EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) – Most students walk into a science lab and get right to work. For one UW-Eau Claire nursing student, it wasn’t that simple – until she decided to do something about it.
Her self-advocacy led the university to purchase a new device that is now benefiting her entire class.
Kira Schoff, a nursing major at UW-Eau Claire, spends hours in courses such as anatomy and physiology. She said she has low vision as well as nystagmus, a condition that causes rapid, involuntary eye movements and makes it difficult to focus.
“When it came to the microscope, looking through those ocular lenses is kind of difficult,” Schoff said.
Schoff advocated for herself, prompting the university to acquire a new accessible microscope. Adjunct biology instructor Dr. Denton Kary said the new microscope functions much like a traditional model — students still adjust magnification and brightness themselves.
“The difference is the digital display screen replaces kind of the ocular lenses that you normally look through,” Kary said.
Schoff said the change made an immediate difference.
“It definitely makes it a lot easier to see. I’m able to zoom in on the picture because it’s just that flat screen,” she said.
Katie Bublitz, director of Services for Students with Disabilities at UW-Eau Claire, said Schoff is not alone in needing accommodations.
“We work with around a thousand students. So about one in nine students on campus is registered with our office,” Bublitz said.
Bublitz said the digital microscope has expanded access beyond Schoff’s individual needs. Kary can now photograph specimens and display them on a classroom TV in real time.
“He’s able to take pictures of things on the microscope and connect it to the TV, so he can talk through things while it’s actually happening instead of everyone huddling around the microscope,” Bublitz said.
The approximately $1,000 microscope was purchased through the Katherine Schneider Disability Fund, which launched in January. Bublitz said she serves on the committee that reviews and approves funding requests from departments across campus.
She said she hopes other departments apply for similar funding.
“We want to make sure that students, especially students with disabilities, have equal access to education,” Bublitz said.
For Schoff, the new equipment has had an effect beyond the lab.
“It definitely made it a lot easier and made me feel a lot more confident when it came to test taking, knowing that I was seeing the same thing as all the other students without having that gap,” she said.
Those interested in donating to funds that support UW-Eau Claire students with disabilities can visit blugolds.uwec.edu/campaign/824941/donate.
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