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DREAM Weekly on Disability and Higher Education in the News: May 5-11, 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:
Having trouble accessing an article? Check with your campus library or reach out to us ([email protected]). ------------------------------ Disability and higher education in the news (in no particular order): * Edinboro University was one of the few campuses in the U.S. that offered attendant services to students with physical disabilities, and now they’re shutting down the program; aides worked without pay to ensure graduating seniors were able to participate in commencement (video is captioned but not audio described): https://www.post-gazette.com/news/education/2019/05/04/Edinboro-University-State-System-Attendant-care-disabilities-health-college-higher-education/stories/201905040025 * In the first program of its kind, the University of Iowa will require all new students to learn about suicide prevention and how to identify suicidal tendencies in peers: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/05/07/u-iowa-requiring-suicide-prevention-training-all-students?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=a9b26a5e62-DNU_2019_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-a9b26a5e62-198891893&mc_cid=a9b26a5e62&mc_eid=a51c972f65 * Cedarville University required a weight-lifting course, and Mallory Wayenberg couldn’t use the machines because she was born without part of her arm, so an engineering professor and his students created a prosthetic hand for her [NCCSD and DREAM would like to note that course exemptions or substitutions are usually a reasonable accommodation in situations like this]: https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/news/2019/05/07/lending-a-hand--engineering-students-build-prosthetic-arm-for-fellow-student-- * Up to 50% of inmates may be dyslexic, and Congress passed the First Step Act to screen all federal prisoners for dyslexia so they could get services, earn GEDs , and participate in other postsecondary education programs, but the Department of Justice has yet to start implementing the bill: https://www.motherjones.com/crime-justice/2019/04/people-in-prison-are-way-more-likely-to-have-dyslexia-the-justice-system-sets-them-up-to-fail/ * The National Women’s Law Center has issued a report on Latina students and mental health; read more about the report and what some Latina college students are doing to create change on this issue: https://www.philly.com/health/latina-girls-suicide-mental-health-depression-hispanic-20190506.html * Deaf, two-spirited Indigenous painter Torrie Ironstar of Saskatchewan, Canada, says art gives him life, but he is unable to go to college because he was told there would be no interpreter services in the rural area where he lives: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/deaf-indigenous-artist-regina-1.5122457 * Student affairs organization NASPA has created a report about strategies to address mental health supports on campus (a link to download the issue is next to the abstract): https://www.naspa.org/rpi/reports/strategies-for-addressing-mental-health-support-on-campus * With a speech impairment, college student Brian Siegel was slow in responding to questions when a cop pulled him over in New York, and now he will lose his license unless he has a Medical Review Board interview and retakes his driving test: https://nypost.com/2019/05/04/speech-impaired-student-fears-he-could-lose-drivers-license-after-bizarre-traffic-stop/ * Students at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education have created Disabilities Disclosed, a new journal that shares experiences of Harvard students and alumni with disabilities: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2019/5/6/hgse-disability-publication/ (The publication is available at https://ads.gse.harvard.edu/disability-disclosed-ihed-publication.) * It’s that time of the year, when campuses begin profiling graduates with disabilities, usually focusing on how they “overcame” their disability, but here are some good stories that are less likely to offend your disability sensibilities:
* In April, protestors at Johns Hopkins shut down the main administrative building to protest the university creating a police force and working with federal immigration authorities; the building housed disability services, which had to relocate services and testing accommodations for exams (https://www.theblaze.com/news/protestors-johns-hopkins-stop-cooperating-with-ice). This week the protest ended when administrators called in police to arrest the students (https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2019/05/09/7-johns-hopkins-protesters-arrested) * Senior citizens age 60 and older owe over $86 billion in unpaid college loans and 40% of them are in default, meaning the government can garnish Social Security checks to pay of student debt (news clip is captioned but not audio described): https://www.cbsnews.com/news/student-loan-debt-seniors-owe-billions-in-student-loan-debt-this-will-follow-me-to-the-grave/ * She was discharged from the hospital and two friends used an office swivel chair to get her to their dorm, where she was then unable to get up the steps; now the Wellesley College student is asking what happens when disability services can’t meet students’ needs or temporarily disabled students need support: http://thewellesleynews.com/2019/05/09/wheres-my-chair-wellesley-what-happens-when-students-fall-through-the-disability-services-cracks/ * University of Iowa Students for Disability Advocacy & Awareness created a poster showing “Institutional Barriers Faced by Students with Disabilities at the University of Iowa, with the location of disability services literally being the tip of the iceberg (post has a description of the graphic): https://www.facebook.com/UISDAA/photos/pb.146520488727983.