DREAM Weekly Email: May 8-14, 2016

DREAM Weekly Email, Disability and Higher Education in the News: May 8-14, 2016
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From DREAM: Disability Rights, Education, Activism, and Mentoring
Sponsored by the Association on Higher Education And Disability (AHEAD) and the National Center for College Students with Disabilities
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Weekly Email Update on Issues Related to Disability and Higher Education 
Week of May 8-14, 2016
** WE’RE WRAPPING UP THE 2015-2016 ACADEMIC YEAR – CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF THIS YEAR’S GRADUATES!  WE’LL BE BACK WITH THIS NEWSLETTER AFTER SUMMER BREAK **
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Disability and higher education in the news (in no particular order):
 
* Pull an all-nighter?  No way, says University of Oregon student Hannah Steinkopf-Frank, who talks about academia’s inability to talk about sleep, and how chronic illness and #SleepRevolution changed that for her: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/hannah-steinkopffrank/chronic-illness-sleep_b_9879834.html
 
* Charlotte School of Law professor Brian Clarke “came out of the closet” about his mental health, and is trying to reduce stigma and open dialogue, while encouraging law schools to integrate mental health discussions into courses: http://www.nationallawjournal.com/id=1202757012877/Professors-Candor-About-Problems-Aids-Students?slreturn=20160413131622
 
* The Orlando Sentinel profiles the growth of Beacon College, a Florida campus that weaves accommodations into the curriculum and only accepts students with learning disabilities, ADHD or autism: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/education/os-beacon-college-disabilities-graduation-20160510-story.html
 
* In February, a University of Sydney employee lost a laptop with disability information on almost 7,000 current and former students, and now an internal review shows the information was unencrypted and unsecured; the university has since created policies to protect the privacy of disabled students: http://honisoit.com/2016/05/student-disability-info-lost-by-uni-was-unencrypted-and-unsecured/
 
* The new Accessible Classroom Technologies Wiki at Ohio State University features numerous resources on making classroom technology more usable for everyone, with hopes of reaching instructors and instructional designers: https://carmenwiki.osu.edu/display/10292/Home
 
* Zack Lancaster posted a video with the Deaf Grassroots Movement, describing his experiences not getting interpreters for his college classes, and then not being allowed to have his mother interpret for him because she isn’t certified: https://www.facebook.com/hwy99boi09/videos/10153834554494213/
 
* A new federal law requires overtime and travel pay for paid attendants and home care workers, but agencies are responding by cutting work weeks and creating bigger shortages of workers; a Minneapolis Star Tribune article discusses the effects for people like University of Minnesota disability services manager Linda Wolford: http://www.startribune.com/new-home-care-rule-intensifies-minnesota-s-caregiver-shortage/379284851/
 
* Josh Encinas will graduate from Oklahoma State University this year and he is hoping his experiences with foster care, the military, and disability will help him be a better teacher: http://newsok.com/article/5496590
 
* As goalball popularity sweeps through the Paralympics and college campuses across the country, Drexel University students design a video game version: http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2016/05/10/a-video-game-for-the-blind-drexel-students-fill-a-void/#.VzIPV0QjPzJ.twitter
 
* After colleagues mistakenly believed she was pregnant, Stockton University professor Emily Van Duyne reflects on how pregnant bodies are treated as an “aberration” and “disease” in academia: http://chronicle.com/article/No-I-Am-Not-Pregnant/236395?cid=wb&utm_source=wb&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=79d194fd6a664db484c9af0c2bb4ea87&elq=a72f7f191bfb467e87242ea9e1817fe4&elqaid=8982&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=3079
 
* ASL Sports 360 is a new YouTube channel bringing the latest in college and professional sports to Deaf audiences (signed without captions or audio): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X59V9sQQI8
 
* He finished his Master’s degree in education at George Washington University, but Bruno Mpoy is still suing the university, saying he would have received better grades, a full teaching internship, and more opportunities if he had not received “harassment, discrimination, and retaliation” based on his disability: http://www.gwhatchet.com/2016/05/08/alumnus-sues-gw-for-discrimination-based-on-disability/
 
* Malaysia is working to improve access and accommodations for college students with disabilities: http://www.thestar.com.my/news/education/2016/05/08/going-the-extra-mile/
 
* Syracuse University student Matt Taylor has been taking information technology courses through InclusiveU – in this video he talks about his business doing sports photography (open captioned, no audio description): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUjMpj7CxGQ
 
* “How can I feel better about my disability?” Law student Lydia Brown and National Council on Disability specialist Lawrence Carter-Long tackle the answer to this question from a junior high school student in Colorado: http://getsh101.com/m/0216B/05/dimanregional.html
 
* Professor and researcher Marjorie Baldwin studied workers with disabilities, but after her son was diagnosed with schizophrenia, she focused on workers with mental illness and has now published a book about her experiences with her son: http://science.kjzz.org/content/304371/asu-professor-puts-research-work-raising-son-who-has-schizophrenia
 
* At the University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Sultan has opened a new Resources Centre for Students with a Disability, and has offered to pay for scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students with disabilities: http://gulftoday.ae/portal/dd040474-df3a-4a54-a1a3-1e98a1117c39.aspx
 
* “You don’t look blind!” “You look normal!” College student Lauren Berglund lays out some facts about blindness and explains these statements are NOT compliments: https://themighty.com/2016/05/my-response-to-but-you-dont-look-blind/
 
* The dependent tuition policy at Vanderbilt University now applies to dependents who have intellectual disabilities, as well: http://news.vanderbilt.edu/2016/05/vanderbilt-university-dependents-with-intellectual-challenges-to-receive-tuition-benefit/
 
