DREAM Weekly on Disability and Higher Education in the News: May 19-25, 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) ------------------------------- Just a reminder: the DREAM Weekly Email just has highlights from the news – to access the full version:
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Check with your campus library or reach out to us ([email protected]). ------------------------------ Disability and higher education in the news (in no particular order): * A Wall Street Journal investigation found that wealthier students not only have known advantages for the ACT and SAT, but they are more likely to be getting disability accommodations on the tests, as well: https://www.axios.com/wealthy-students-standardized-tests-sat-act-18877fb4-92c7-4c49-9472-c19d4a216db9.html * After a disability discrimination lawsuit, Atlantic Cape Community College made big changes, including training and supports for faculty and an audit of disability services, and now they’re seeing a surge in enrollment of students with disabilities as they work toward making accessibility “part of the climate” on campus: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/05/22/accessibility-turnaround-atlantic-cape-community-college?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=0c9982b1e3-DNU_2019_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-0c9982b1e3-235152265&mc_cid=0c9982b1e3&mc_eid=c63870343a * Like many campuses, the University of Maryland has been grappling with mold remediation in dorms, but as students got sicker and the health center was overwhelmed, the university waited over two weeks to announce an outbreak of adenovirus, resulting in the death of a student with Crohn’s disease who had a compromised immune system: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/national/wp/2019/05/16/feature/university-of-maryland-mold-adenovirus/?utm_term=.021d1fdec0ab * The commencement speaker at Claremont McKenna College will be Bruno Youn, an autistic student, part of a national “autism tsunami” of autistic teens who will be entering adulthood and higher education during this decade: https://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-student-commencement-claremont-mckenna-autism-graduation-diploma-college-20190517-story.html * In comparison to the college admissions scandal, most students with learning disabilities spend enormous amounts of time, energy, and money proving they have a disability and getting accommodations; the Los Angeles Times profiled Emma Taylor on her journey to college and a teaching career: https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-col1-college-admissions-scandal-emma-20190521-story.html * Students with disabilities can have difficulty affording new clothes, but at El Camino College, they can take advantage of a free “Warrior Clothing Closet,” which has clothes for any student who needs it (news clip is not captioned or audio described): https://spectrumnews1.com/ca/la-west/human-interest/2019/05/17/community-college-admin-creates-clothing-pop-up-to-help-struggling-students# * An internal investigation found that an Ohio State University doctor sexually abused at least 177 male students during medical treatments and faced no consequences, even though many staff and students knew about the problem: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/05/20/former-ohio-state-doctor-abused-nearly-200-young-men-no-consequences-decades?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=c14ae1c041-DNU_2019_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-c14ae1c041-225808461&mc_cid=c14ae1c041&mc_eid=d5645fe552 * A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators introduced the Respond, Innovate, Succeed, and Empower (RISE) Act to help with higher education disability documentation, transparency of higher education and disability policies, and technical assistance on disability and higher education issues: https://bossierpress.com/cassidy-colleagues-introduce-bill-to-remove-barriers-for-students-with-disabilities/ * A report on accessible postsecondary education in Canada has been published, with findings from a longitudinal qualitative study about the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, and its limited impact on teaching and learning: https://cjds.