DREAM Weekly Email: February 12-25, 2017

DREAM Weekly Email, Disability and Higher Education in the News: February 12-25, 2017

From DREAM: Disability Rights, Education, Activism, and Mentoring
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Sponsored by the National Center for College Students with Disabilities and the Association on Higher Education And Disability (AHEAD)
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Weekly Email Update on Issues Related to Disability and Higher Education 
Weeks of February 12-25, 2017
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** A double issue this week – a little long, but worth it!   :)  **
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Disability and higher education in the news (in no particular order):
 
* Tom Rossley is a former trustee for Drake University, but he is filing suit against the campus, saying they retaliated against anyone who complained about disability services and saying the campus did not conduct a proper investigation when his disabled son was sexually assaulted as a student there: http://www.satprnews.com/2017/02/22/former-drake-university-trustee-files-title-ix-retaliation-lawsuit-against-school-in-disabled-sons-wrongful-sexual-assault-investigation/ 
 
* Gallaudet University’s Deaf college basketball team has had an exciting season and is on the verge of heading into March Madness: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/dc-sports-bog/wp/2017/02/24/the-nations-only-deaf-mens-college-basketball-team-is-on-the-verge-of-its-first-march-madness/?utm_term=.c2ef8016402a
 
* The federal government removed and then radically changed the website for IDEA special education law, which includes information about the transition to college: https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2017/02/17/idea-website-back-online/23339/
 
* Syracuse University was ranked number one on a list of the 20 best disability studies programs in the U.S., published by Great College Deals: http://www.greatcollegedeals.net/rankings/best-deals-colleges-disability-studies/
 
* The University of Rochester conducted a campus-wide Diversity Engagement Survey, and students, faculty, and staff with disabilities had a significantly less favorable view of campus inclusivity, including perceptions of trust and cultural competence: http://www.campustimes.org/2017/02/20/diversity-survey-results-reveal-splits-among-ur-community/
 
* Faculty job ads -- this time from Holy Cross College at Notre Dame – are still requiring applicants to meet a list physical requirements, potentially discriminating against academics with disabilities: https://psmag.com/how-academic-jobs-screen-out-disabled-people-ca4f1fde67ca#.r50izv25n
 
* South Africa is investing millions in 22 universities across the country, to improve disability infrastructure and access for students with disabilities: http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/371/158057.html
 
* A new film explores the life of Northern Arizona University professor Matthew Wangeman, who has CP, from the viewpoint of his teenage son: http://news.nau.edu/nau-professor-discusses-his-disability/
 
* Aries Washington was the star women’s basketball player for the University of Missouri-Kansas City and now she and the team are adjusting to Washington’s diagnosis of epilepsy: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/college/umkc/article133458154.html
 
* Blind students in Ireland are struggling to access higher education, even though the overall rates of students with disabilities has been rising: https://www.thesun.ie/news/554697/new-report-claims-that-visually-impaired-students-are-being-let-down-by-our-education-system/
 
* The NCCSD has published information about immigration, customs, travel information for disabled students, faculty, and staff in higher education: http://www.nccsdonline.org/immigration-news.html
 
* Central Washington University is offering a new minor and certificate course in accessibility studies: http://cwuobserver.com/9384/news/new-minor-available-in-disability-studies/
 
* In the wake of scandals at Baylor University, Texas lawmakers are considering bills to force reporting of campus sexual assaults, but some are concerned the laws go too far, may deter reporting, and may not offer enough mental health services to victims: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/higher-education/2017/02/21/school-staffcould-fined-jailed-aggressive-push-fight-campus-rape-spurred-baylor-scandal
 
* Emory University doctoral student and Rhodes scholar Rachel Kolb discusses being deaf, self-advocacy, and more: http://www.deafitup.com/deaf-community-spotlight/rachel-kolb/
 
* Graduate school can cause traumatic stress – here’s a list of books, apps, and other resources to help develop resilience and find some peace (these are not intended for people with PTSD or anxiety, but may still be helpful): https://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/gradhacker/traumatic-stress-grad-school
 
* At Oberlin College, Marissa Maxfield’s opinion column described how counseling services helped her, but how many students are not getting what they need, noting that administrators might care more if students showed their concerns: https://oberlinreview.org/12631/opinions/administration-neglects-mental-health-needs/
 
* The Huffington Post featured a three-part series called “Mitigating the College Mental Health Crisis:” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/rethinking-the-college-mental-health-crisis-is-our_us_58a872a8e4b0b0e1e0e20b74
 
* Disability cultural centers and other types of cultural centers enhance discussion about intersectionality on campuses: http://www.hearmyvoiceonline.com/cultural-centers-impact-on-intersectionality/cultural-centers-impact-on-intersectionality
 
* Temple Grandin, Colorado State University professor and well-known autistic author, was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame: https://www.womenofthehall.org/introducing-2017-nwhf-inductees/
 
