DREAM Weekly Email: March 6-19, 2016

​DREAM Weekly Email, Disability and Higher Education in the News: March 6-19, 2016
From DREAM: Disability Rights, Education, Activism, and Mentoring
Sponsored by the Association on Higher Education And Disability (AHEAD) and the National Center for College Students with Disabilities
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Weekly Email Update on Issues Related to Disability and Higher Education 
Week of March 6-19, 2016
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** WE’RE BACK AFTER SPRING BREAK!  **
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Disability and higher education in the news (in no particular order):
 
* The University of Iowa cut budgets, and as a result, the Disability Services office eliminated paid notetakers and asked faculty to provide testing accommodations: http://www.thegazette.com/subject/opinion/guest-columnists/resource-allocation-and-social-justice-at-the-ui-20160313
 
* Blowback continues for the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) academic conference, which has 10,000 attendees but zero panels or presentations on disability this year: https://medium.com/disability-stories/write-characters-with-disabilities-who-don-t-suck-88333f6db243#.eom5ih1k2
 
* The University of North Carolina newspaper is doing a series on mental health issues, with the second part following a student as she tries to get testing and therapy paid by her insurance – a process that only aggravated her anxiety and academic stresses: http://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2016/03/finding-the-right-mental-health-help-isnt-easy-for-college-students-like-charlotte
 
* U.S. Senators have introduced the bipartisan Mental Health on Campus Improvement Act to provide funding for awareness programming, outreach, screening, and treatment of college students with mental health needs: https://enewspf.com/2016/03/15/senators-introduce-bipartisan-bill-to-improve-mental-health-services-on-college-campuses/
 
* Four campuses have announced new groups for students with disabilities:

• Autistic students at Arizona State University have set up a “Autistics on Campus” club for students with autism and social anxiety: http://www.statepress.com/article/2016/03/autistics-club-asu-support-challenges-misconceptions
• Students with disabilities at De Anza College in California have created the Inclusability club and are pushing for a new intro class about disability justice: http://lavozdeanza.com/features/2016/03/12/de-anza-activists-pushing-for-disability-justice-course/
• Marquette University in Milwaukee has established a Marquette Autism consortium of people and groups on campus who are interested in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), with a focus on awareness, inclusion, research, and resources for people with autism and their families – on and off campus: http://www.wtmj.com/news/new-autism-consortium-formed-at-marquette-university
• Sports and fitness leadership seniors at Camosun College in Canada have started an “Exercise is Medicine” club to encourage exercise among peers with Type 2 diabetes: http://www.goldstreamgazette.com/sports/372422431.html

* Zac Rinehart was kicked off the Georgia Gwinnett College baseball team after failing his first semester, but he spent the next year turning things around, including getting an ADHD diagnosis and starting medication: http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/sports/college/brookwood-grad-rinehart-returns-to-power-georgia-gwinnett-college-baseball/article_e93b8771-d0f8-5184-95a5-e2d204f29309.html
 
* 61% of California State University Fullerton students experience mental or emotional difficulties that have hurt their academic performance, but stigmas can prevent students from seeking help, according to a recent study by the Healthy Minds Network: http://www.dailytitan.com/2016/03/mental-health-stigmas-interfere-with-student-welfare/
 
* Tuition insurance provider Allianz Global Assistance is expanding its policies to cover students who have withdrawals or medical leaves due to viruses, chronic illnesses, mental illness, serious illnesses, or family crises: http://www.jewishvoiceny.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13943:new-college-tuition-insurance-plan-covers-flu-mono&catid=102:education&Itemid=285
 
* The CEO and COO of The Wounded Warrior Project have been fired for financial mismanagement, with an investigation showing less than two-thirds of funds went to programs for injured military veterans (including college scholarships): http://www.wfsb.com/story/31440789/reports-ceo-coo-of-wounded-warrior-project-fired
 
* Kelsey O’Maley has cerebral palsy, a visual impairment, and a system for reading she has used since third grade, but the disability services office at De Anza College in California refused to provide the accommodations she requested, leading Kelsey to transfer to Grossmont College in San Diego: http://lavozdeanza.com/showcase/2016/03/12/needs-of-student-with-disability-not-met/
 
* Interdisciplinary minors, including disability studies, can help students have an interdisciplinary experience and enhance job prospects, says a news story from UCLA: http://universityofcalifornia.edu/news/interdisciplinary-minors-energize-learning-and-enhance-job-prospects
 
