DREAM Weekly Email: May 14-20, 2017

​DREAM Weekly Email, Disability and Higher Education in the News: May 14-20, 2017
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From DREAM: Disability Rights, Education, Activism, and Mentoring
Sponsored by the National Center for College Students with Disabilities and the Association on Higher Education And Disability (AHEAD)
 
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Weekly Email Update on Issues Related to Disability and Higher Education 
Weeks of May 14-20, 2017
 
** THIS IS OUR LAST FULL EDITION OF THE ACADEMIC YEAR – WE’LL CONTINUE TO SHARE NEWS ITEMS OCCASIONALLY DURING THE SUMMER, AND WILL BE BACK IN THE FALL! **
 
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Disability and higher education in the news (in no particular order):
 
* A study of 21 million items from 700,000 courses suggests that over the past five years, digital course materials like PDFs and PowerPoints are only slightly more accessible to students with disabilities, with no marked improvements: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/05/18/data-show-small-improvements-accessibility-course-materials?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=e7468e0296-DNU20170518&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-e7468e0296-197595533&mc_cid=e7468e0296&mc_eid=14caeb9bd9
 
* Times Higher Education profiles four academics with disabilities, noting that research suggests many things campuses could do to improve their working conditions and the campus climate (https://www.timeshighereducation.com/features/disability-campus-challenges-faced-and-change-needed#survey-answer).  (An interview about Kate Sang’s research on disabled academics is available at http://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2017/05/survey-highlights-challenges-disabled-academics-face-and-what-can-be-done-address-them.)  In the article, professors featured are:

• Nigel Lockett of Lancaster University in the UK on life as “the dyslexic professor”
• Farah Mendlesohn of Staffordshire University, on how her chronic illness (affecting her mobility and hearing) makes navigating campus difficult
• Anna Nibbs from the University of Sheffield, on being an academic with autism
• Brenda Jo Brueggemann from the University of Connecticut on being a professor with hearing loss

 
* The University of Illinois-Chicago is now offering a bachelor’s degree in disability and human development, focusing on disability law and policy, services, and community supports: https://ahs.uic.edu/disability-human-development/admissions-and-programs/bs-in-disability-and-human-development
 
* In her senior year of college, Brittney Clouse experienced a perfect storm of academic stressors, problems with her wheelchair, denial of requested disability accommodations; she took a medical leave and continues to struggle with what happened, but urges other people with disabilities to take care of themselves first, going back to a job or degree program better and stronger because they took a leave: https://cerebralpalsynewstoday.com/2017/05/12/cerebral-palsy-adversity-growth/
 
* As a young child, Parker Hansen learned how to play baseball without a left hand, and now he’s a pitcher for the University of Minnesota-Crookston team: http://www.poconorecord.com/sports/20170512/college-pitcher-hanson-embraced-talent-and-disability
 
* India has proposed a separate university for students with disabilities, but disability activists say there is “nothing inclusive about an ‘exclusive’ university for disabled people:” http://www.huffingtonpost.in/rahul-bajaj/there-s-nothing-inclusive-about-an-exclusive-university-for-di/
 
* Vanderbilt University courses in disability studies helped Bryan Stromer overcome shame about his cerebral palsy, but he believes the campus itself is still ashamed of disability, keeping disability services on the fringes of campus and focusing on legal compliance: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/05/12/i-go-to-a-top-university-known-for-its-research-in-disabilities-yet-students-like-me-are-an-afterthought/?utm_term=.6f233eafd5e8
 
* A study of college women with mental health and “behavioral” disabilities like ADHD describes how sexual violence and disability-related abuse can worsen mental health outcomes, affecting women emotionally, physically, and academically: http://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2017/study-examines-sexual-violence-against-college-women-with-disabilities/
 
* President Trump and Secretary of Education DeVos have released their first education budget, which includes $200 million in cuts to TRIO and Gear Up, among other slashes to higher education and student loan programs: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/05/17/trump-and-devos-plan-to-reshape-higher-education-finance-heres-what-it-might-mean-for-you/?utm_term=.6f22a2388338&wpisrc=nl_sb_smartbrief
 
