DREAM Weekly Email: February 14-20, 2016

​​DREAM Weekly Email, Disability and Higher Education in the News: February 14-20, 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 February 14-20, 2016
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Disability and higher education in the news (in no particular order):
 
* Why not boost a university’s reputation by just getting rid of the weakest students using an online self-evaluation tool for incoming students?  That was the plan of Mount St. Mary’s University president Simon Newman – but even with the uproar about it, people aren’t noticing the idea is ableist and probably illegal, because the “self-assessment” tool includes questions about students’ mental health: http://www.theestablishment.co/2016/02/16/mount-st-marys-discriminatory-plan-to-push-out-vulnerable-students-ableism/
 
* The Disabilities Services office at Seattle University needs more staff, and the students are stepping up to advocate, with the student government passing a resolution about it and the Coalition of Students with Disabilities group holding a forum with the provost and CFO: http://www.seattlespectator.com/2016/02/17/sgsu-pushes-for-more-disabilities-services-staff/
 
* Last December, former philosophy professor at Rutgers University Anna Stubblefield was found guilty of aggravated sexual assault against a disabled man who had been her co-author, research assistant, and lover; a New York Times Magazine article looks at what Stubblefield told the judge in a private letter, giving insights into what she believed she was doing: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/03/magazine/what-anna-stubblefield-believed-she-was-doing.html?WT.mc_id=2016-KWP-AUD_DEV&WT.mc_ev=click&ad-keywords=AUDDEVREMARK&kwp_0=100866&kwp_4=494071&kwp_1=270454&_r=2
 
* Researchers, including those in higher education, are not giving an accurate picture of mental illness around the world, and that is affecting the amount of development assistance for prevention, cures, and treatments, according to Harvard University researcher Daniel Vigo: http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/02/19/467217069/a-man-on-a-mission-give-a-true-count-of-the-toll-of-mental-illness
 
*The AccessABILITY Student Union at the University of Oregon tried to submit its annual request for funding, but the submission system was inaccessible, leading them to work with the student government to create a working group and policies that promote universal design: http://www.dailyemerald.com/2016/02/02/asuo-and-student-group-aim-to-make-uo-more-accessible-for-students-with-disabilties/
 
* Oral Roberts University in Oklahoma is handing out Fitbits to all incoming students – the university will track their sleep and fitness data, as well as other health measures, but there is no word on how they will accommodate students who have disabilities affecting their Fitbit data: http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/college-game-plan/oral-roberts-university-track-students-fitness-through-fitbits-n507661
 
* The United States Tennis Association is awarding nine grants to foster the growth of wheelchair tennis, including awards to programs at Berry College in Georgia and the University of Alabama: http://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/rome/sports/rome-sports-awarded-one-of-nine-usta-grants-to-grow/article_12faf61c-d753-11e5-bbe5-d322571247da.html
                                    
* In Nigeria, Jane Ihuoma Otta  is suing Rivers State University of Science and Technology after being expelled while finishing up her exams – administrators admit she was expelled because they discovered she has a hearing loss: http://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2016/02/19/expelled-female-student-sues-university/
 
* College sports and its emphasis on perfection can put some students at higher risk of eating disorders (video has captions but no audio description): http://www.wkbw.com/news/dealing-with-an-eating-disorder-as-a-college-athlete
 
* March 1 will be the national Day of Mourning for people with disabilities who have been killed by their family members or caregivers – to find out which states and campuses are hosting vigils (or to sign up as your campus site coordinator), you can go to: http://action.autisticadvocacy.org/p/salsa/web/common/public/signup?signup_page_KEY=9418
 
* Disabled Georgia Perimeter College instructor Jessica Blinkhorn is showcasing her art on disability and LGBTQUIF intersections in an exhibition at Wofford College in South Carolina: http://www.goupstate.com/article/20160219/ARTICLES/160219556?p=1&tc=pg
 
* In the UK, Cambridge University students and Disability Resource Centre staff are protesting the difficult approval process for students who need to type their exams instead of writing out answers: http://www.varsity.co.uk/comment/9847
 
* Sang-Mook Lee, “Korea’s Stephan Hawking” quadriplegic geophysicist (featured in the captioned NOVA program at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/earth/lee-oceanography.html) was the main speaker at a Seoul National University event honoring five freshman and four others who “overcame” their disabilities: http://english.donga.com/Home/3/all/26/525695/1
 
* A Salon reporter though right-to-die legislation was a great idea, until he met disabled professor Bill Peace from Syracuse University: http://www.salon.com/2016/02/14/i_was_sure_that_legalizing_aid_in_dying_was_the_right_thing_to_do_then_i_met_bad_cripple/
 
* This weekend, more than 250 college basketball coaches will wear a blue puzzle piece pin to raise awareness and money for controversial group Autism Speaks: http://www.foxsports.com/college-basketball/story/autism-speaks-awareness-pins-pat-skerry-towson-tom-herrion-georgia-tech-021716
 
