Faith Douglas couldn't find her ideal academic program in her home of Jamaica or in New York City. But she found it in the City of Good Neighbors. She packed her bags and moved to Buffalo to make a change.
Douglas is one of the few graduate students at UB in the two-year master's degree program through the Center for Disability Studies.
The Center for Disability Studies program was founded in the spring of 2009, when People Inc., an agency that provides a variety of services for the disabled in Western New York, opened its museum of disability history. People Inc. realized UB did not have a program for disability studies, so the university worked with People Inc. to get the program started.
The Disability Studies program is part of the College of Arts and Sciences. The program's objective is to offer graduate students a master's level degree in disability studies.
Disability services are not readily available in Johnson's home of Jamaica. She was forced to take care of her cousin who was born with multiple sclerosis. Douglas considers her cousin to be her best friend, someone who she spent most of her time with.
In Jamaica, people with disabilities are ridiculed, dishonored and hidden from the public, according to Douglas. She was pleasantly surprised when she came to America.
When she arrived in the United States, she realized America had many disability resources that Jamaica did not. She decided to start her career as a care worker and just as she loved caring for her cousin, she came to appreciate and love the field she worked in.
Douglas started out as a respite care worker providing care for disabled children while enabling the children's families to take a break from the hardships of caring for a disabled family member, according to Douglas.
She is currently expanding her education in the field of disability studies at UB and looks forward to what the program will offer her in the future.
Michael Rembis, the director of the Center for Disability Studies, said the main idea of the new program is to study disability from a social and cultural perspective rather than from a traditional medical, rehabilitation or nursing perspective.
Rather than defining a person only as a medical term, the faculty aims to express disabilities through a social perspective.
Since the program's arrival at UB, courses and faculty members are constantly being added to broaden the spectrum of fields. Once UB and People Inc. supported the initial idea, there were many faculty members who stepped forward to become involved in the creation, according to Rembis.
"Some of the faculties have been doing work at UB for many years that relates to various aspects of disability and the lives of disabled people," Rembis said. "[The program] took off really quickly."
Many of the master's students work full time in the field of disability services throughout Western New York, according to Rembis. The graduate program is a way for students to expand their knowledge and gain hands-on experience that will help them advance their careers.
Recent graduates who hope to pursue careers in the advocacy for the disabled or who wish to work with non-profit organizations also apply for the program, Rembis said.
Nicole McCullough, a first-year graduate student, got involved after she wasn't accepted into the education program. Because she wanted to pursue a career in youth counseling, she sought out Disabilities Studies.
McCullough was given a year to try out the program, and so far, she likes it.
Douglas has learned a lot about a disabled person's rights. She also learned about the organizational setting of disability agencies.
She noticed there were people working in the field of disability who didn't know the history and who didn't know how to handle policies and individuals. They only took care of paperwork, according to Douglas.
Douglas doesn't view individuals with disabilities any different from anyone else.
"I look at a lot of people with disabilities and I am in awe because there are such little things that they can do but they are more content than you and I are," Douglas said. "There are things that you can learn from them. As long as you are able do and function as people, life is not as bad as people make it seem."
Douglas hopes the knowledge she gains from the program can be used to open an independent living home for people with disabilities. Unlike a group home, an independent living home is where individuals have their own room and own space, according to Douglas.
"I've noticed that there was a long waiting list for people with disabilities to get into an independent living home," Douglas said. "I would really like to purchase a house in Buffalo and work with disabled people and give them a home of their own."
There are still a lot of steps and policies Douglas has to learn before she can open her own independent living home but in the meantime, she is attending school and working at an agency that works with autistic children.
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