Highlights from the 2022 DO-IT Scholars Program

Date: 
Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Students present about their oceanography workshops over Zoom.

Each summer, the DO-IT Scholars program hosts a Summer Study that supports 40 to 60 high school and college students with disabilities in learning about technology, self-advocacy, college preparation, and disability culture. This past summer, first-year students shared their favorite sessions, as well as what they learned this year with peers and staff. Below are some highlights:

Favorite Sessions

  • HTML coding and web design
  • Using math with origami and 3D models
  • Inclusive Tech Lab with Microsoft
  • Learning about the brain with the Center for Neurotechnology
  • Opportunities to connect and socialize, including game night, movie night, the talent show, and snack box socials
  • How to advocate in college
  • Different aspects of how the human brain works
  • HTML coding, website styling, JavaScript, and web content creation
  • Methods for reaching out to professors and disability services, as well as how to best approach getting needed accommodations
  • Different forms of accessible technology, including screen readers (which often work better than Voice Over) and the tools being developed in the Inclusive Tech Lab
  • The history of people with disabilities and our rights
  • How to advocate for myself in college and other aspects of life
  • Perspectives from college students and professors who have worked with students with disabilities before
  • Science careers can be accessible and achievable

What Scholars Learned

  • Different aspects of how the human brain works
  • HTML coding, website styling, JavaScript, and web content creation
  • Methods for reaching out to professors and disability services, as well as how to best approach getting needed accommodations
  • Different forms of accessible technology, including screen readers (which often work better than Voice Over) and the tools being developed in the Inclusive Tech Lab
  • The history of people with disabilities and our rights
  • How to advocate for myself in college and other aspects of life
  • Perspectives from college students and professors who have worked with students with disabilities before
  • Science careers can be accessible and achievable