* Makerere University in Uganda has received a grant from the British government to review all policies regarding services for people with disabilities on campus: http://allafrica.com/stories/201603161519.html
 
*  This month is Brain Injury Awareness Month, so if you’ve ever wanted to learn more about traumatic brain injuries (TBI), check out the University of Washington’s TBI InfoComics, with information about TBI presented in comic form: http://comics.tbi.washington.edu/
 
* In Jordan, scholars with disabilities are fighting for the right to become professors: http://www.jordantimes.com/news/local/disabled-phd-holders-fight-right-teach-universities
 
* The Big Ten and Ivy League have created the Traumatic Brain Injury Research Collaboration, which is working with 17,500 college athletes to research sports-related head injuries and  develop better protocols for trainers and coaches: http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/head-case-concussion-collaboration-tries-to-reduce-brain-trauma-in-college-athletes/
 
* Amy Maiorano writes about her experiences with Deletion 22 (VCFS) and The College of Saint Rose in New York, where The College Experience transition program gave her a chance to study, make friends, and build her advocacy skills:  http://www.strosechronicle.com/fresh/deletion-22-a-hidden-disability/
 
* Texas Tech has a Student Disability Services office, but also a fee-for-service supplemental TECHniques Center for students with learning disabilities, autism or ADHD – you can learn more from this article in their student newspaper: http://www.dailytoreador.com/news/center-helps-disabled-students-through-college/article_7ef38f16-e5ac-11e5-b80a-4788ef550964.html
 
* The HIV/AIDS Alliance club at Madison University in Viginia is celebrating its sixth year of working to educate students and reduce stigma about HIV and AIDS: http://www.breezejmu.org/news/student-organization-promotes-hiv-aids-awareness/article_6c073f5e-ebfd-11e5-80b6-eb110764c230.html
 
* Students at the University of Portland talk about the academic and psychological aspects of going to college and using disability services: http://www.upbeacon.com/2016/03/17/what-its-like-college-with-a-learning-disability/
 
And a few related items of possible interest to college students:
 
* The UK is making massive nationwide budget cuts, and people with disabilities could lose vital services and equipment they need for daily life: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/mar/15/disability-cuts-cutbacks-destroy-independent-living-budget
 
* A new multi-year international storytelling project is collecting stories about disability, beginning with students in Ireland – to learn more about The Magic Chair check out http://www.themagicchair.org/
 
* Gardiner Comfort is an actor with Tourette’s syndrome – he says his success is due to “owning his disorder” in a career that requires timing and discipline (video has no captions or audio description): http://www.greatbigstory.com/stories/gardiner-comfort-tourettes-actor
 
* March is Deaf History Month, and Sorenson Video Relay Service has a set of interviews with Deaf leaders to teach about Deaf history (videos are captioned for non-signers but have no audio): http://www.sorensonvrs.com/dhm_march_2016
 
* A BBC reporter got a message calling her a “pretty cripple,” and she started an investigation into people who are sexually aroused by disability and seek out people with disabilities as partners: http://www.bbc.com/news/disability-35762887
 
* Nike is expanding its line of shoes for kids and adults with disabilities: https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2016/03/16/nike-expands-shoe-lineup/22048/
 
* The National Football League has formally acknowledged the link between football and the brain disease CTE: http://www.bbc.com/sport/american-football/35809485
 
* Women Enabled International created a new Women’s Global Disability Rights Advocacy Report after surveying groups around the world – you can learn more via links on their home page at http://womenenabled.org/index.html
 
* Etgar Keret wrote a short verse called “Asthma” and Frances Cannon put it into graphic form (no text description available) – you can see it at http://electricliterature.com/read-etgar-kerets-asthma-as-a-one-page-illustration/
 
* No longer “driving a Lamborghini in first gear” is how David Bauer describes learning about his ADHD diagnosis and starting medication after being fired from a law firm: http://www.additudemag.com/adhdblogs/30/11807.html
 
* Blogger Martand Jha from India writes in the Huffington Post about the need to focus on disability in international relations, and the consequences of neglecting this huge population: http://www.huffingtonpost.in/martand-jha/do-differentlyabled-peopl_b_9458826.html
 
 
 
 
 
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, AHEAD, or the National Center for College Students with Disabilities agree with everything in these links we send out - we're just passing along the information so you can form your own opinions.  Thanks.