Chaffey Celebrates Disabled Community at Awareness Fair

Joshua Reynoso heard about the services that Chaffey College offers for disabled students even before he stepped foot on campus.

The criminal justice major met Counseling Faculty Donald Essex as a senior at Summit High School, and chose Chaffey to continue his academic journey. He’s been with Disability Programs and Services ever since.

“As someone with low autism, I think it’s important to celebrate disabilities no matter what disability someone has,” he said. “Some people may have disabilities that people may not be aware of.”

He joined other DPS students, as well as the rest of the campus community, for Chaffey’s annual Disability Awareness Fair on March 13. 

The event drew hundreds of people to learn more about services available to disabled students on and off campus, grab some free food and listen to music. Jacob Peck, director of DPS, says that with less than 22 percent of disabled college students nationwide asking for services to support them in their studies, events like this are very critical. Students often choose not to seek help to avoid being stigmatized.

“They try to struggle through, or a lot of times we lose them,” Peck said.

A variety of community organizations such as United Access, the Department of Rehabilitation, Options for All, Paws to Heal and Fontana’s special needs program “Above the Limits” attended to engage with the community and hand out some free swag.

Justine Villaluz, library learning commons support clerk, came to show support because of the close relationship the library has with DPS to make materials accessible to all students.

“Just imagine not being able to see or hear and how hard that would be to navigate life and how hard it is to get an education,” she said. “It’s very important that students have access to resources so they can reach their goals.”

Peck said the event particularly focused on students with hidden disabilities such as mental health conditions, autism, chronic illnesses and neurological conditions, because students with those issues often face more stigma than students with physical disabilities.

“We need to make sure our students are supported, and we need to make sure our faculty and staff are aware of the different conditions we see here at Chaffey and how that impacts them,” he said.