* Thousands of military service members with PTSD, brain injuries, and other serious conditions are being discharged for misconduct without a review of how their disabilities may affect their behavior, making them ineligible to receive military benefits including health care (and higher education opportunities): http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/17/health/ptsd-mental-health-us-military/index.html
 
* It’s commencement season, and several colleges are highlighting graduates with disabilities:

• Jennifer Hindley experienced a traumatic brain injury playing rugby for York College, but after eight years of study, she completed her degree this year: http://www.yorkdispatch.com/story/news/education/2017/05/11/york-college-student-graduating-7-years-after-brain-injury-sidelined-her/101557820/
• Chinese doctors told Ding Ding’s parents that his life with CP was “not worth saving,” but he graduated from Peking University and was accepted into Harvard Law School this year: http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/single-mum-in-china-raises-disabled-son-to-become-harvard-law-student
• Stephanie Miner of Calhoun Community College has CP, and is wrapping up her associate’s degree in education 24 years after starting her degree: http://www.decaturdaily.com/news/local/calhoun-student-didn-t-let-disability-time-or-doubts-keep/article_653a867b-2786-549a-b992-83068346d85a.html
• Rachel Stanley of Ripon College studied disability stigma, informed by her own experiences with chronic illnesses: http://www.riponpress.com/Content/News/News/Article/-You-wouldn-t-tell-someone-in-a-wheelchair-to-walk-/2/20/11253
• Spencer Peyton of Weatherford College survived a severe traumatic brain injury and is now becoming a firefighter like his grandfather: http://www.weatherforddemocrat.com/news/local_news/college-grad-pursues-dream-to-be-firefighter/article_ac88b23a-051a-5a22-a028-d2f3da80d30f.html

 
* A man in Norwalk, Connecticut was sentenced to 90 days in prison for sexually assaulting a disabled college student because he assumed she’d “never had a boyfriend”; the judge gave a lighter sentence because the man had no prior criminal record: http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Man-gets-90-days-for-sexually-assaulting-disabled-11139636.php
 
* After wrapping up a five-year longitudinal study, researchers found the majority of college students with ADHD are not taking medication, and are at higher risk academically if they don’t get disability services in their first semester (there is a link to a podcast with the researchers, which includes a written transcript): http://research.uncg.edu/spotlight/novel-adhd-study-findings-featured-on-apa-podcast/
 
* Students at the University of Cape Town in South Africa staged a sit-in to raise awareness of issues facing students with disabilities; a student recently accused the campus of discrimination against people with disabilities, prompting the university to set aside millions to improve disability services: http://ewn.co.za/2017/05/18/uct-sets-aside-r11m-for-disabled-students
 
* “Dialogues on Disability” focus on disabled philosopher Quayshawn Spencer from the University of Pennsylvania, who discusses his interests in philosophy, race, disability, and lactose intolerance: http://philosophycommons.typepad.com/disability_and_disadvanta/2017/05/dialogues-on-disability-shelley-tremain-interviews-quayshawn-spencer.html
 
* Scott Backer ran Wesleyan University’s sexual misconduct hearings for years, and is a former director for student disability services there (where he angered students about privacy issues http://wesleyanargus.com/2012/09/03/mass-email-creates-controversy/); Backer now faces charges of using a computer to entice a 15-year-old girl in sexual activity: http://www.businessinsider.com/scott-backer-wesleyan-university-dean-arrested-sex-minor-2017-5
 
* When parents received help understanding “nuts and bolts” of adult services, youth with autism were twice as likely to be working or pursuing postsecondary education after high school: https://consumer.healthday.com/cognitive-health-information-26/autism-news-51/program-helps-young-adults-with-autism-find-jobs-722559.html
 
* As a disabled woman of color who survived a double transplant and cancer, Ola Ojewumi is committed to activism and her non-profit providing college scholarships to students with disabilities in the DC area: http://www.wgrz.com/news/double-transplant-cancer-survivor-turned-activist-paving-the-way-for-disabled-students-/440812842
 
