DREAM Weekly: November 12-18, 2017

DREAM Weekly Update on Issues Related to Disability and Higher Education
Week of November 12-18, 2017

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)
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Disability and higher education in the news (in no particular order):
 
* ”Willing, Able, and Forgotten” is the title of a Hechinger series on college students with disabilities: http://hechingerreport.org/special-reports/willing-able-forgotten/?utm_source=The+Hechinger+Report&utm_campaign=801e06f003-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_11_16&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d3ee4c3e04-801e06f003-322571105
 
* The University of Toronto has proposed a new policy that gives administrators unprecedented authority to place any student with mental health issues on an involuntary leave of absence, raising concerns from students, community groups, and campus organizations: https://thevarsity.ca/2017/11/12/breaking-down-the-university-mandated-leave-of-absence-policy/
 
* Oberlin College administrators don’t always share campus climate data with students, so the student Senate handed out its own survey about retention and campus climate (with donuts for all participants); questions included feedback about mental health and disability resources: https://oberlinreview.org/14997/uncategorized/student-senate-holds-first-annual-constituents-week/
 
* Justin Farmer is the son of West Indian immigrants, 23 years old, and a student at Southern Connecticut State University with Tourette Syndrome, but after elections last week, he is also a member of the Hamden City Council: http://wnpr.org/post/farmer-fifth-college-student-wins-hamden-municipal-election
 
* Mental health for college students of diverse racial, ethnic, class, and immigration backgrounds was the topic of the ” Young, Gifted & @ Risk” forum sponsored by the Steve Fund: http://diverseeducation.com/article/105130/
 
* A student with anxiety, depression, ADHD and dyslexia learned to “lean in” to her disabilities in order to manage academics and life at Kansas State University: http://hechingerreport.org/student-voice-one-college-student-found-success-leaning-dyslexia/
 
* The Community College Consortium on Autism and Intellectual Disabilities raised money for students that actually paid for mortgages, oceanfront property, and a vacation in Jamaica for David Miller and his wife Lynn Wallis, two long-time Democratic lobbyists indicted on multiple charges of embezzlement, fraud, and identity theft: http://freebeacon.com/politics/firm-fires-dem-lobbyist-indicted-embezzlement-misusing-autism-charity-funds/
 
* Para-swimmer Grace Harvey, a student at the UK’s University of Manchester, broke the European record from the 200M Individual Medley: http://mancunion.com/2017/11/16/manchester-swimmer-breaks-european-record/
 
* The National Deaf Center on Postsecondary Outcomes has released several videos related to their research, employment, and high expectations for Deaf people (all are captioned but not audio described): https://www.facebook.com/nationaldeafcenter/
 
* 20-year old autistic college student Macauely Elvin released a charity single “Hollow” to raise money for anti-bullying initiatives (video is not captioned or audio described): https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-views/watch-autistic-student-releases-song-support-bullied-teens
 
* The Ivory Coast’s polio survivors need wheelchairs, as University of Nebraska-Lincoln international student Konan Blaise knows from personal experience; now he and the campus Rotaract club (the college version of Rotary) are raising money to help 10 children get the chairs they need: http://journalstar.com/news/local/cindy-lange-kubick-when-he-could-not-walk-his-mother/article_d29c714b-0efb-52fe-a483-af3aa39617f4.html
 
* Black queer woman professor Moya Bailey has been a nondisabled disability studies ally, but after acquiring a chronic illness herself, she also acquired new perspectives on disability and race in higher education: https://www.thesociologicalreview.com/blog/race-and-disability-in-the-academy.html
 
* The University of Washington is helping student athletes deal with stress and mental health, while balancing their needs with NCAA Division I rules about medication: https://badgerherald.com/features/2017/11/14/uw-athletes-uhs-officials-look-for-ways-to-tackle-mental-health-issues/
 
* Doctors found a liver donor for St. Cloud State University professor Bel Kambach, and they were both excited about the match and their shared Latin identity, but the donor decided not to go forward, leaving Kambach trying to be understanding but wondering if they’ll find another donor in time: http://www.sctimes.com/story/news/local/2017/11/17/liver-donor-drops-out-professor-wonders-if-shell-make/872843001/
 
* Chinese universities fight rising HIV rates by offering HIV test kits in campus vending machines: http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/2120017/chinese-university-offers-hiv-test-kits-vending-machine
 
* Undergraduate student Esther Leighton submitted complaints about 28 businesses near her Homerton College campus in the UK, and one café closed after not being able to pay the £10,000 ordered by the courts; now some local disability activists are unhappy about what she’s doing: http://www.tcs.cam.ac.uk/news/0037935-mill-road-s-carlos-cafe-closes-after-disability-court-case.html
 
