DREAM Weekly E-Mail: February 14-20, 2021

DREAM Weekly Email, Disability and Higher Education in the News: February 14-20, 2021
 
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)
 
This week’s newsletter and archived newsletters are available at www.DREAMCollegeDisability.org
 
 
Top Five News Items This Week (see attached Word document for full newsletter with links):

• Online learning continues, but accessibility for blind students remains an ongoing problem.
• Learn about Black ASL, its origins, and the students and scholars working to preserve it (the article accompanying the video is at https://abcnews.go.com/US/preserving-black-american-sign-language-deaf-community/story?id=75976659).
• Roots of dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) started when its creator, Marsha Linehan, was dealing with borderline personality disorder in college; she wants to share four DBT skills that can help any college student. 
• The Community College of Rhode Island is changing its two-year free tuition program to give disabled students more time to graduate if they need it.
• Caroll College has a new “Collar Scholars Club” that raises puppies to become service dogs.

 
 
General News:

• Four years ago, students started developing ideas for a disability cultural center at Duke University, and now it’s set to open this semester.
• The Center for American Progress has compiled resources and a discussion guide about reproductive justice, sexual violence, and disability, including resources about disabled college students.
• Yale student Mafalda Von Alvensleben says policies, definitions of “academic rigor,” and issues with faculty all lead to greater physical, mental, and emotional work for disabled students.
• Macquarie University in Australia has tips for students making decisions about disclosures in job applications and interviews.
• An op-ed by student Brandon Moore in the Daily Bruin says students need more information and resources about HIV and AIDS, noting that COVID-19 isn’t the only epidemic in the US right now.
• Self-identified hearing-impaired sophomore Nova Moore proposed that Central Michigan University allow third-party closed captioning to universally design all lectures, but the Student Government dismissed it, saying it was “more of a luxury service than a necessity.”
• Communication First made a short film “by and with nonspeaking autistic people” in response to Sia’s movie MUSIC; it includes a future college student and a current college student (you can learn about the controversy at https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2021/02/17/thousands-sign-petition-sias-music-outcry-autism-community/29201/).
• Brigham Young University is having several online events for Eating Disorder Awareness Week, with two online lectures about eating disorders and recovery and tips on intuitive eating.

 
 
 
BIPOC and Diversity News:

• New research reported that Indigenous and LGBTQ students have reported the highest rates of pandemic-related mental health concerns; Black, Hispanic or Latino, and Indigenous students reported the highest rates of grief and loss.
• Four Black female psychologists (two work in higher education) created Black Mental Wellness, a company fighting stigma about mental health in the Black community, including a blog for college students.
• Lectures from the Disability and Intersectionality speaker series at Washington State University are now online.
• A new metastudy of articles about teaching evaluations shows student bias does exist for instructor characteristics including gender, race, accents, sexual orientation and disability.
• Canada is investing $63.5 million in 68 projects that will help certify skilled tradespeople while the economy recovers from COVID; targeted groups include women, Indigenous people, Black citizens, and disabled people.
• He and his family dealt with mental illness, prompting alumnus Kevin Lynch to set up Lynn University scholarships for minority students pursuing degrees in mental health counseling.
  
  

 
COVID-19 News:

• Biobuttons, Internet-connected thermometers, apps for depression, and proctoring software – these new ways of monitoring students health and academics may continue after the pandemic.
• Johns Hopkins has created an online dashboard to show how different states are prioritizing disabled people, so they know when they qualify for vaccines.
• With Latinx families disproporationately affected by COVID-related illnesses and job losses, the number of Latinx college students in the US has decreased by 20%.
• Nicole Adler was a college student until the pandemic, when her Down syndrome put her at high risk; like many others with disabilities around the US, she’s been put lower on the priority lists for vaccinations.
• Duke University students and staff describe how the pandemic and online learning have changed the way they think about universal design and accommodations.
• College students are struggling with mental illness during the pandemic:
• Some staff and faculty are questioning whether campuses should do more to prevent or mitigate mental illness, suggesting it may even be a moral duty.
• Students with eating disorders face greater challenges during the pandemic, and some are turning to apps and their personal networks for support; it isn’t just a “white women disorder” and treatment is critical.
• One Chicago mother is sharing her story of trying to find psychiatric and emergency care for her college-student daughter.
• Mental health providers are struggling to meet the demand for services during the pandemic, and the difficulties are affecting college students.
• Some higher education ASL interpreters are using clear masks to aid communication for Deaf faculty members, like Bill Cooper at the University of Central Florida.

 
 
 
 
 
Politics and Law:

• US Representative Dan Kildee (D-MI) introduced legislation requiring private lenders to discharge student loans if a student has a total and permanent disability; it would also prohibit private lenders from accelerating repayment if a co-signer becomes disabled.
• A former professor at Daytona State College is suing for wrongful termination, saying his alcoholism is protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
• A court has ruled that a nursing student who used medical marijuana was not entitled to accommodations so she could use it.
• Two former football players have sued the NCAA and the University of Pittsburgh, alleging the university did nothing to protect football players, while knowing about the dangers of concussions.

 
 
International News:

• Monash University and Tennis Australia are launching “Action Audio” through the AKQA company, providing audio descriptions and sounds to help blind and visually impaired people enjoy the Australia Open matches.
• Learn about doctoral student Amy Camilleri Zahra and the disability studies program at the University of Malta.
• Nigerian NGOs are working with governmental agencies to have ASL and sign language interpreting courses in universities, while also hoping to standardize Nigerian sign language for effective deaf education across the country.
• British student Azeem Amir plays blind soccer for the England national team, and he used his experience with interactive sports to set up a company that creates disability awareness and team-building programs.
• The student government at Cambridge University voted in favor of joining the national AccessAble program to help  its colleges’ accessibility for students and faculty.
• New Zealand disabled student Evie Leeds is a straight-A student who can’t find a job, exemplifying how the pandemic has created more barriers to employment.
• The University of Leeds in the UK created new Diamond Jubilee Professorships, and the first appointment is Roger Slee, as chair of Disability and Inclusion.

 
 
Student Stories:

• Nakyra Milner was at the University of Georgia when she was suddenly diagnosed with multiple sclerosis; now she is a disability advocate studying fashion to create lines of plus-size clothing.
• Lizzy Grace Dowd says her Christian faith has helped her understand and deal with difficulties of dating as a disabled woman.
• Right now Virginians might be listening to blind student Chandler Foster on the air at WXBQ radio; he’s interning there as part of his studies at Virginia Highlands Community College.

 
 
Faculty and Staff Stories:

• Vanderbilt University lecturer Allison Leich Hilbun has published Logic Strays: My Quest to Wrangle Torment, a book about her experiences with mental illness, including her experiences going through a doctoral program.
• Disabled professor Therí A. Pickens became an online voice student, and the experience helped her become a better instructor.

 
 
 
DREAM and the NCCSD are funded through a grant to AHEAD from the US Dept. of Education (P116D150005).  For more information about DREAM, send an email to DREAM@ahead.org.  This newsletter is available in other formats upon request.  If you have difficulty accessing articles, please let us know and we may be able to help. 
 
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By the way, please don't presume DREAM, AHEAD, the NCCSD, or the U.S. Department of Education agree with everything we send out - we're just passing along the information so you can form your own opinions.  Thanks.
 
DREAM and the NCCSD acknowledge, with respect, the Waccamaw Siouan Tribe -- the Indigenous people on whose ancestral lands DREAM and the NCCSD are based.  We hope our work honors them.
 
 
 
 
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