DREAM Weekly E-Mail: January 3-9, 2016

DREAM Weekly Email, Disability and Higher Education in the News: January 3-9, 2016
From DREAM: Disability Rights, Education, Activism, and Mentoring
Sponsored by the Association on Higher Education And Disability (AHEAD)
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Weekly Email Update on Issues Related to Disability and Higher Education 
Week of January 3-9, 2016
** HAPPY NEW YEAR!  THIS WEEK’S NEWSLETTER WILL BE A LITTLE LONGER AS WE CATCH UP AFTER A BREAK – HOPE YOU ALL HAD A GOOD ONE! **
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 Disability and higher education in the news (in no particular order):
 
* The Revised Pay As You Earn program (REPAYE) is a new system designed to help up to five million college financial aid borrowers by reducing student loan payments or “forgiving” (cancelling) loan debt altogether – learn more at http://www.thestreet.com/story/13404595/1/the-jury-is-out-on-ed-s-new-student-loan-repayment-solution.html.  You can find other repayment and forgiveness options at www.studentaid.ed.gov or http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/12/18/455805235/how-the-heck-do-you-pay-off-your-college-loans?sc=17&f=1001&utm_source=iosnewsapp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=app, including options for people working at non-profits and people with permanent disabilities that affect their ability to work.
 
* Students at Boston College continue to fight the campus about basic compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, including posting videos showing newly constructed stairs without ramps – they have 15,498 signatures of the 16,000 they hoped to get: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/770/652/882/demand-compliance-with-the-americans-with-disabilities-act-at-boston-college/
 
* At the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in New York, oral non-signing students began complaining about access, and their activism snowballed into protests for better access and accommodations for all students, as well as changes to better support students of color (video is in sign language with captions but has no audio description): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH_kzYMc0dE
 
 
* U.S. college wheelchair basketball programs are improving international play and competition for the Paralympics: http://gazette.com/pro-wheelchair-basketball-opportunities-overseas-boost-americas-chance-at-rio-paralympics-gold/article/1567207
 
* A new study warns that Black college students’ grit and “John Henryism” (literally working themselves to death to prove their worth) may be creating a mental and physical health crisis on a national scale: http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/12/31/study-warns-of-looming-mental-health-crisis-for-black-college-students
 
* After activism by doctoral student Navi Dhanota, the Ontario Human Rights Commission worked with Canadian universities to develop new documentation guidelines that no longer require students to disclose a specific DSM diagnosis when requesting college disability accommodations: http://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/new-documentation-guidelines-for-accommodating-students-with-mental-health-disabilities-564376831.html
 
* The Ruderman Family Foundation gave a $750,000 grant to Hillel International to improve disability access and inclusion in its nation-wide programming for college students: http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Ruderman-Foundation-and-Hillel-partner-for-inclusion-of-disabled-students-437710
 
* A new petition in the UK is trying to prevent graduate student Kelechi Chioba from being deported - she uses a wheelchair and has “mental  health problems” and says her family in Nigeria will abuse or kill her if she returns: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/kelechi-chioba-disabled-student-labelled-a-curse-by-family-faces-deportation-from-uk-a6775911.html
 
* Bronx Community College professor Julie Miele Roadas tried out YouDescribe video description software, and here’s what she learned, with recommendations for using it in college courses: http://jitp.commons.gc.cuny.edu/youdescribe-testing-crowd-sourced-video-description-for-service-learning-at-the-city-university-of-new-york/
 
* Wondering if your campus has an adaptive sports program?  Here’s a handy list you can check: http://www.gogrit.us/news/2015/12/14/the-complete-guide-to-collegiate-adaptive-sports
 
* A professor at Yale calls for mandatory annual mental health screenings of all college students: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/12/21/to-prevent-suicide-in-college-make-mental-health-screening-mandatory/
 
* Blind Syracuse University professor Steve Kuusisto wrote two recent posts of possible interest – one about microaggressions in higher education against people with disabilities (http://stephenkuusisto.com/2015/12/26/disability-the-academy-and-gestural-violence/) and one about his struggles to access text since his undergraduate years (http://stephenkuusisto.com/2015/12/21/nobody-loves-you-when-youre-blind-and-need-books/)
 
