DREAM Weekly: July 15-28, 2018

​Summer Edition: DREAM Weekly on Disability and Higher Education in the News: July 15-28, 2018

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)
 
-------------------------------
 
Disability and higher education in the news (in no particular order):
 
* Brookings take a closer look at rosy employment data about people with disabilities, looking at state-by-state statistics and noting that adults with disabilities do better with college degrees: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2018/07/25/only-four-out-of-ten-working-age-adults-with-disabilities-are-employed/
 
* Should students have a “Q” (“Quit”) notation on their transcripts if they drop a course or semester for disability-related reasons?  One University of Texas at Austin student says no:  http://www.dailytexanonline.com/2018/07/21/non-academic-q%E2%80%99s-dont-belong-on-students%E2%80%99-transcripts
 
* The Governor of Delaware signed a new bill offering tuition assistance to students with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are attending in-state postsecondary transition programs: http://www.newarkpostonline.com/news/new-scholarship-to-help-students-with-intellectual-disabilities-pursue-college/article_87f898ff-6928-53ca-8937-0e3af6cac96a.html
 
* The Smithsonian has a new display celebrating 50 years of the Special Olympics, with stories of athletes including Loretta Claiborne, the first person with an intellectual disability to receive two honorary doctorates: https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2018/07/27/smithsonian-special-olympics/25323/ (More about Loretta available at http://www.lorettaclaiborne.com/about/)
 
* The University of Florida is one of only two universities in the country that has personal lift systems in any of its residence halls, and now it’s expanding dorms to accommodate even more students with physical disabilities: http://www.wcjb.com/content/news/UF-Dorm-Designed-For-Disabled-Students-Getting-An-Expansion-488785101.html
 
* “Unfriended: Dark Web” explores dark consequences of a student skipping college ASL classes to work online, but one reviewer says that like the movie “A Quiet Place,” this film is really about the horrors of ableism: https://filmschoolrejects.com/ableist-horror/
 
* Autistic Saddleback College student Marcus Knight allegedly asked a female student for a fist bump and selfie, was accused of sexual harassment, and then not provided accommodations during two Title IX investigations into his actions, according to Knight’s mother, who is raising money to challenge the college: https://www.thecollegefix.com/post/47278/
 
* The Republican “PROSPER Act” reauthorization of the Higher Education Act is not moving forward, so Democrats are proposing the “Aim Higher Act,” which includes specific provisions to help reduce financial barriers for students with disabilities: https://www.chronicle.com/article/How-RepublicanDemocratic/244007?cid=wcontentlist_hp_latest
 
* The city of Labrador in Canada is honoring the life of teacher and professor Ray Condon, one of the first people in the city to publicly talk about AIDS and being gay in 1991; he allowed filmmakers to follow him from his diagnosis until his death a year later (video is not captioned or audio described): https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/pride-tribute-ray-condon-1.4753404
 
* A new Student Achievement Measures (SAM) has been developed to give more accurate graduation rates for students who take leaves or transfer: https://www.forbes.com/sites/marvinkrislov/2018/07/23/why-we-need-to-rethink-graduation-rates-as-a-measure-of-colleges-success/#2ef137c12f70
 
* Concordia University is spending $400,000 on a new walkway connecting buildings, and it is not accessible to people with disabilities: http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles/7-24-2018/Concordia%27s-walkway/
 
* Heidi Hostettler needed to work part-time at the College of Wooster due to disabilities, but was terminated because her job description said she must work full-time; the U.S. Court of Appeals said that if she was able to do her work part-time, her firing was not justified regardless of what the job description said: https://www.natlawreview.com/article/sixth-circuit-holds-full-time-presence-work-not-essential-simply-because-employer
 
* University College London has been awarded £10 million from the Department for Internal Development to improve accessibility to assistive devices: http://www.thiis.co.uk/university-awarded-10-million-to-improve-accessibility-of-assistive-technology/
 
* John Wood Community College’s College for Life program will now offer three-year certificates to students with intellectual and developmental disabilities: http://www.whig.com/20180725/jwcc-college-of-life-benefits-people-with-intellectual-developmental-disabilities#
 
* CJ Harris was hoping to play football in an SEC school, but one college has already withdrawn its invitation to play after realizing Harris would fail NCAA drug tests because he uses medical marijuana to control his epileptic seizures: http://www.fox5atlanta.com/sports/football-player-with-epilepsy-fights-for-college-career
 
* In the wake of offensive Theta Tau videos, Syracuse University has launched a review of Greek life, created a new Diversity Council and Office of Inclusive Excellence, hired more counselors, and is doing a review of disability services: http://dailyorange.com/2018/07/su-announces-third-greek-life-review-consultant/
 
* A Global Disability Summit is working on disability issues in developing countries, including access to education: http://www.internationaldisabilityalliance.org/summit
 
* In the UK, the National Disability Arts Collection and Archive (NDACA) will have a permanent physical space in Buckinghamshire New University, celebrating the Disability Arts Movement that started in the 1970s, and digitizing its collection: https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/23-29-july-2018/the-archive-of-3500-objects-giving-disabled-designers-and-artists-a-voice/
 
*  Southeast Community College student Heather Robbins will be the first-ever Miss Wheelchair USA contestant from Nebraska: https://columbustelegram.com/news/local/first-ever-nebraska-wheelchair-usa-contestant-headed-to-national-competition/article_11ed046f-0c58-5da3-b3f9-b3c9d2ce93ba.html
 
