DREAM Weekly Email: November 10-23, 2019

​DREAM Weekly Email, Disability and Higher Education in the News: November 10-23, 2019
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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HAPPY THANKSGIVING!  There will be no DREAM newsletter the day after Thanksgiving, but we’ll be back the first week of December. 
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Disability and higher education in the news (in no particular order):
 
* The University of Wisconsin-Madison did a special issue on disability (all articles at https://www.dailycardinal.com/projects/disability/disability-news - just click on the header at the top to look at different sections of the issue (e.g., “News”, “Arts”).  Topics of the articles include:

• Concerns about mental health services and health services on campus
• Why Wisconsin should be making higher education more inclusive for students with intellectual disabilities
• The power of disability labels and language in creating identity
• How “Deaf” is different than “deaf” and the need for an ASL program
• Disability and sexuality
• Whether the “Hoofers Ambassadors” program on campus includes disability
• Why professors should be making curricula more inclusive, so students don’t have to do that work for them
• Representation of disability in art, media, and literature
• Accessibility of different aspects of campus
• How to be an ally, and stories of students with disabilities

 
* More than one third of doctoral students have needed help for anxiety or depression caused by their doctoral studies, according to a global survey published in Nature: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/11/14/phd-student-poll-finds-mental-health-bullying-and-career-uncertainty-are-top?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=b3c9380f05-DiversityMatters_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-b3c9380f05-198891893&mc_cid=b3c9380f05&mc_eid=a51c972f65
 
* The Trump administration has suspended processing hundreds of millions of dollars in student loan forgiveness applications from veterans with disabilities, despite continuing to publicly state that the loan forgiveness program is underway: https://www.politico.com/news/2019/11/21/trump-disabled-veterans-student-loans-072750
 
* Security dragged a blind black student out of Oxford University’s Student Union meeting, prompting outrage:

• What happened: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-oxfordshire-50458051
• The aftermath and resignations that followed: https://www.blavity.com/oxford-union-president-resigns-after-security-reportedly-dragged-a-black-disabled-student-by-his-ankles-from-a-debate?category1=news
• How the incident may reveal more about racism at Oxford:  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/nov/19/manhandling-blind-man-oxford-union-racism

 
* Campuses are experimenting with self-driving delivery robots for food and packages, but students with disabilities are starting to share problems and dangers of the system: https://www.citylab.com/perspective/2019/11/autonomous-technology-ai-robot-delivery-disability-rights/602209/ and https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/autonomous-food-delivery-robots-that-are-just-knee-high-and-travel-on-the-sidewalk-on-college-campuses-are-branded-a-menace-for-disabled-people/ar-BBX3MXn
 
* NPR is doing a four-part series called “Stressed and Depressed on Campus”; part three looks at ways low-income first-generation college students can be isolated, which can also affect their mental health (the story has links to other parts of the series, with audio and transcripts for each): https://www.wgbh.org/news/education/2019/11/20/struggling-with-perceived-isolation-many-first-gen-college-students-face-mental-health-problems
 
* The Alpha Omicron Pi chapter at Michigan State University has settled a federal lawsuit and will change its no-pet policy, after being sued for not allowing an emotional support animal: https://www.courant.com/sns-tns-bc-cmp-sorority-therapyrabbit-20191121-story.html
 
* The University of Alabama’s men’s wheelchair basketball team is hoping to take home its third national championship title in three years, with an experienced team that excels on and off the court: https://www.si.com/college/alabama/bamacentral/humor-and-humility-alabama-mens-wheelchair-basketball-leans-on-charisma-and-talent-from-experienced-duo-in-pursuit-of-another-national-championship/
 
* Bowdoin University’s DisAbled Students Association is posting personal student, staff, and faculty disability stories across campus, as part of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities: https://bowdoinorient.com/2019/11/22/collecting-stories-increasing-disability-awareness/
 
* Faculty and students with disabilities at Southwestern College have nicknamed the dangerous detours and routes they must use to get around campus, and they’re showing the campus that ADA compliance is not enough: http://www.theswcsun.com/mobility-is-an-uphill-battle/
 
* Oxford University has mandated “the encouragement of silent clapping,” but could this be a problem for people with disabilities? https://www.spiked-online.com/2019/11/18/how-woke-culture-hurts-disabled-people/
 
