Editor’s Note: See pages 10–11 for articles on persons with disabilities in whom the University has made an investment.
By Mary Jo Frank
Emily K. Singer realized when she was in third grade that she had difficulty taking in auditory information.
Back then she relied on others, her parents and teachers, to act as advocates for her.
“I really didn’t know how to advocate for myself until I came to the U-M,” recalls Singer. While here she devoted time and effort to improving the campus climate for other students with learning disabilities, including founding the Learning Disabilities Society.
Singer’s numerous activities to provide information and support to students who have a disability will be recognized at 11 a.m. today (Oct. 4) when she receives the 1993 James Neubacher Award. The ceremony is in the Regents Room, Fleming Administration Building, following the Council for Disability Concerns annual meeting at 10 a.m.
The James Neubacher Award was instituted in 1990 as a memorial to alumnus Jim Neubacher, who was a columnist for The Detroit Free Press and an advocate for the rights of people with disabilities.
Singer received her bachelor of arts degree, with a concentration in special education and legal issues, from the U-M in May 1992. She will receive a degree from Eastern Michigan University in special education in December. Now an assistant coordinator for learning disability services at Boston University, Singer hopes to attend law school and pursue a career in disability law.
While at the U-M, Singer researched and published The University of Michigan Learning Disabilities Handbook for Students, Faculty and Administrators, a guidebook that is widely used here and on other campuses, according to Brian Clapham, the U-M’s Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator and former interim director of the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities.
As a learning disability coordinator in the Office of Services for Students with Disabilities, Singer worked with other students with learning disabilities, helping them learn how to be advocates for themselves.
She also talked to prospective students about services available at the U-M and worked to increase faculty awareness of learning disabilities.
Singer is producing a training video to assist U-M faculty and others in working successfully with students who have disabilities. The project is scheduled to be completed this week.
Singer also was a member of the 1991 Investing in Ability Week Planning Committee, which organized a week-long series of disability awareness events.