* Texas A&M used dogs to research Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and now they are training the dogs to be service animals, even placing one dog with a teen living with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: https://www.theeagle.com/news/local/aggie-family-trains-former-texas-a-m-research-dog-to/article_601e3f5c-089f-50e7-a39d-6c75ba196736.html
 
* College student Unique Lawrence has some advice for students starting college with a disability or chronic illness: https://themighty.com/2018/07/disability-illness-college-anxiety/
 
* More college students are using cannabis to treat depression and anxiety (although the article does not mention that cannabis is illegal on most campuses and under the NCAA – the NCCSD and DREAM urge students to investigate policies carefully before presuming medical marijuana is permissible): https://www.civilized.life/articles/college-students-are-using-medical-marijuana-more-than-ever-to-battle-anxiety/
 
* In India, the Delhi High Court ordered Jawaharlal Nehru University to admit Master’s and doctoral-level students with disabilities who have passed the entrance exam: https://theprint.in/governance/jnu-asked-by-court-to-admit-m-phil-ph-d-students-who-have-disability/89637/
 
* Autistic and proud college student Jessica Flynn says to stop using “high functioning” and “low functioning” to describe autism – and what you should be saying: https://themighty.com/2018/07/autism-functioning-labels-low-functioning-high-functioning/
 
* New Republican tax reforms are causing confusion about whether or not students, staff, and faculty have to pay taxes on parking, free campus transportation, and student parking lots (the article does not discuss paratransit and disability parking): https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/07/23/college-business-officers-question-tax-laws-impact-seven-months-later?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=16fd5b76fd-DNU_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-16fd5b76fd-225808461&mc_cid=16fd5b76fd&mc_eid=d5645fe552
 
* Stephanie Jass, a professor at Adrian College, signed a felony plea deal over her unauthorized hacking of the college president’s email, including correspondence about his family’s medical issues: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/07/23/former-adrian-college-professor-pleads-guilty-hacking-college-email-accounts?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=16fd5b76fd-DNU_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-16fd5b76fd-225808461&mc_cid=16fd5b76fd&mc_eid=d5645fe552
 
* British Columbia will provide $1.5 million in funding to universities to expand services for students with cognitive, mental or physical disabilities: http://runnermag.ca/2018/07/provincial-government-allocates-additional-funding-for-students-with-disabilities/
 
* Deaf students in the UK have an “admissions gap” – they are less likely to attend college than their peers, and are also less likely to attend prestigious universities: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/deaf-students-russell-group-universities-a-level-results-access-national-deaf-childrens-society-a8463301.html
 
* More allegations have been filed against Richard Strauss, a former OSU sports doctor, who has allegedly abused more than 100 former Ohio State athletes during their medical exams and treatments: https://www.chronicle.com/article/More-Than-100-Ohio-State/243979?cid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=1caef16742d5477daeec3c3e1b1da46f&elq=1549538fd68a46b58a4ce97e2d8fccc1&elqaid=19821&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=9183
 
* Disability Support Services at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville has a new name of “Accessible Campus Community & Equitable Student Support (ACCESS) to “better reflect the services we provide”: https://www.theintelligencer.com/news/article/Disability-Support-Services-renamed-13091267.php
 
* Doctors with disabilities describe their experiences and how disabilities may even make them better doctors than the superhuman doctors on TV (transcript of audio is available): https://www.npr.org/2018/07/22/631255020/doctors-with-disabilities-look-for-recognition
 
* New York disability studies professor Andrew Marcum is one of the people leading protests of the state’s Developmental Disabilities Services Office in West Seneca, which is inaccessible to people with disabilities (article available as radio story and text): http://news.wbfo.org/post/ada-anniversary-marked-protest-inaccessible-disabilities-service-office
 
* Kim Jameson quit her job as a florist to set up Students Tackling Autism Related Syndromes (STARS) for college students with autism transitioning to college, saying that without STARS, her son “honestly, would not have made it past two weeks” of college (video is captioned but not audio described): http://www.wbrc.com/story/38741018/mid-south-heroes-mom-helps-autistic-students-succeed-in-college
 
* Alejandrina Guzman was a first-generation college student, a wheelchair user, daughter of immigrants, and student body president at the University of Texas at Austin, and she’s part of a new Texas initiative doing outreach to first-generation students: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2018/07/18/first-generation-students-future-higher-ed-texas
 
* More students are turning to medical cannabis as a treatment for anxiety: https://www.leafly.com/news/health/why-more-college-students-are-calming-anxiety-with-medical-cannabis
 
* A staff member of Rancho Santiago Community College took a leave for surgery, but was fired when she returned because she missed employee evaluations that occurred during her leave; the courts in California awarded her $723,000 in damages and said leaves can’t be used to justify firing: https://www.businessmanagementdaily.com/51699/dont-use-disability-leave-as-excuse-to-terminate
 
* University of North Carolina football coach Larry Fedora was heavily criticized after questioning whether there is a link between football and CTE, even though the NFL has admitted the link exists: https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/19/health/larry-fedora-unc-cte-football/index.html
 
-------------------------------

For more information about DREAM or AHEAD contact Wendy Harbour ([email protected]).

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 (NCCSD), AHEAD, or the U.S. Department of Education agree with or support everything in these links we send out - we're just passing along the information so you can form your own opinions.  Thanks.
 
DREAM and the NCCSD are funded by a grant to AHEAD from the U.S. Department of Education (P116D150005).