-2207520000.1557492396./2265974946782516/?type=3&theater * When he was in college he was out about being gay but lied about his cerebral palsy and told people he was in a car accident, and that’s the basis of Ryan O’Connell’s Netflix series “Special” (video is captioned but not audio described): https://nowthisnews.com/videos/pop/netflixs-special-creator-ryan-oconnell-on-representation * The UK LGBTQ+ Undergraduate of the Year is Tom Moran, who founded his university’s first Sign Language Society group and leads a group for “students with learning differences:” https://www.lep.co.uk/education/lancaster-university-students-excel-in-top-national-awards-1-9757611 * A student at Oberlin notes that the campus assumes athletes are nondisabled, and athletic facilities and activities are not accessible to students with disabilities, including a campus-wide health initiative called YeoFit: https://oberlinreview.org/18772/opinions/disabled-student-athletes-must-have-accessibility-needs-met/ * Grinnell College’s Student Mental Health Task Force released its report and recommendations regarding student mental health on campus, with their research finding higher rates of anxiety and depression compared to other campuses, while also finding that most students are willing to seek out support: http://www.thesandb.com/article/mental-health-task-force-releases-final-report.html * Despite an increase in demand, Frostburg State University is dealing with an understaffed counseling center, with students facing longer wait times and the elimination of testing for learning disabilities: http://thebottomlinenews.com/lives-on-the-line-counseling-center-understaffed-for-entire-academic-year/ * Researchers in the Middle East have found rates of eating disorders in college students to be the same or even higher than in rates in Europe and North America: https://www.jpost.com/HEALTH-SCIENCE/Eating-disorders-a-growing-problem-in-Middle-East-589133 * Luke and Colby Birkes are brothers and students at Morehead State University, and Luke’s epilepsy has inspired them to start work with the Epilepsy Foundation to train campus police and faculty about epilepsy and seizure response: https://www.themoreheadnews.com/news/brothers-fighting-illness-stereotypes/article_5ad122bc-7193-11e9-8b55-b7fe82eff367.html * Athletic advisor Kylie Amato struggled with an eating disorder in college, and now she’s working with athletes, telling them about her experience and supporting them to graduation: http://www.studentprintz.com/academic-advisor-uses-eating-disorder-to-mentor-students/ * Laurie Thom, chairman of the Yerington Paiute Tribe, shares the story about her son Dorsey, a college student who had been flunking out of school until he was diagnosed with autism during his freshman year of high school: https://www.rgj.com/story/news/2019/05/08/mom-tribal-leader-laurie-thom-learns-parenting-child-autism-changing-world/1130625001/ * An instructor with a disability has struggled with talking about disability and teaching about it in classes, but this semester she learned how much it might mean to her students with disabilities: https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/disabled-student-said-openness-changed-223312264.html * Ty Pennington is a carpenter and designer on TLC’s “Trading Spaces,” but now he’s also an author, writing about his experiences of being diagnosed with ADHD in college, and advice for others with ADHD: https://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/realestate/ct-re-ty-pennington-trading-spaces-20190503-story.html * “Of the twenty students who lived in my freshman year hall, three of them ended up dropping out,” says Gettysburg Margaret Valenti, reflecting on the ways the first year of college amplifies and creates mental health problems for students: https://www.thepavlovictoday.com/the-challenges-of-navigating-mental-health-issues-on-college-campuses/ * Brigham Young University professor Spencer Hyde has OCD, and so does the character in his new young adult novel Waiting for Fitz: https://universe.byu.edu/2019/05/07/byu-professor-debuts-ya-fiction-novel-on-mental-health/ * Ashoka University in India is making efforts to become a model of inclusion, with support plans for each student with a disability and outreach to recruit students with disabilities: https://newzhook.com/story/22154 * UK students apply to college through UCAS, a common application system, and after the suicide of a University of Bristol student who tried to get help but was threatened with dismissal, a coroner has urged students to disclose mental health conditions on their applications: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/05/02/students-should-disclose-mental-health-issues-disability-section/ * Virginia Tech is committing $400,000 to make improvements to campus access: https://www.roanoke.com/news/education/higher_education/virginia_tech/tech-project-to-boost-accessibility-at-april-memorial-around-campus/article_e767fc65-ec2d-5740-818f-76064da78d6b.html * After finishing his university degree in the UK, Charles Bloch applied for over 1000 jobs, only had 15 interviews, and finally got one job offer, even when Bloch explained how his