* The transition of teens with psychiatric disabilities are the focus of a new $750,000 project at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, to improve transition from high school to postsecondary education and work: http://www.umassmed.edu/news/news-archives/2016/02/new-grant-to-help-teens-with-psychiatric-disabilities-become-successful-adults/
 
* “Campus Buddies” at the University of Bath in the UK will offer social peer support to new students with Asperger syndrome or autism: http://www.bath.ac.uk/students/services/centre/disability-service/disability-news
 
*Drexel University’s Transition Pathways program received $3.5 million from a family foundation to develop college and career pathways for students with autism: http://www.goupstate.com/article/20160219/ARTICLES/160219556?p=1&tc=pg
 
 
And a few related items of possible interest to college students:
 
* You might have missed it, but at the Grammys, Stevie Wonder teased his co-presenters and audience about not knowing Braille, saying “We need to make every single thing accessible to every single person with a disability” – what you may not know is that Wonder has been a disability and accessibility activist for many years: http://www.perkins.org/stories/blog/what-you-didnt-know-about-stevie-wonders-braille-joke-at-the-grammys
 
* What’s happening with efforts to get out the #DisabilityVote for upcoming elections?  Here are some of the initiatives happening around the country, including a YO! Disabled and Proud campaign for youth ages 18-28 with disabilities: http://www.adalegacy.com/disbeat/disbeat-announces-first-five-2016%C2%A0disabilityvote-initiatives
 
* If you’re biracial or of mixed-race backgrounds, it can be very difficult to find stem cell, bone marrow, and organ donors, so people like 13-year old Zara Al Shaikh are turning to social media for help – and it’s working: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-35570340
 
* Complaints about disability discrimination in the workplace are at an all-time high in the U.S.: https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2016/02/17/workplace-claims-record-high/21926/
 
* One Buddhist teacher says it’s time for Buddhists to address ableism and access as part of the diversity of Buddhists and sanghas: http://www.lionsroar.com/its-time-for-buddhists-to-address-ableism-and-accessibility/
 
* Online comics in social media are proving effective for getting people talking about mental and emotional health: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/35564616/mental-health-week-how-drawings-on-social-media-are-changing-the-conversation
 
* The tax season is starting (groan), but if you have any questions about accessible tax forms, disability-related income and deductions, or assistance for people with disabilities, the IRS is only to happy to provide the following website for you: https://www.irs.gov/Individuals/More-Information-for-People-with-Disabilities
 
* Relationships should be 50/50, but for people with chronic illnesses and disabilities, this is  not possible – why can’t relationships be about people doing 100% of what they can do?  https://chronicyogiblog.wordpress.com/2016/02/15/the-myth-of-5050-chronic-illness-and-new-ways-to-think-about-reciprocity-in-relationships/
 
* Comedian Pamela Schuller has Tourette syndrome and is a disability and inclusion activist working in the Jewish community – she’d like to make it clear to everyone “helping” her that she is no one’s mitzvah: http://www.jta.org/2016/02/11/news-opinion/opinion/op-ed-im-not-your-mitzvah-project?utm_source=Newsletter+subscribers&utm_campaign=0783d97709-JTA_Sunday_Features_2_14_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_2dce5bc6f8-0783d97709-25313453
 
* FLOTUS Michelle Obama suggests we all change the conversation about mental health to reduce the stigma and to give people the support they need: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/michelle-obama/lets-change-the-conversation-around-mental-health_b_9245816.html
 
* The first blind Crossfit trainer, Bettina Dolinsek, now teaches foundations courses at her gym in Des Moines, Iowa (video does not have captions or audio description): http://whotv.com/2016/02/15/blind-ambition-one-womans-journey-to-fitness-despite-disability/
 
* Blogger Dominick Evans tries to figure out why Hollywood keeps thinking death is preferable to being disabled, with word of a new Blockbuster in production that will once again have a disabled person deciding to die rather than inconvenience everyone: http://www.dominickevans.com/2016/02/hollywood-promotes-the-idea-it-is-better-to-be-dead-than-disabled/
 
* Republican presidential candidate and surgeon Ben Carson suggested that only “schizophrenic” Muslims can truly integrate into U.S. society: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/ben-carsoon-muslims-schizophrenic
 
* Rosemarie Kasper – disability activist for higher education, Osteogenesis Imperfecta, and international traveling – passed away in January, and in her honor, the pall bearers used the wheelchair ramp to access the church: http://www.northjersey.com/news/a-life-rosemarie-kasper-s-disability-didn-t-stop-advocate-for-change-1.1512020?page=1
 
* If you’re world traveler, you may want to check out “Accomable,” a new website designed to be like Airbnb, but focused on travelers with disabilities: http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/18/travel/accomable-airbnb-disability-travel/
 
 
 
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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