White House honors ILR student's disability advocacy

Brian Meersma
Provided
Brian Meersma '18 attended a celebration of the Americans with Disabilities Act July 27 at the White House.

Brian Meersma ’18 was one of nine disability advocates honored as “Champions of Change” July 27 at the White House. The event marked the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the landmark legislation that guarantees equal access and equal opportunity – regardless of ability. More than 56 million Americans live with disabilities.

At the event, the ILR School sophomore underscored the value of reaching out to others with disabilities.

“It can be very easy to think you’re the only one. Having connections is really helpful,” said Meersma, who has dyslexia. “It can be hard to raise awareness” about disabilities, he said, noting that having a united voice to be heard by policymakers helps, along with educating people to think beyond traditional forms of learning.

Meersma provides information to others with learning disabilities through his assistive technology blog, where he reviews text recognition and communication applications and other computer programs. He also demonstrates use of assistive technology and advocates at the state and national levels to improve support of students with disabilities.

This is not the first time Meersma has been recognized for his advocacy work. Last spring, he and another Cornell student, Mara Schein ’18, each received a Marion Huber Learning Through Listening National Achievement Award at a gala hosted by Learning Ally, a national nonprofit serving individuals with learning and visual disabilities.

Until his dyslexia was diagnosed, Meersma said he “struggled to read and struggled to be understood.” Instead of reading with just his eyes, Meersma uses audio and text-to-speech technologies to learn through listening.

Cornell’s Student Disability Services provides Meersma with accessible digital copies of textbooks, “so I’m able to listen to books or course material and understand that way.”

“For written exams, professors give me a PDF copy of the exam, and I borrow a computer from disability services with special software on it that reads the questions to me,” Meersma said. “I can fill out the prelim or quiz with the software and have it read back my answers so that I edit my work and make sure I used the words I intended.”

Meersma is interning this summer in Washington, D.C., at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, where he supports disability inclusive emergency management.

He attended the event with his parents, Kathy Stratton ’83 and Steve Meersma, and his sister, Kim.

Mary Catt, MPS ’14, is assistant director of communications at the ILR School.

Media Contact

John Carberry