By Amala Nath
A new book by Chris Wise Tiedemann, “College Success for Students with Physical Disabilities,” calls Hofstra one of the best higher-education institutions for students with disabilities. Making a campus accessible and enriching for students with disabilities has been a major priority for the University since 1963.
Today, the Services for Students with Disabilities (SSD) department office continues to help all students with physical, learning and/or psychological disabilities.
“I’m very proud of Hofstra. It is an honor,” said Victoria Simon, who is an accommodations and communications specialist for SSD. Simon struggled with a physical disability, but applied herself academically throughout her childhood to keep her dreams alive.
“You have to make it happen no matter who you are,” she said. “Having a disability is just that one extra something that makes a person different.”
Recently, SSD introduced a charter chapter of Delta Alpha Pi to campus, the nation’s only academic honor society exclusively for students with disabilities.
Allyson Martin, a graduate student majoring in rehabilitation counseling, is a proud member of this chapter.  After receiving her undergraduate degree from a very small private college, she moved to the University and has since had an uplifting and motivating experience.
“I just speak up and my problems are taken care of right away,” she said.  Expecting to graduate in about a year and a half, Allyson hopes to land a job and enlighten young people in the future.