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/cjds/article/view/272 * The new Republican tax reforms have had an unexpected effect that could affect students with disabilities, with non-tuition scholarships, tribal funding, and college athletic scholarships for low-income students being taxed at a much higher tax rate: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/17/us/politics/college-scholarships-tax-increases.html * There’s been an increase in emotional support animals on campuses, but some administrators are worried that students may not have a disability, and just want pets with them: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/05/21/colleges-see-rise-popularity-emotional-support-animals * The Faculty Coalition for Disability Rights at UC Berkeley clarified campus policies on access for faculty with disabilities, including policies requiring departments to spend up to $1000 on accommodations before the university will pay, and forced “medical separations” if reasonable accommodations cannot be determined: https://ucbdisabilityrights.org/2019/05/20/uc-berkeley-academic-policy-on-disabled-faculty/?fbclid=IwAR06hoYT74kppuuLRDU5k_YCnuJmf0hxDswjuNU7-EIdahTWb2BRZgzBOI0 * Saddleback College student Marcus Knight has autism and cerebral palsy, and was accused of two Title IX violations for a fist bump and a series of selfies he says were innocent; now he’s suing, saying he didn’t have adequate due process during the hearings (one video is captioned and one is not, and neither has audio description): https://pjmedia.com/trending/this-autistic-student-got-two-title-ix-violations-for-a-fist-bump-and-a-selfie-now-hes-suing/ * Three faculty members from Syracuse University and the University of Colorado Boulder talk about the effects of the tenure clock on faculty with disabilities and “crip time”: https://digitalfeministcollective.net/index.php/category/just-collaborations/ * Makenzie Whitaker graduated from Florida Gulf Coast University; she used her experience getting a kidney transplant to create a series of “The Kidney Kronicles” to explain kidney disease to children: https://www.orangeobserver.com/article/transplant-patient-makenzie-whitaker-graduates-college * Stanford University students with disabilities hosted the university’s first-ever disability studies conference called “Mediations: Disability, Technology, and the Arts:” https://www.stanforddaily.com/2019/05/23/student-run-inaugural-disability-studies-conference-showcases-the-need-for-disability-studies-on-campus/ * After briefly performing on par with nondisabled students in 2011, students with disabilities at Oxford now have a gap in the number of students receiving first or second honors (undergraduate degrees with distinction); some credit this to a lack of promised accommodations: https://cherwell.org/2019/05/18/a-quarter-century-of-inequality-in-oxfords-exams/ * Drury’s Law Enforcement Academy dropped student Joe Presley when he couldn’t arrest people with one arm, but this year he’s graduating after the program found other officers with disabilities and figured out accommodations for him (news clip is captioned but not audio described): https://www.ky3.com/content/news/Drury-law-enforcment-student-overcomes-disability-to-graduate--510094291.html * Universities are struggling to find a proactive compassionate way to deal with alcohol and drug addiction among faculty and administrators – especially when they publicly embarrass their colleagues or the university: https://www.chronicle.com/article/When-Substance-Abuse-Hits-the/240713 * The Israeli government has shared “My Eye” devices for the blind with the government of Cameroon, for distribution to institutions around the country, including universities: https://www.journalducameroun.com/en/cameroondevice-to-assist-visually-impaired-persons-unveiled-by-israel/ * The American Diabetes Association is rebranding itself to include a look at the “ugly side of diabetes” like stigma and stressors, including a video of a college student talking about insulin rationing due to high costs: https://asweetlife.org/ada-refreshes-its-brand-to-address-the-struggles-of-living-with-diabetes/ * Former tenured professor and chemical engineering department chair Ann Marie Flynn took a medical leave from Manhattan College to care with her husband’s cancer and her own depression about his illness, but when she came back, she says she was demoted and terminated due to gender and disability discrimination: https://riverdalepress.com/stories/former-prof-sues-college-claiming-she-was-pushed-out,68942 * UC Berkeley’s chancellor released a public statement reporting on the university’s progress in meeting recommendations of its Disability Strategy Team regarding students, faculty, and staff with disabilities: https://news.berkeley.edu/2019/05/17/chancellor-christ-on-improving-equity-of-experience-for-community-members-with-disabilities/ * Meet Grady Landrum, who built the entire Wichita State University’s Disability Services program from the ground up, and will be retiring after 27 years in that role: https://www.newswise.com/articles/an-anniversary-grady-landrum-chooses-not-to-celebrate * Northern Marianas College in the US Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands hosted its first disabilities conference for incoming students to learn about disability services and think about careers: https://www.saipantribune.com/index.php/nmc-holds-first-ever-disability-conference/ * The college admissions scandal has already inspired a TV show and a movie, which are both under development (the trailer in the article includes subtitles but no English dubbing): https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2019/05/20/admissions-cheating-inspired-film?