The UTD Mercury

Media Credit: Jacob Naasz Psychology junior Jeffrey Peter's seeing eye dog, Michael, rest at his side while Jeffrey prepares to take notes in his criminology class on March 14. [Click to enlarge]

Psychology junior Jeffrey Peters says he owes what popularity he has to his buddy Michael because people approach the two of them mainly to meet Michael, Peters' guide dog.

Michael became Peters' canine companion after an accident five years ago when Peters was 19 years old. He was at home with a friend preparing to shoot skeet the next day. He dropped a 12-gauge shotgun, which fired. Peters says he remembers nothing after that until a month and a half later. Then he heard someone saying, "You're O.K. You're in the hospital."

His left eye was gone, there was a patch over his right eye and he couldn't speak. Since the accident, Peters has undergone more than 40 reconstructive surgeries.

Peters is one of UTD's 128 disabled students, a number that grows each semester, according to information provided by UTD's disability services office.

This office, coordinated by Kerry Tate, ensures disabled students have a learning environment that provides reasonable accommodation of their disability. Examples of accommodations include adaptive technology, alternative testing arrangements, classroom relocation and note takers.

The disability services office conducts a disability awareness month in October and March. Tate said activities planned for March 2007 include:

• Displays of old and new prostheses and orthotics in McDermott Library.
• Partnering with the Callier Center to provide an initial hearing screening.
• Providing the experience of icing a cookie either blindfolded or using the non-dominant hand with a glove.

Peters says UTD's disability services have worked well for him. As a result, he has few issues in completing his class work.

One issue that does trouble him is web access. He has software that can scan a screen and present its data to him verbally and can respond to his verbal commands. But, the software works poorly with WebCT and Galaxy, he said. As a result, when these systems are required for classes, he needs a sighted student to help him.

He also said that in some classes instructors show overhead slides, but do not always remember to explain what is on the slides.

Peters said he has always been interested in psychology, but he chose it as a major because his accident made him more interested in the subject. He hopes to complete a doctorate and conduct a private practice. In the meantime, he said, he might work in a field related to psychology.

The Workforce Recruitment Program (WRP) provides some career help for Peters and other disabled students through an organization co-sponsored by the U. S. Departments of Labor and Defense. Recruiters from WRP have visited the UTD campus and interviewed disabled students. The recruiters attempt to connect the students with public and private sector organizations for full-time and part-time work.

Guide dogs like Michael receive their initial training from people like Margaret Swigert, a secretary in the undergraduate education office.

In 2000, she and her husband read a Dallas Morning News article about volunteer puppy raisers for the nonprofit organization Southeastern Guide Dogs (SGD). The Swigerts were interviewed by the organization, given a training manual and began training the dogs. They continue to meet monthly with SGD representatives to coordinate the training.

The Swigerts get a puppy when it is nine to 12 weeks old. The dog is typically a Labrador retriever, golden retriever or smooth-coat collie. The Swigerts' job is to give the dog first level training - housebreaking, basic obedience and socializing. They take the dog to work, grocery stores, restaurants and movies and let the dog ride with them on public transportation.

After about a year-and-a-half of this basic training, the dog goes back to SGD for formal training, through which it learns to wear a harness and to respond to more than 40 commands.

Swigert is now working with the fifth dog she and her husband have trained, Spirit. She says she gets attached to the dogs, but after a dog completes its training, she and her husband go to its graduation and meet the dog's recipient. That brings it full circle, she said.

Peters said his guide dog Michael can get ornery. When Peters attended Northlake Community College, there were some classes Michael didn't want to attend, so he would hesitate at the class room door. At UTD, Michael sleeps through some classes.

"I wish he would stay awake and listen," Peters said. "Then maybe he could help me on tests - one tap means select answer 'A' and two taps means select answer 'B.'"

Because Peters is enrolled for 15 hours and commutes from Irving on the Dallas Area Rapid Transit, he says he doesn't have time to participate in student life. But he does manage time for a weekly lunch with another of his friends, Kathy Black, a psychology senior diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Disorder (ADD).

People who meet Michael and want to make friends with his owner Jeffery Peters would do well to remember that Peters thinks of himself as having not a physical disability, but a physical diversity. Peters says he's had people talk slowly to him like he's a kid. Or, they might offer to help him up the stairs, whereas he has probably been on his feet more than they have.

"I just want to be treated like everybody else," Peters said.

Disability Etiquette Tips

• Refer to the person before the disability. For example, instead of saying "a wheelchair-bound person," say "a person who uses a wheelchair."
• Before you assist, ask "May I help you?"
• It's okay to use common expressions such as "See you later," "Have you heard . . ." and "I have to run."
• Give unhurried attention to a person who has difficulty speaking. Don't pretend you understand when you don't. Instead, ask the person to repeat what they said.
• Don't pet or talk to a guide dog without the owner's permission.
• Speak directly to the person with a disability instead of to their companion or helper.
• When you talk for more that a few minutes with a person in a wheelchair, try to sit down as to be on eye level with that person.

Sources: UTD Disability Services Office and Partners for Youth with Disabilities

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