* A man with Crohn’s disease has filed a lawsuit against the Lone Star College System for terminating his employment without first trying any accommodations: http://setexasrecord.com/stories/511111273-disabled-worker-accuses-college-of-wrongful-termination
 
* A wheelchair-using woman discharged from Howard University Hospital was dumped on the sidewalk by three Howard University security guards, in an incident caught on video: http://wjla.com/news/local/howard-university-security-guards-appear-to-dump-wheelchair-bound-woman-onto-sidewalk
 
 
And a few related items of possible interest to college students:
 
* The New York Times featured an essay by Luticha Doucette about being black and disabled, and how racism and ableism still create segregation and daily exclusions:  https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/17/opinion/if-youre-in-a-wheelchair-segregation-lives.html
 
* While several videos of interpreters signing music have gone viral, is this more about theatrics and hearing people, instead of an appreciation of sign language and Deaf culture?  Let’s break down what it means when non-Deaf people say ASL is “cool”: http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2015/06/10/sign_language_let_s_talk_or_sign_about_the_deaf_not_hearing_interpreters.html
 
* Political and civic activism has increased among people with disabilities (the Women’s March on Washington had 15,000 disability accommodation requests), but political campaigns are still not reaching out to the disability voting bloc: https://www.campaignsandelections.com/campaign-insider/why-campaigns-should-be-engaging-disabled-voters
 
* Several hundred disability activists from ADAPT protested in DC, with 83 protesters arrested; they were asking the FDA to finalize rules banning the use of electroshock on disabled people at the Judge Rotenberg Center in MA; a second protest at the White House fought for healthcare, Medicaid, and the Disability Integration Act: https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2017/05/16/self-advocates-white-house/23708/ and http://washingtonjewishweek.com/38656/d-c-disability-protests-hit-close-to-home/featured-slider-post/ and http://us.blastingnews.com/news/2017/05/adapt-goes-to-fda-to-take-on-judge-rotenberg-center-001704507.html (videos not captioned or audio described)
 
* ABC is adding “The Good Doctor” to its fall lineup – the show features a doctor with autism who is also a savant, although it looks like none of the casting includes people with disabilities: https://themighty.com/2017/05/abc-the-good-doctor-autism/
 
* Treshelle Edmond talks about her role in an episode of Netflix’s Master of None, playing a deaf bodega clerk who wants more sex with her husband: http://www.essence.com/entertainment/treshelle-edmond-talks-importance-her-role-master-none
 
* The Irish Disability Studies Association has joined with other groups in urging Ireland’s government to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: https://www.irishlegal.com/7259/international-conference-presses-for-ratification-of-un-disability-convention/#
 
* A 10-year-old child with autism was bumped by Vice President Pence during an event for military families; after Fox commentators called the child a “snowflake” for demanding an apology, his mother explained that Michael is autistic and asked Fox to apologize (which they did): http://www.newsweek.com/fox-news-hosts-mocked-boy-autism-mother-demands-apology-610051
 
* Child star Danielle Spencer of 1970’s show “What’s Happening” discusses her career in veterinary science, as well as her struggles with paralysis, depression, and cancer: http://blackdoctor.org/450312/whats-happening-danielle-spencer-breast-cancer/
 
* In a move that disability activists can appreciate, adorable little ramps were installed at the Capitol reflecting pool to help ducks get in and out of the water easily (heads up: cute video of ducklings using the ramp): http://dcist.com/2017/05/ducks_get_ramps_for_easier_access_t.php
 
 
 
 
 
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 (wendy@ahead.org).
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please go to http://ahead-listserve.org/mailman/listinfo/dream_ahead-listserve.org.  Wendy Harbour can also handle requests to subscribe or unsubscribe. 
 
By the way, please don't presume DREAM, the National Center for College Students with Disabilities, or AHEAD agree with everything in these links we send out - we're just passing along the information so you can form your own opinions.  Thanks.