People define students with disabilities or handicapped by their aliment instead of their character and personality.

We forget that these students are just like us and face challenges in their every day lives and that needs to change.

They often face ridicule or are treated differently from other students who think that they must treat them differently.

Some may even try to hide their disabilities from those closest to them to prevent others from changing the perception that their friends may have of them.

Outside of college the persistent reminder arises as words like stupid are replaced with retarded, ruining a once respectable medical term to a joke.

People with disorders like Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder see their terms used when someone spaces out or loses attention like it is a joke.

Even on the internet the bullying continues; with memes and jokes openly mocking those with mental aliments.

Heidi Crowter, the young lady presented in these memes, did not even know she was a viral joke until last year when she stumbled upon an image while browsing around Facebook.

Any attempts to eliminate these jokes on websites like Facebook were met with the creation of more memes.

Anyone can help by just acting like you would around anyone else. Don’t let the disorder or handicap define how you think of them.

Instead hang out with them, get to know them, and treat disabled persons like you would any other person.

Family and friends with disorders shouldn’t feel afraid to be themselves around their loved ones, and look to them for support.

The Disabled Student Programs and Services Department can always help and answer any question you may have to about ways to help and how students are already helped on campus.

The mission of DSPS is to assess, address, and provide reasonable accommodative service and referrals to students with disabilities, enabling them to equally access and fully participate to the best of their abilities in the curricular and related activities of the Cerritos College community.

Hopefully, disabled students will be able to see that they aren’t alone on campus.