* Ten U.S. campuses now have Haven programs for addiction that function as sober houses and treatment centers, with several expanding to address mental health issues, as well: https://www.chronicle.com/article/A-Sober-House-for-Students/247549?utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&cid=at&source=ams&sourceId=4079424
 
* After nine student deaths this semester, the University of Southern California is opening a new psychiatric clinic that has been “in the works for a few years”: https://time.com/5730180/usc-student-deaths/
 
* A new report from the National Deaf Center reports that veterans who are deaf are not doing as well in college as non-deaf veterans: https://www.nationaldeafcenter.org/deaf-veterans-face-barriers-at-college
 
* What’s it like to have a nonverbal learning disability after high school?  Eileen Herzog shares her story and how things changed around for her in college: https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/struggles-coping-nonverbal-learning-disability-211151707.html
 
* SUNY-Geneseo requires all freshmen and sophomores to participate in the meal plan, but for students with eating disorders this can create a “toxic” struggle: https://www.thelamron.com/posts/2019/11/22/geneseos-required-meal-plans-hinder-some-students-from-living-comfortably-on-campus
 
* The University of Florida’s wheelchair basketball club is struggling to recruit students with disabilities: https://www.alligator.org/news/uf-s-wheelchair-basketball-club-struggles-to-enroll-students-with/article_da420c66-09a3-11ea-89ec-b32f4f9edbbd.html
 
* Lyra Evans shares a day in her life as a University of Wisconsin-Madison students with diabetes, and her efforts to be “normal,” deal with misconceptions, and use accommodations: https://www.dailycardinal.com/article/2019/11/trying-to-survive-a-day-in-the-life-of-college-student-with-type-1-diabetes
 
* An anonymous donation allowed the University of Kentucky to purchase two wheelchair-accessible golf carts to be added to campus paratransit services: https://uknow.uky.edu/campus-news/wildcarts-increase-student-mobility-around-campus
 
* The College Autism Network is moving to NASPA, a professional organization for student affairs administrators: https://naspa.org/blog/student-affairs-role-in-serving-autistic-students-the-college-autism-network-partners-with-naspa
 
* Meet
* University of North Carolina student Brooks Fitts processes being confronted at an anti-abortion rally for not doing anything while a black student was arrested, and then bringing up her cerebral palsy as an type of marginalization (video is not captioned or audio described): https://www.thecollegefix.com/i-was-cussed-out-for-not-stopping-police-who-arrested-a-black-woman-does-it-matter-that-im-disabled/
 
* Ohlone College nursing student Sophia Humphrey is deaf and uses a wheelchair, and she’s being hailed as a hero for trying to save the life of a man stabbed on a BART train in San Francisco (news clip is captioned but not audio described): https://abc7news.com/harrowing-account-of-nursing-student-who-witnessed-bart-stabbing/5713829/
 
* West Chester University is working hard to raise money so it can save the campus RAM Initiative for students with intellectual disabilities: https://6abc.com/education/west-chester-trying-to-save-program-for-students-with-intellectual-disabilities/5709520/
 
* Stuart Moseley overdosed while taking classes at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, after a long struggle with mental illness and addiction; now his mother is working with the college to be sure it never happens again: https://www.chronicle.com/article/We-re-Going-to-Do-This-/244734?utm_source=at&utm_medium=en&cid=at&source=ams&sourceId=4079424
 
* The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece refused to admit Argyris Koumtzis because he was blind, but after public backlash he was enrolled and he just finished his degree in physics, with plans to attend graduate school in Germany: https://greece.greekreporter.com/2019/11/17/blind-greek-student-initially-rejected-by-university-graduates-with-distinction/
 
* University of California-Berkeley student Salwa Meghjee resisted disability accommodations for her depression, but now she says they’re “the sole reason I am able to remain in school”: https://www.dailycal.org/2019/11/21/a-lesson-in-accommodations/
 
* Arkansas State University has a new H.O.W.L. Transition Program for students with intellectual disabilities and autism who will live on campus while completing the two year program: https://www.kait8.com/2019/11/22/new-a-state-program-helps-students-with-intellectual-disabilities-transition-into-college/
 
* The National Institute of the Deaf at RIT created a new partnership with Beijing University in China that includes student and faculty exchanges, and developing a center on deaf education (including a focus on preparation of deaf students for postsecondary study): https://www.rit.edu/news/rits-national-technical-institute-deaf-signs-mou-beijing-union-university
 