* ABLE plans help family save money for their disabled children’s future (including college), and now parents can start an account right away in a different state instead of waiting for their home state to offer them: http://www.wsj.com/articles/529-plans-open-doors-to-disabled-from-any-state-1452162541  (for more information about ABLE accounts, see http://kosu.org/post/several-states-poised-offer-savings-accounts-disabled-americans#stream/0)
 
* The U.S. Department of Justice has reached a $145,000 settlement with Kent State University over violations of the Fair Housing Act when they refused to allow emotional support animals in campus housing: http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2016/01/kent_state_university_agrees_t.html
 
* Megan Zahneis is deaf, has a rare neurological disorder, and uses a hearing service dog, but she says being a college student isn’t that much different for her than nondisabled students: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathleen-kiley/minority-students-with-disabilities_b_8912862.html
 
* Autistic students at UCLA are being offered a 16-week course to help them improve their social skills and communication: http://www.kcbd.com/story/30843005/ucla-helping-college-students-with-autism
 
* Tristan Schilling has to have full-time support to be independent and live on campus at York College in Nebraska, but he needed to do some activism to get what he needed, including calling his state Senator: http://www.yorkdispatch.com/story/news/education/2015/12/20/new-challenges-lead-york-college-freshman-advocacy/76672996/
 
* Thanks to the movie “Concussion,” more people are learning about chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and brain injuries in NFL players, but younger college players can have it, too: http://www.techtimes.com/articles/121448/20160105/football-and-brain-damage-cte-in-college-football-player-sheds-light-on-brain-disorder.htm
 
* A judge has dismissed claims against University of Colorado-Boulder by philosophy professor Dan Kaufman, who has been “out” about his depression with psychotic features; the university and Kaufman have settled, without agreeing on the facts of the case and whether disability discrimination occurred when he was prohibited from campus after making “threatening” comments: http://www.dailycamera.com/cu-news/ci_29342670/judge-dismisses-profs-claims-against-cu-boulder-campus
 
* The U.S. Department of Justice clarifies that celiac disease may not be significant enough to be a “disability” in some cases, despite a 2012 settlement regarding celiac, food allergies, and access to university meal plans: http://setexasrecord.com/stories/510638759-college-employee-alleges-sf-austin-guilty-of-disability-discrimination
 
* Working for the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton has announced a plan to support autistic students and adults, including several measures that involve transition and postsecondary education: http://www.statnews.com/2016/01/05/clinton-autism-proposal/
 
* Allyson Bailey sustained multiple brain injuries, but she’s back at Virginia Tech with disability accommodations and playing basketball again, with support from a doctor who says college courses may even help her brain heal: http://www.roanoke.com/news/local/roanoke_county/whatever-happened-to-allyson-bailey-brain-injury-victim-challenges-herself/article_2f66c162-bc63-5322-953f-bee172521b61.html
 
* Jamie Schmid developed an eating disorder after convincing herself that she needed to be thin and perfect to go to college, and as she moves forward at Northwestern University, she is concerned about a culture of unhealthy behaviors in other students around her: http://www.bustle.com/articles/122226-i-developed-an-eating-disorder-because-i-wanted-to-get-into-an-elite-college
 
* An attorney takes issue with the Class v. Towson University decision that essentially says a team physician can decide which disabled college athletes can play and when there’s “too much risk:”  http://www.law360.com/articles/738601/how-4th-circ-failed-to-clarify-athlete-disability-rights
 
* Demand for American Sign Language interpreters is expected to rise almost 50% by 2022, and campuses are rushing to meet the demand with their interpreter training programs (ironically, video is not captioned or audio described): http://wqad.com/2015/10/21/demand-for-sign-language-interpreters-expected-to-rise-nearly-50/
 
* In India, a St. Stephan’s College graduate student accuses her chemistry professor of sexual assault, but the university says it must be a lie because the professor is an “innocent disabled man” and therefore incapable of assaulting anyone: http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-stephen-s-molestation-row-principal-thampu-backs-professor-says-complaint-a-diabolic-lie-2162689
 
* In Ireland, CAO point systems determine who will be admitted to university, and campuses are automatically reserving spots for disabled students, those “from a disadvantaged background,” and older students with lower points: http://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/dare-hear-mature-applications-some-alternative-routes-to-college-1.2473952
 