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=c14ae1c041-DNU_2019_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-c14ae1c041-225808461&mc_cid=c14ae1c041&mc_eid=d5645fe552 * Nigeria is experiencing an increase in suicides among teenagers, including those studying at universities; this is part of a global phenomenon being addressed by the United Nations: https://allafrica.com/stories/201905210071.html * For the first time in India, a university is allowing a student to take exams with a computer as an accommodation for dysgraphia: https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/student-with-learning-disability-to-write-mumbai-university-exam-on-computer/story-i0QTHXrMNHBjhCLk8ReBkM.html * Brian Schnelle persevered and took 12 years to finish his degree from Trevecca Nazarene University in Tennessee, despite only minimal accommodations for his autism and learning and developmental disabilities, and with his father taking notes for him in classes: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/man-living-with-autism-graduates-college-after-12-years-195926583.html * Former Texas A&M professor Tarun Bhardwaj was involuntarily committed to the Austin State Hospital for one year, after stalking and harassing a student; Bhardwaj says he has done nothing wrong and believes he is a victim of racial discrimination: https://www.kbtx.com/content/news/Former-AM-professor-charged-with-stalking-found-mentally-incompetent-510320961.html * Landmark College is hosting the Conference of the New England Faculty Development Consortium, and the topic is “Education in the Age of Anxiety”: https://vtdigger.org/2019/05/21/education-age-anxiety-landmark-college-hosts-new-england-faculty-development-consortium-june-7/ * Purdue University is celebrating its 10th year of the Able Flight program that teaches people with disabilities to fly planes: https://www.purdue.edu/newsroom/releases/2019/Q2/model,-military-veterans-among-the-2019s-able-flight-students.html * Two former students of Wor-Wic Community College’s police academy are suing for negligence and discrimination after they allegedly acquired brain injuries during their training, effectively ending their careers: https://www.delmarvanow.com/story/news/local/maryland/2019/05/20/wor-wic-lawsuit-police-academy-negligence-discrimination-denied/1141939001/ * InclusiveU students from Syracuse University participated in an Advocacy Day at the capitol, meeting with Senators and Representatives about inclusion for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities: https://news.syr.edu/blog/2019/05/16/inclusiveu-students-continue-advocacy-work-for-inclusive-higher-education/ * Researchers say their colleagues are not including people with intellectual disabilities in studies about autism: https://www.spectrumnews.org/opinion/viewpoint/autistic-people-intellectual-disability-often-excluded-studies/ * Deafblind attorney Haben Girma gave the commencement address at California State University-Los Angeles, urging graduates to address barriers of all kinds and fight for justice: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/disability-rights-champion-urges-cal-140200622.html * How can educators and families help students with dyslexia prepare for the ACT and SAT? Here are a few tips: https://www.smartbrief.com/original/2019/04/helping-students-dyslexia-prepare-act?utm_source=brief&utm_medium=FeaturedContent&utm_campaign=EducationOriginals A Few Other Items of Possible Interest: * Well, Game of Thrones’ wrapped up its final season, and there were a couple of articles about disability in the show:
* Learn about how the Black Psychiatrists of America helped start Sesame Street, hoping to empower Black children, counteract racism, and create a “radical mental health agenda” for children of color: https://www.thedailybeast.com/chester-pierce-the-forgotten-tale-of-how-a-black-psychiatrist-helped-make-sesame-street * Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced a delay in putting Harriet Tubman’s image on $20 bills, prompting an artist to create a stamp so people can alter bills immediately, whether or not the Treasury Department is ready to do so (news clip is not captioned or audio described): https://rootedinrights.org/tyrion-lannister-dwarf-identity-and-the-struggle-for-agency/ (if you want more information about Harriet Tubman’s disabilities, there’s an article at http://nosmag.org/harriet-tubman-neurodivergent-black-excellence/) * 80 ADAPT disability rights protestors, many using