* The US Department of Justice reached an agreement with Lanier Technical College, addressing issues raised by a long-term employee with multiple sclerosis who sued after she took three days of sick leave and then was not allowed to teach or receive pay: https://www.northfulton.com/forsyth/lanier-tech-settles-alleged-discrimination-lawsuit/article_a7ec4770-0cac-11ea-8be4-af4969bc5691.html
 
* Professor Meg Day is West Chester University’s poet in residence, and you can read more about their work as a Deaf, genderqueer, and multilingual poet: https://wcuquad.com/6015629/entertainment/an-experience-with-meg-day-a-deaf-genderqueer-and-bilingual-poet/
 
* A reporter at Montclair State University tried to have an event about accessibility, but then the elevator broke, making the event inaccessible: https://themontclarion.org/opinion/accessibility-shouldnt-be-an-inconvenience/
 
* A Christian printing company is refusing to print the University of South Alabama’s student magazine because the issue is about diversity and inclusion, featuring writing about LGBT issues, as well as race, disability, and religion: https://www.christianpost.com/news/christian-printing-company-declines-to-print-magazine-promoting-lgbt-inclusion.html
 
* The University of the Incarnate Word has given free four-year scholarships to high school triplets; one of the Peters triplets is a wheelchair athlete: https://foxsanantonio.com/news/local/triplets-receive-surprise-college-scholarship-to-uiw
 
* The St. Olaf College student government will be working on inaccessible buildings, but it’s part of a problem at private colleges across Minnesota:  https://www.manitoumessenger.com/2019/many-campus-buildings-remain-inaccessible-for-disabled-and-injured-students/
 
A Few Other Items of Possible Interest:
 
* Comedian Gary Gulman was hospitalized for depression, and then he realized his depression needed to be shared in his act, not hidden away in shame: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/14/opinion/gary-gulman-comedy-depression.html
 
* A new production of “A Christmas Carol” is playing on Broadway, and Tiny Tim is being portrayed by a disabled actor: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/13/theater/tiny-tim-a-christmas-carol-disabled-actors.html
 
* In the TV show Atypical, the main character is autistic and he draws to express himself, but behind the scenes, autistic artist Michael Richey White is doing the art that is so critical for the show: https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2019-11-20/netflix-atypical-autism-art
 
* The Crown’s third season included Prince Philip’s mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, a multilingual deaf woman who rescued a Jewish family from Nazis, a royal, and a patient of Sigmund Freud: https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/18/entertainment/prince-philips-mother-princess-alice-interesting-facts-intl-scli/index.html
 
* Ho! Ho! Ho! 747 sensory-friendly Santa events are being planned at 582 shopping centers across the U.S. and Canada: https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2019/11/21/santa-offering-sensory-friendly-events-nationwide/27488/


* Despite its popularity, the movie Joker is ultimately one more film connecting mental illness with violence, says Dr. Susan Hatters Friedman: https://www.mdedge.com/psychiatry/article/210740/mixed-topics/joker-filled-mental-illness-misconceptions
 
* Meet two Paralympians:

• Veteran Melissa Stockwell has won three consecutive triatholon world titles and been a Paralympian, and now she’s helping other athletes with disabilities: https://www.theepochtimes.com/an-army-veteran-becomes-a-paralympian-and-empowers-others_3141292.html
• Anne Wafula was the first Paralympic wheelchair racer from sub-Sahara Africa: https://www.nation.co.ke/sports/othersports/Kenya-born-Brit-fights-for-disabled-athletes-fair-treatment/1951306-5351526-hyjtqa/index.html

 
* HUD is pushing the FTC to look into websites selling fake or unreliable documentation for assistance animals: https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2019/11/18/service-animal-websites-face-scrutiny/27463/
 
* The new Tennessee Servicemember Opportunity Portal (TN-SOP) will let veterans find colleges and universities that offer academic credit for military experience: https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2019/11/19/tennessee-tool-veterans?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=1b20e749b4-DNU_2019_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-1b20e749b4-225808461&mc_cid=1b20e749b4&mc_eid=d5645fe552
 
* Telepsychiatry is being used across the country, especially in rural areas: https://www.aamc.org/news-insights/doctor-will-skype-you-now-online-counseling-goes-high-tech
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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).