blindness made him a better employee: https://metro.co.uk/2019/05/08/applied-1000-jobs-employers-saw-im-blind-9438016/ * A doctor and former University of Oklahoma graduate student is suing the university for allegedly not providing accommodations after she had surgery, which then forced her out of her degree program: https://www.news9.com/story/40413294/doctor-fmr-grad-student-sues-ou-over-discrimination * As more campuses work to prevent traumatic brain injuries in athletes, some researchers at Syracuse University say that coaches and the media can help by adjusting the way they describe head injuries and concussions on the field: https://www.waer.org/post/serious-brain-injury-how-coaches-and-game-announcers-can-impact-athletes-health * A professor at Williams College rejects the idea that safe places are harmful to marginalized students, noting that her own depression as a student was exacerbated by daily microaggressions affecting her mental and physical health: https://williamsrecord.com/2019/05/acknowledging-violence-at-the-college-a-scientists-perspective-on-racial-bias-and-microaggressions/ A Few Other Items of Possible Interest: * Jean Vanier died this past week at age 90, and if you are unfamiliar with his work and L’Arche communities around the world, there are several tributes that explain his life’s work:
* Steve Way is a high school teacher and comedian with muscular dystrophy, who has been friends with Ramy Youssef since 9/11 and now guest stars with him on the Hulu series “Ramy”: https://www.vulture.com/2019/05/steve-way-ramy-stand-up-comedy-interview.html * An autistic person breaks down concepts like autism “spectrum,” high and low “functioning,” “mild” and “severe,” and other labels used to describe the diversity of autistic people: https://theaspergian.com/2019/05/04/its-a-spectrum-doesnt-mean-what-you-think/ * Vogue interviews designer Sinéad Burke about being the first little person to attend the Met Gala in New York, including her “accessibility audit” before the red carpet: https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/sinead-burke-gucci-met-gala * Climate activist Greta Thunberg says she became an activist because of her autism and ADHD, not in spite of it: https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/first-person/2019/5/6/18531551/autism-greta-thunberg-speech?__twitter_impression=true * Comedian Samantha Bee takes on policing and Deaf rights, and has Deaf actor and model Nyle DiMarco explain it with her (With only a minimal amount of comments about his looks! And only one attempt to give him her phone number!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMr831Ro2-k * Learn 28 ways to make the world better for “MNPD” (“Mad, neurodivergent, and psychiatrically disabled people”): https://www.radicalabolitionist.org/radical-abolitionist/2019/2/15/26-ways-to-make-the-world-less-hostile-to-mad-neurodivergent-and-psychiatrically-disabled-people * Kids who are blind will be able to get a little more out of playtime, as the company introduces new Legos with Braille: https://www.npr.org/2019/05/04/717570014/to-help-children-learn-braille-lego-will-introduce-bricks-designed-for-the-blind * Looking for a little summer reading? Here’s a list of 50 memoirs about mental health: https://bookriot.com/2019/05/08/memoirs-about-mental-illness/ * In London, a theater put on a performance where all the characters were people, except the one character with autism who was portrayed by a puppet, launching protests that provide insight into controversies about autism as a disability, a difference, or a disorder: https://doctor.ndtv.com/children/is-autism-a-disability-or-difference-the-community-is-divided-2034079 * Actress Anita Hollander has succeeded as an actress and disability activist, advocating for performers with disabilities and educating casting directors: http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/articles/disability-visibility/article_7655c7b4-6d05-11e9-ad2e-e706c9e71e0c.html * Governor Kemp signed a new bill in Georgia that will require all Kindergarten students to be screened for dyslexia: https://www.mdjonline.com/news/kemp-signs-bills-introducing-dyslexia-support-computer-science-curriculum/article_a889beb4-6cee-11e9-af3a-b339b455e71c.html * A disability activist in Singapore (and doctoral student at the University of Illinois-Chicago) notes the importance of remembering Singapore’s disability history, including Ron Chandran-Dudley, who a founder of Disabled Peoples’ International: https://www.todayonline.com/commentary/remembering-disability-our-history * At Ultra Testing, a software testing startup, 75% of the employees are autistic, and they’ve completely changed the hiring and interview process to find more “hidden talent”: https://www.fastcompany.com/90339945/75-of-staff-at-this-succesful-it-company-are-on-the-autism-spectrum?utm_source=feedly&utm_medium=webfeeds ------------------------------- 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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DREAM is supported under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education (P116D150005) to the Institute on Community Integration (ICI) at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and is run in collaboration with the Association on Higher Education and Disability. Opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of the U.S. Department of Education, ICI, or AHEAD. If you have need assistance with the site or have questions, contact us.
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