wheelchairs, were arrested on Capitol Hill while protesting for better access to community-based services, including increased Medicaid funding: https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2019/05/21/80-arrested-disability-rights-protest/26651/ * The New York Times published seven poems by a variety of poets with disabilities, with the overarching title, “Make No Apologies For Yourself”: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/19/opinion/disability-poems.html * Fashion Week Mexico included the debut collection of Adriana Macias, a fashion designer who was born without arms: https://www.france24.com/en/20190523-made-foot-mexican-designer-overcomes-disability-style * NASA always grounded astronauts with physical or mental disabilities, but now the field of space medicine is thinking about whether people with disabilities may actually do better in space than so-called “best bodies”: https://www.space.com/space-tourism-flights-health-risks.html * After the mass shooting at Parkland, 14 therapy dogs supported students and staff, so yearbook editors gave them their own page in the yearbook, with the dogs ready and willing to show off their smiles for the cameras (content warning for cuteness overload): https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/17/us/parkland-therapy-dogs-yearbook-stoneman-douglas-trnd/index.html * Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg said President Trump used his “privileged status” to “fake a disability” and avoid military service in Vietnam (news clip is not captioned or audio described): https://www.newsweek.com/pete-buttigieg-donald-trumps-vietnam-draft-1434161 * On May 11, actress Peggy Lipton died at age 72; she was famous for her romances with Elvis and other famous men, and for being one of the first actors to publicly talk about her stuttering while starring on The Mod Squad and Twin Peaks; while she seemed to have “found fluency through acting,” she actually often requested and (was bullied about) changes in her lines to prevent stuttering difficulties: https://www.stutteringhelp.org/content/peggy-lipton-remembered * University of Oregon historian Ellen Herman set up “The Autism History Project” online to show autism history in the 20th century (the article includes a link to the website): https://around.uoregon.edu/content/new-history-autism-traces-diagnosis-disability * U.S. researchers have developed a way to screen Twitter users for mental illness so they can get rapid screenings and help, but critics are worried about employers, lawyers, or insurance companies getting that information: https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/2019/05/21/twitter-profiles-screen-depression/ * “Disabled People” or “People with Disabilities”? The podcast “Disability: Our Culture Ourselves” takes on the topic of language (and ironically there is no transcript available to access the podcast’s language): https://www.radioproject.org/2019/05/disability-our-culture-ourselves/ * A therapist writes about how social justice activist’s and liberal’s “call-out culture” can traumatize people, and the difference between being triggered and being harmed: https://selfishactivist.com/how-call-out-culture-traumatizes-us/ * In ancient societies, did people consider one leg, leprosy, or memory loss illnesses or disabilities? That’s what Magdalena Matczak is studying at Arizona State University, in her field of bioarcheological research: https://asunow.asu.edu/20190520-discoveries-asu-researcher-understanding-disability-past * The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued guidance to public housing officials, saying that funding in ABLE accounts cannot be considered when determining housing eligibility of people with disabilities: https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2019/05/20/able-access-housing-feds/26646/ * A mother writes about her daughter’s suicide attempt and resulting disabilities, and how she is now fighting for access to new treatments like Ketamine for treatment-resistant depression: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/iowa-view/2019/05/22/my-daughters-last-suicide-attempt-changed-all-our-lives/3751730002/ * With a good economy, more people are stopping their disability payments because they’re able to work, but at the same time the government is making it harder for people to qualify for disability benefits: https://www.npr.org/2019/05/22/723757962/many-are-replacing-disability-checks-with-paychecks * Los Angeles had a 20% decline in air pollution over 20 years, and there was also a 20% decline in cases of children’s asthma: https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/npr/npr-story/725364857 ------------------------------- 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). Comments are closed.
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