* Arizona State University now has four on-campus student organizations working on mental health issues, including ASK.LISTEN.SAVE, a campus chapter of Active Minds, the Health and Counseling Student Action Committee, and Devils 4 Devils: http://www.statepress.com/article/2017/02/spartcult-mental-health-culture-at-asu-organizations
 
* A blog for university attorneys explains why campuses generally do not provide retroactive accommodations like allowing a student to re-take a test with accommodations: http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=cc690e29-369f-4e5f-90bd-3ac06690dc8a
 
* A dance and movement workshop partners Colorado College students and people recovering from traumatic brain injuries, exploring differences between caregiving and really caring: https://www.coloradocollege.edu/newsevents/newsroom/dance-draws-on-work-of-cc-students-braincare-participants#.WLDmfzvys2w
 
* Disability support programs at colleges and universities have expanded rapidly in response to the increased number of college students with intellectual and developmental disabilities: http://www.northjersey.com/story/news/bergen/2017/02/10/more-students-disabilities-going-college/97293512/
 
* “I’m so OCD about my notes” or “I’m so stressed I could die” may be everyday types of language on campus, but casual language about mental health can minimize what college students are actually experiencing: http://www.statepress.com/article/2017/02/spopinion-asu-mentalhealth-disorders-language-opinions
 
* A new endowed scholarship for autistic students has been set up at Murray State University in Kentucky, funded by alumnus Ray Chumbler IV, who also identifies as autistic: http://thenews.org/2017/02/16/scholarship-for-students-with-autism-officially-endowed-last-month/
 
* Colleges and universities must balance the needs of students with emotional support animals with the needs of students with pet allergies or asthma: http://allergicliving.com/2017/02/16/why-pet-free-housing-isnt-what-it-seems/
 
* For the third year in a row, college basketball teams and coaches across the U.S. participated in fundraising for the controversial Autism Speaks organization: https://www.autismspeaks.org/about-us/press-releases/ncaa-basketball-coaches-and-fans-team-autism-speaks-2016
 
* The Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) once again came under fire for the lack of accommodations at its national conference, including an inaccessible room for the meeting of the Disability Caucus – see the live tweets at: https://twitter.com/georgesdryad
 
* Twin sisters Katy and Olivia Shaw are typical science students at Northwest Vista College, but as blind students, they’ve inspired a visually impaired professor to finally learn braille: http://www.kens5.com/features/teachable-moment-blind-sisters-gain-new-vision-from-biology-professor/411917170
 
* College student Niamh Herbert was asked to leave her wheelchair and walk on the plane after everyone else boarded their Ryanair flight to London, but to her surprise the plane left without her: http://www.travelpulse.com/news/airlines/ryanair-under-fire-after-flight-takes-off-without-disabled-passenger.html
 
* Alex Lu, graduate student at the University of Toronto, writes about respectability politics related to ableism and how calls for “reasonable” discourse in the face of growing hostility can be a form of victim-blaming: https://theestablishment.co/im-not-going-to-be-nice-about-ableism-d8d32c493b7b#.v9e4k95ip
 
 
And a few related items of possible interest to college students:
* Learn more about Black disability history this month:

• Lead on Network has a series on Black people with disabilities: http://leadonnetwork.org/wordpress/2016/02/28/black-disability-history-bobby-coward-advocate/
• Ramp Your Voice also has a series on Black people with disabilities, making an effort to feature less well-known people from history: http://rampyourvoice.com/2017/02/24/black-history-month-2017-donald-galloway-disabled-social-worker-fought-inclusion/
• Check out this great interview with activist and organizer Keri Gray — who is also an NCCSD Board Member in addition to all her other work listed:) — in this week’s edition of The Black Herstory Month Series by Feminist Campus!: http://feministcampus.org/the-black-herstory-month-series-keri-gray/
• Morénike Giwa Onaiwu, announces upcoming blog series on issues of inclusion, diversity, and representation within the Autistic community and the disabled community at large to honor the lives, contributions, struggles, and uniqueness of the Black community and Black Autistics during Black History Month and beyond: http://autisticadvocacy.org/2017/02/no-quiet-waters/
• Check out a history of Black History Month and disability advocacy, from Dr. Lamar Hardwick, an autistic African American pastor: http://autisticadvocacy.org/2017/02/beating-drums-a-dialogue-about-black-history-and-disability-advocacy/?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=socialnetwork (his blog is at http://autismpastor.com/)
• How has the Black activist mainstream addressed disability justice? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/black-cripples-your-comrades-not-counterpoint_us_589dbb37e4b094a129ea32b8

 
* The creator of the podcast “The Hilarious World of Depression” (featuring comedians with depression) is asking us to take another look at post-election depression among liberals: https://tonic.vice.com/en_us/article/lets-all-laugh-at-how-depressed-we-are-for-a-sec
 
* Planning a protest or political action?  Be sure it’s accessible:

• Here are some tips for making your social justice event accessible to people with disabilities: http://www.rootedinrights.org/how-to-make-your-social-justice-events-accessible-to-the-disability-community-a-checklist/
• Six disabled activists describe why accessibility is so important: https://www.autostraddle.com/be-the-change-six-disabled-activists-on-why-the-resistance-must-be-accessible-368956/
• Erin Hawley resources for accessible protests and discusses how disabled people can contribute through lived experience and active engagement: http://geekygimp.com/crip-the-resistance-thoughts-and-resources-on-accessible-protests/
• The Disability Visibility Project™ makes images available for public use to resist the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and the possible block granting of Medicaid and #CripTheResistance: https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/2017/02/08/cripresistance-art-for-the-resistance/

 
* “This is Us,” the hit NBC show, received kudos for how it portrayed a panic attack in last week’s episode: http://www.health.com/anxiety/this-is-us-anxiety-attack
 
* Disability activists mourn the death of Nick Dupree, who worked for the rights of people with disabilities to live at home in the community, instead of in hospitals and nursing homes: http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/02/22/516668777/nick-dupree-fought-to-live-like-anyone-else
 
* Women with disabilities are more likely to die of breast cancer – it’s a matter of access and attitudes: https://mic.com/articles/134979/women-with-disabilities-are-more-likely-to-die-of-breast-cancer-here-s-why#.RNF5yGFgo
 
* Employers are learning more about how to work with autistic employees, and employees are learning about how to self-advocate for accommodations and other needs in the workplace: https://www.fastcompany.com/3068177/the-future-of-work/working-with-autism-and-adhd
 
* Many professional psychologists (and armchair psychologists) may be diagnosing Trump with various psychiatric conditions, but the man who developed critieria to diagnose narcissim says it’s “a stigmatizing insult to the mentally ill (who are mostly well behaved and well meaning) to be lumped with Mr. Trump (who is neither):” http://perfscience.com/content/2145360-president-trump-faces-another-campaign-against-him-psychiatric-grounds
 
* WWE SmackDown Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss has opened up about her history with an eating disorder and how it affected her in college, including her transfer to a different college to avoid triggers: http://www.inquisitr.com/4006301/wwe-news-alexa-bliss-opens-up-about-overcoming-eating-disorder/
 
* Paraplegic Todd Krieg and his fiancé Amanda Diesen sent out a pregnancy announcement that went viral – you can see it at http://www.today.com/parents/paraplegic-man-fianc-e-make-funny-pregnancy-announcement-t108270
 
* Conchita Hernandez, a teacher of blind students in Washington DC, shares her story of being a disabled immigrant: http://www.rootedinrights.org/growing-up-at-the-intersection-of-disabled-and-immigrant/
 
* Keah Brown’s #DisabledAndCute trended on Twitter as an opportunity for disabled people to tell their own story and celebrate themselves while challenging the narrative of inspiration for nondisabled people: https://www.autostraddle.com/queer-crip-love-fest-radically-vulnerable-feminist-pep-talk-369166/ and http://www.teenvogue.com/story/disabled-and-cute-empowering-hashtag
 
* #TakeBackStaring - Karin Hitselberger shares how she uses selfies to rewrite the narrative of being seen by others: http://www.claimingcrip.com/2017/02/takebackstaring-power-of-selfie.html?m=1
 
* The Democratic Disability Caucuses provided candidates for Chair of the DNC with the opportunity to engage directly with disabled DNC members by hosting a virtual candidate forum in a continued effort to build a more inclusive party ahead of the election of the body’s next chair: http://nosmag.org/dnc-holds-forum-on-disability-issues-for-chair-candidates/
 
* Inclusion of people with disabilities in Jewish communities confirms mutually beneficial relationships for those with disabilities and those without, creating the opportunity for meaningful participation in the life of the Jewish community: http://jewishjournal.com/uncategorized/214779/inclusion-people-disabilities-rare-shared-value/
 
* Giphy just released over 2,000 new gifs of Sign with Robert creator Robert DeMayo signing words and phrases in ASL. The gifs are intended to teach hearing people how to sign: http://mashable.com/2017/02/16/giphy-american-sign-language-gifs/#YKwHrWP2COqn
 
* Free download of Disability & Society article “Ableism and the Trump Phenomenon” by Andrew Harnish arguing that Trump’s presidential victory was abetted by ableism: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09687599.2017.1288684?tokenDomain=eprints&tokenAccess=QQ3Qb6PWhXw2IPmcxDir&forwardService=showFullText&doi=10.1080%2F09687599.2017.1288684&doi=10.1080%2F09687599.2017.1288684&journalCode=cdso20&
 
* “Disabled, Shunned and Silenced in Trump’s America” - Melissa Blake share the perspective of a disabled woman on the absence of disability rights issues in the new administration and the crucial role that people with disabilities can play in an inclusive society: https://goo.gl/Zr2xBK
 
* Open letter to Betsy DeVos from Allison Cardwell, who has cerebral palsy, about the importance of formal education for disabled students, goes viral: https://goo.gl/fNs2En
 
 
 
 
 
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]).
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, 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.
 
https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2017/02/17/trump-asd-misplaced-advocates/23342/