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University aims to protect disabled from discrimination by Amber Petkosek http://www.bgnews.com/in_focus/university-aims-to-protect-disabled-from-discrimination/article_4884a26c-4121-11e3-b9b6-0019bb2963f4.html When it comes to discrimination against people with disabilities, we should imagine ourselves from someone else’s point-of-view, Laura Landry-Meyer, an associate professor in Human Development and Family Studies. She said one way to look at it is as if you were looking through windows and mirrors. “If you look at the world through a mirror, it’s just going to reflect back your perspective,” she said. “If you look at it through a window, you think, ‘okay, what if I’m not able-bodied, what if I can’t hear?’ Your perspective of what needs to be changed increases dramatically, taking another contextual approach.” Not In Our Town could help start the change to end the discrimination against people with mental illnesses. “The initiative helps support an inclusive environment for all people in our community. The initiative is not one office nor is it the responsibility of one area,” said Peggy Dennis, director of Disability Services, in an email. At the University, there are more than 700 students with disabilities registered with Disability Services, Dennis said. “Most of them have a story that they could tell about a time that they were treated badly, harassed or discriminated against,” she said. Those who are harassed are encouraged to report the instances. Dennis said the Office of Disability Services will support and help sponsor any Not In Out Town programs or events. Having a disability is not always something that can be seen easily. Disabilities can be physical, emotional or cognitive, said Sarah Rainey, an assistant professor in the department of cultural and critical studies. Rainey said there are several buildings on campus that are not easily accessible to students with physical disabilities. There are some buildings on campus that are considered handicapped accessible, but are still not easily accessed. “A building might be accessible because they have one ramp on the back of the building,” she said. “That does not make it inclusive.” Rainey said she hopes Not In Our Town will help with the knowledge of disabilities. “It’s one of those minority groups that has not had a lot of positive identification,” she said. Landry-Meyer said she thinks the biggest change Not In Out Town can provide for students with disabilities is making people realize what it is like to live with a disability. Jessica Schmitt, executive director for the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Wood County said when most people think of mental illnesses they think of something scary and foreign. One in four adult Americans will suffer from some sort of mental illness during their lifetime, Schmitt said. Mental illnesses include depression, post traumatic stress disorder, personality disorders, schizophrenia, anxiety and more. “There is such a lack of education about mental illness that we label everyone with a mental illness as somebody who is psychotic and doesn’t know what they’re saying and we can’t make sense of them, so we don’t need to trust everything they have to say,” she said. Schmitt has not heard of the Not In Our Town campaign, but said the idea behind the program is good, and it is intriguing. “I hope that you will have a good response to it, but it definitely sounds like it’s a good start,” she said. Sophomore Emily Cramer suffers from a mental illness and found out when she was in ninth grade. She was diagnosed with clinical depression. Cramer has experienced discrimination since she was diagnosed. “My dad is very judgmental,” she said. “He says that there is nothing wrong with me, and it’s all in my head.” The discrimination Cramer experienced, especially because it was coming from her family, made it especially hard. “It’s extremely horrible,” she said. “It makes it harder to get past what I’m going through.” Cramer has not heard of any events that Not In Our Town has hosted for people with mental illnesses, but there are groups on campus who do offer group sessions.