Jennifer Bauder hopes, when she graduates from UWindsor, to work in a field providing counseling to women and children. In the meantime, this mother of two, who is studying social work and disability studies, has some advice for her fellow students: “Don’t be too proud to ask for help.”

Bauder, who has a visual disability, credits Anthony Gomez, a disability advisor and assistive technologist in the University’s Educational Development Centre, among those who helped her along the path to a B-plus grade in a required statistics course.

“I will admit that it was not my favourite course,” she says. “Statistics isn’t something that’s a natural strength for me but I needed it to complete my degree and I really got some great help along the way.”

Though she registered with the Student Disability Services offices when she first came to campus, she found that resources were not in place to accommodate her disability the first time she attempted to register in Alan Phipps’ Basic Quantitative Method course.

Not easily discouraged, Bauder reached out to Gomez, who put her in touch with Jonathan Sinasac, a video conferencing and multi-media engineering specialist in the Centre for Teaching and Learning. Sinasac developed a list of the necessary assistive equipment that would make Bauder’s participation in the class possible, and trained her on its use. She was able to pay for the specialized equipment with a UWindsor bursary that Gomez helped her access.

Dr. Phipps then stepped in to recommend tutoring from social work student Darlene Geick.

“When I found out about the Are You Proud campaign I thought, Sure, I’m proud,” Bauder says of sharing her great news about the UWindsor team effort. “Look at what you guys did for me.”

She says all students should make themselves aware of student services on campus well in advance of when they may need them.

“It doesn’t serve you to think that you can always do everything for yourself,” she says. “Do some research and find out who you can talk with if you’re having difficulty. There is a lot of assistance available to students who need it. The help is there, you just have to be willing to look for it and accept it.”