Bulletin No. 1, 2011

10   Chinese University Bulletin No. 1, 2011 Disability Services Coordinating Committee The Disability Services Coordinating Committee was established in 1998 to coordinate the provision of services to disabled students. The committee comprises CUHK students, representatives from central administration, from units providing services to students such as the library and the Information Technology Services Centre (ITSC), from the Colleges, as well as from offices responsible for the physical development of the campus. The University has a range of equipment in place for people with physical disabilities. To help such students negotiate their way on the hilly campus, a rehabilitation bus is available to transport physically disabled students. There are electric wheelchairs for hire, and wheelchair tables and automatic page turners at several libraries. Students with hearing defects have access to hearing aids, while the visually impaired can use computers installed with special software at four libraries and three laboratories. Dr. Scotty Luk, convener of the committee, said the aim of the committee is to enable students with disabilities to do all that is required of them by their curricula. ‘We coordinate between the students in need and their Faculties. Very often, different students require different ways of coordination. For instance, what an autistic student needs is not exactly the same as what someone paralysed from the neck down needs,’ he observed. Besides physical resources, Dr. Luk and Ms. Pauline Kan, Disability Coordinator of the committee, also provide psychological counselling to students with disabilities. ‘We hope that, like other students, they can become useful members of society. In North America, the presence of physical or mental disability in students with disability are obvious obstacles hindering the smooth completion of their university curriculum,’ observed Dr. Luk. At present there are close to 30 handicapped students on campus. Dr. Luk foresees that that 30 to 40 more will join CUHK upon reversion to the four-year normative curriculum in 2012. ‘We hope the University can allocate more resources to these services, so we can continue to ensure a smooth and fulfilling college life for these students,’ said Dr. Luk.