* Four early-career autism researchers talk about how having a sibling with autism shaped their research agendas: https://spectrumnews.org/opinion/cross-talk/sibling-bonds-inspire-next-generation-of-autism-researchers/
 
* Seminole State College students and faculty in fields of interior design, engineering, and construction gave disabled fellow student and veteran John Minta a remodeled accessible home bathroom, as part of an academic service learning project: https://www.seminolestate.edu/newsroom/articles/1233/Seminole-State-students-remodel-bathroom-for-disabled-veteran
 
* Autistic students at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville can participate in weekday coaching sessions or receive other intensive supports in the Autism Support Program – Andrew George was one of the first to enroll, and this year he’ll be one of the first to graduate: http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2016/may/13/autism-program-at-ua-graduates-first-st/#/
 
 
* Real Housewives of New York City star Jules Wainstein is talking about her struggles with eating disorders, and how she finally got help during college, when she entered a treatment center: http://www.buddytv.com/articles/the-real-housewives-of-new-york-city/rhonyc-star-jules-wainstein-op-59951.aspx
 
 
And a few related items of possible interest to college students:
 
* After six long years, the Obama administration is once again delaying plans to address how the ADA applies to the Internet, with the announcement that they are seeking additional public comments on the issue: https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2016/05/10/justice-postpones-web-rules/22290/
 
* If being good means being productive, then what are the implications for people with chronic illnesses?  Esmé Weijun Wang ponders that question in an Elle article about her own experiences: http://www.elle.com/life-love/a35930/chronically-ill-afraid-lazy/
 
* Check out these eight LGBTQ activists working on disability issues: http://www.afterellen.com/people/487101-8-lgbt-activists-who-are-working-for-progress-in-differently-abled-communities
 
*  Deaf star Nyle DiMarco from Dancing with the Stars says he’s never wanted to be hearing and is one of 25 Deaf people in his family: http://www.people.com/article/nyle-dimarco-deaf-star-dancing-stars-i-have-never-wanted-to-hear
 
* Promposals are sweeping the Internet, but are the sob-inducing sweet videos about students with disabilities going to prom totally awesome or totally insulting? http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-36217282
 
* Actor and activist Mark Ruffalo, known for his role as Hulk in the Avenger movies, is talking  about his own dyslexia, the fact that all his kids have disabilities, and how his experiences influenced his role as a dad with manic depression in the movie Infinitely Polar: http://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/mark-ruffalo-the-hulk-i-am-dyslexic/
 
* If you’re trying hard to do social justice work, here are ten suggestions for making sure your work is accessible and not elitist: http://everydayfeminism.com/2016/05/inaccessible-elitist-activism/
 
* Veterans disabled during active duty are asking the government to pay for in vitro services that could help them become parents: http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/13/politics/veterans-ivf-congress/index.html
 
* You may have heard about London’s new Muslim mayor Sadiq Khan, but you may not know that he signed a video in British Sign Language, pledging to work on barriers faced by the London deaf community (video is not captioned and signing is in BSL): http://limpingchicken.com/2016/05/07/watch-new-london-mayor-sadiq-khan-signing-to-the-deaf-community-and-pledging-to-implement-bsl-charter/
 
* Read an interview with Frances West, IBM’s chief accessibility officer, including her take on the “accessible workplace technology movement”: http://www.peatworks.org/content/accessibility-business-imperative-interview-ibm%E2%80%99s-frances-west
 
*  First-grader Anaya Ellick won a national handwriting contest, proving you don’t need hands to have good “handwriting”: https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2016/05/10/born-hands-handwriting/22287/
 
* You’ve probably read about the two undergrads who invented gloves translating sign language into speech – one Deaf person asks why technology caters to hearing people instead of Deaf people: http://www.theestablishment.co/2016/05/11/deaf-people-dont-need-new-communication-tools-everyone-else-does/
 
* Vietnam veteran, wheelchair tennis pioneer, and internationally-ranked player Johnny Johnston, who became even more famous when he competed against nondisabled tennis players in 2004, passed away last week in Florida at the age of 67: https://www.ustaflorida.com/tennis-briefs3-wheelchair-legend-passes-diversity-camps/
 
* Tommy Hilfiger’s daughter opens up about her 19-year fight against Lyme disease – the article discusses other famous people who are dealing with the disease, which is usually accompanied by years of misdiagnoses: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3270356/Tommy-Hilfiger-s-daughter-reveals-19-year-old-fight-against-Lyme-disease-Fashion-heiress-30-says-condition-taken-single-cell-body-brain.html
 
* SpiceJet is paying compensation to a director of advocacy and disability studies in India, after refusing to let her fly without a companion because she had CP; the airline has been in trouble with activists and the law before, for creating wheelchair fees for passengers:  http://www.reducedmobility.eu/20160513687/TheNews/india-sc-orders-spicejet-pay-disabled-woman-thrown-off-flight
 
* A New York Times article discusses the evolution of the term “intellectual disability” from a journalist’s perspective: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/08/sunday-review/giving-a-name-and-dignity-to-a-disability.html?_r=0
 
 
This week’s issue of the DREAM weekly e-mail is available at the DREAM website, with archived back issues available, as well (http://www.dreamcollegedisability.org).  For more information about DREAM or AHEAD contact Wendy Harbour ([email protected]).
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By the way, please don't presume DREAM, AHEAD, or the National Center for College Students with Disabilities agree with everything in these links we send out - we're just passing along the information so you can form your own opinions.  Thanks.