhaps try to attend?
--And finally whould anyone be interested in a joint project? A lot of EU
money is available, and from contacts I've made in the new acquisition
countries they aren't much better off that Turkey; and Turkey is now eligible
for such projects. I won't explain more here: I'll explain in more detail to
anyone interested.
--I'm sure other exchanges of ideas etc could happen, but I need to get to
bed: I'm getting interviewed on national TV tomorrow so I need to get some
rest!
Our group has a webpage that should be updated very soon:
www.engelsiz.metu.edu.tr
And I have put my writings on a webpage: www.dbe.metu.edu.tr/claire
I look forward to a reply or two,
Claire Thomas-Ozel
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