* The director of parking services at the Stephen F. Austin University in Texas has filed suit against the campus, alleging disability discrimination when he was not allowed back to work post-surgery, despite a doctor clearing him for light duty: http://setexasrecord.com/stories/510638759-college-employee-alleges-sf-austin-guilty-of-disability-discrimination
 
* The student newspaper at Camosun College in British Columbia has done a two-part series on the use of ADHD medications as a study tool for nondisabled students – but are academics an excuse masking the real reason students use these drugs? http://www.nexusnewspaper.com/2016/01/05/unprescription-medication-what-camosun-college-thinks-about-its-students-using-drugs-to-study/
 
* In 2016, Israel will open a college specifically for students with autism and intellectual disabilities (which are called “learning disabilities” there): http://www.thetower.org/2757-israel-to-open-first-college-for-students-with-autism-and-learning-disabilities/
 
* Sarah Hughes has systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis and grew up in hospitals – after traveling to Mexico to get an experimental stem cell treatment, she’s now able to attend college: http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/18/health/turning-points-stem-cell-therapy/index.html
 
* St. Angela’s College in Ireland will be offering a stand-alone disability course to give people with disabilities an opportunity to “test the waters” of higher education before applying – the course is a mix of in-person and online learning: http://www.stangelas.nuigalway.ie/news_details.php?id=470
 
And a few related items of possible interest to college students:
 
* Did you know Braille started out as a military code? And there’s a Braille “Olympics”?  Learn more fun facts about Braille in honor of National Braille Literacy Month: http://www.perkins.org/stories/blog/10-things-you-probably-dont-know-about-braille
 
* For the third year in a row, the graduation rate for U.S. students with disabilities is rising, although graduation rates vary wildly by state: https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2015/12/17/graduation-rate-trending-up/21698/
 
* In a Google talk, comedian, performer and disability activist Maysoon Zayid talks about making society more inclusive and has a personal Q and A about life as a Muslim Palestinian with disabilities living in the U.S. (video is captioned, but no audio description): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkPa6iio_6g
 
* Colorlines’ post of “15 Remarkable Women of Color Who Rocked 2015” includes disabled activists Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha and Dior Vargas, as well as “Big Gal Yogi” Valerie S, who fights fat phobia and racism: http://www.colorlines.com/articles/15-remarkable-women-color-who-rocked-2015
 
* Want to know how to say “Happy New Year” to Deaf people in Poland, India, or Japan?  Mayunadayo Sakura can help you out with her video (note that it has no audio description, and the last few minutes not captioned for non-signers): https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=746068238796635
 
* Disability-focused website the Mighty ran a post called “Meltdown Bingo” by an autistic mother of an autistic child, and disability activists lashed out, causing the Mighty to re-evaluate how it uses parent narratives and inspiration porn: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/a-disability-focused-website-ran-a-funny-post-about-autism-outrage-ensued/2016/01/05/366fbd14-b311-11e5-9388-466021d971de_story.html
 
* While HIV diagnoses are falling nationwide, infection rates are rising rapidly for teen and college-aged Black and Latino gay and bisexual men, alarming health professionals: http://www.buzzfeed.com/azeenghorayshi/hiv-black-gay-men-injustice
 
* The U.S. and Indonesia are collaborating through an exchange program to raise awareness about deafness and sign language in both countries – Deaf representatives from the U.S. include Leah Katz-Hernandez (West Wing receptionist), Michael Stein (lawyer), and Dr. Shazia Siddiqi (physician): http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/01/05/us-indonesia-raising-awareness-equal-opportunity-deaf.html
 
* The U.S. Department of Transportation has fined United Airlines $2.75 million for delays and disability complaints between 2013 and 2015: http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/flights/todayinthesky/2016/01/08/dot-united-fine/78498530/
 
* BuzzFeed’s audience put together a list of 47 hacks to help people with ADHD stay organized, but these excellent suggestions might help nondisabled people or those with disabilities affecting executive functioning: http://www.buzzfeed.com/gracespelman/jammin-on-my-planner#.uxwnKxgeX
 
* A woman’s experience with caregiving led her to write about “holding space” – being alongside a person on their journey and being a non-judgmental ally: http://heatherplett.com/2015/03/hold-space/
 
