DIVERSABILITY MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS OPEN DIALOGUE COLLABORATION SUCCESS!

Our Mental Health Matters Open Dialogue Event in collaborating with NAMI and the USG Mental Health Coalition March 6th was a huge success! Members from all 3 organizations came together and facilitated great discussions about the Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD) at UConn and the challenges that students face. Although the center is bound strictly by the law, people with certain disabilities find it to be in accessible, creating a seemingly unavoidable struggle for many students.

A huge issue on campus recently has been student awareness of what CSD offers and to whom it offers. Recently, I met a UConn senior who has a severe visual impairment, but never considered that the university could provide aid to him. Attendees at the dialogue talked about how we as students can advocate for more widespread awareness. Many students liked the idea of having a representative from CSD speak at freshman orientation. From Diversability's point of view, our leadership team is currently organizing a Resource Fair for students in the Fall 2020 semester where we hope incoming freshman AND current students will find more resources to support them in their academic pursuits.

Finally, we closed off with snacks, and pet therapy with everyone's favorite dog Shadow and his friend Dante. We look forward to continuing our accessibility projects on campus and making sure that our peers know that there are things the university can do to help them if they are struggling with their diversability.