* Here’s a list of 10 exciting disability sporting events to put on your calendar in 2016, including the summer Paralympic games and some you may not know about, like the World Blind Golf Championships: http://www.parasport-news.com/10-disability-sporting-events-to-look-forward-to-in-2016/9643/
 
* National news covered the shooting of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, but learn about his life and how disabilities and poverty affected his life from the moment he was born premature: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/12/19/why-you-should-know-what-happened-in-freddie-grays-life-long-before-his-death/
 
* Rev. Rick Curry, age 72, passed away December 19 after a lifetime of working with wounded war veterans and disabled people in theater workshops, calling his own disability a “blessing” even though he had to get special permission from the Vatican to become a priest (because celebration of Mass supposedly requires two hands): https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2015/12/22/rev-rick-curry-minister-via-stagecraft/0pfwApjr4wyFPRKIIs0v4L/story.html
 
* Think more students of color with disabilities should go to college?  We have to keep them out of prison first, and here are some suggestions from activist Leroy Morre: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kathleen-kiley/minority-students-with-disabilities_b_8912862.html
 
* The newly-elected Canadian government has promised a national disability act, so why are some disability activists worried about it?  http://www.cbc.ca/radio/the180/letting-canadian-women-sell-their-eggs-passenger-trains-and-ending-elections-for-school-trustees-1.3368081/why-some-disability-advocates-are-worried-about-a-national-disability-act-1.3368380
 
* As part of its work to show greater inclusion of disability, American Girl is releasing a new diabetes care kit accessory for dolls, including a blood sugar monitor, insulin pump, and lancet: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-american-girl-diabetes-20151228-story.html
 
* Autistic activist Lydia Brown slams Obama’s executive orders for gun control by saying the government’s first steps should not involve oppression of people of color and those with mental and emotional disabilities: http://www.autistichoya.com/2016/01/you-want-real-change-to-stop-gun.html
 
* “Claiming Crip” blog discusses Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and identifying as one of the “misfits” like him: http://claimingcrip.blogspot.com/2015/12/why-im-proud-to-be-misfit.html
 
* For the holidays, ExceptionalNurse.com created a slideshow of nurses with disabilities – their diversity, variety of disabilities, and different career paths may impress you (accessibility for screen readers not clear, but pictures have captions): http://play.smilebox.com/SpreadMoreHappy/4e4445334e7a6b784d7a413d0d0a
 
* Mexican author Mario Bellatin, who is famous for incredible artistic prosthetics on his right arm, waged a war to un-publish his classic work “Salón de Belleza,” but was it all just elaborate performance art? http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/mexicos-literary-prankster-goes-to-war-with-his-publisher (You can learn more about his writing, his prosthetics, and how disability figures into his writing at https://lareviewofbooks.org/essay/sing-body-prosthetic-mario-bellatins-mishimas-illustrated-biography)
 
* As an African American computer scientist, Juan Gilbert set out to help all marginalized voters, and ended up developing the first accessible voting machine for disabled voters: http://news.ufl.edu/articles/2016/01/the-democracy-machine-how-one-engineer-is-making-voting-possible-for-all.php
 
* Learn about California’s forced sterilization of over 20,000 “feebleminded” and “deviant” citizens up until the 1960s: http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2016/01/06/when-california-sterilized-20000-of-its-citizens/chronicles/who-we-were/
 
* NPR take a look at what it’s like to grow up Latino and disabled (no transcript available): http://www.npr.org/2015/12/18/460300464/growing-up-latino-and-disabled
 
* The U.S. Department of Transportation is looking at ways to make flying more accessible, and the scope of changes affect everything from televisions to accessible bathrooms: https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2016/01/04/fliers-airline-changes/21715/
 
* Disability activist Haben Girma is the first Deaf-Blind graduate from Harvard Law School and now she’s pushing more boundaries by learning to surf: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/01/04/video-deaf-blind-harvard-trained-lawyer-who-made-waves-now-rides-them-too/
 
* Ever wonder if you’re hard-of-hearing?  Now there’s a hearing test you can take on the phone: http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/12/21/459397027/is-everybody-mumbling-try-a-hearing-test-you-take-on-the-phone?sc=ipad&f=1128
 
 
 
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 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.