* Sara Scalenghe at Loyola University Maryland will host a summer institute on disability history after receiving a $210,000 grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities: http://www.loyola.edu/news/2017/1114-sara-scalenghe-neh-grant
 
* Not even 1% of India’s 50,000+ campuses are accessible to people with disabilities, despite laws that were supposed to increase access to higher education: http://www.hindustantimes.com/editorials/with-not-even-one-per-cent-being-disabled-friendly-colleges-are-difficult-to-access-for-many/story-zfemcOhIWQhxiAVT1YNwWK.html
 
* New rankings by “College Choice” ranks the best colleges for students with autism, with Syracuse University ranking #1: https://www.collegechoice.net/rankings/best-colleges-for-students-with-autism
 
* What happens when a Division I swimmer and former head swimming coach suddenly develops epilepsy and can’t swim unsupervised?  Bryana Cielo shares her story: https://swimswam.com/epilepsy-diagnosis-affected-swimming-career/
 
* Only 57 restrooms in Michigan State University’s 545 buildings are all-gender and wheelchair accessible, according to the student reporters who decided to find out more about accessible bathrooms on campus: http://statenews.com/article/2017/11/all-gender-restrooms
 
* Calories posted on dining hall menus comply with new federal regulations, but the University of Mary Washington student newspaper has raised concerns about explicit caloric counts triggering symptoms in students with eating disorders: http://blueandgraypress.com/2017/11/16/calorie-information-at-dining-hall-follows-federal-regulations-but-could-be-triggering/
 
* As cold weather arrives, up to 30% of college students experience depression or Seasonal Affective Disorder during the winter months, but campuses can offer support: http://citycollegenews.com/2017/11/17/seasonal-affective-disorder-causes-depression-for-many-minnesotans/
 
* What happens when one sorority sister’s service dog causes a different sorority member to have asthma attacks and life-threatening symptoms?  A judge is deciding this Ohio State University case of two sorority sisters with conflicting disability-related needs: http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/16/us/sorority-sister-dog-dispute-trnd/index.html
 
* A Harvard writing tutor wonders if there’s truly a clear line between academics and mental health issues, and if the distinction is really working for anyone: https://harvardmagazine.com/2017/11/writing-blocked
 
* Students with intellectual and developmental disabilities can have an inclusive experience at the University of Rochester through the TOUR program (Transition Opportunities at the University of Rochester) (video is captioned but not audio described): http://www.rochester.edu/pr/Review/V79N6/0503_tour.html
 
* “The Stigma Project” is a new documentary by Shippensburg University professors Allison Carey and Dara Bourassa, which aims to spread knowledge about people with disabilities and reduce stigma: http://www.theslateonline.com/article/2017/11/event-aims-to-end-disability-stigmas
 
* The British Dyslexia Association and British students are fighting back against what they call discrimination in disability documentation rules, showing that dyslexic students need to be re-assessed when they enter college, but other students with disabilities can use existing disability documentation to qualify for disability services: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-41974606
 
* He died of cancer last year, without health insurance because he was an adjunct at the University of South Florida, but Robert Ryan’s fight for an adjunct faculty union and adjunct health insurance continues: http://www.tampabay.com/news/education/college/In-union-push-at-USF-adjunct-professors-strive-for-more-respect-and-a-living-wage_162644741?elqTrackId=df7a01d18c504671bc7fd04268ebb5ea&elq=9bf788fcdb714a8f82ee9b62a6aefbe0&elqaid=16755&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=7238
 
* Getting a PhD as a woman with a chronic illness required support from friends and peers at other universities, but professors on her own campus told her she would need to be “superficially superhuman” to survive and there was little support: https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2017/nov/17/academic-colleagues-where-was-your-support-for-my-chronic-illness
 
* Disability studies rhetoric bibliographies, teaching resources, and syllabi are part of a “Disability Rhetoric” curated website maintained by Dev Bose at the University of Arizona and other members of the Standing Group on Disability Studies at the Conference on College Composition (CCCC): https://disabilityrhetoric.com/resources/
 
* The Tufts University student newspaper calls out Tufts’ Student Accessibility Services over a lack of campus accessibility, bureaucratic problems, and communication issues: https://tuftsdaily.com/opinion/editorial/2017/11/15/students-stories-highlight-accessibility-service-issues/
 
* Doctoral student Doron Dorfman arrived at Stanford five years ago and was surprised there were no disability scholars, but this year he fixed the problem by introducing a new course called “Introduction to Disability Studies and Disability Rights:” https://www.stanforddaily.com/2017/11/15/classy-classes-human-rights-class-explores-disabilities-studies/
 
* University of Miami students share their experiences with chronic illness, including the pressure to keep their illness private because people don’t understand what they face on a daily basis: https://www.themiamihurricane.com/2017/11/13/students-with-invisible-illnesses-cope-with-stigma-in-college/
 
* Things are heating up at the University of Buffalo over alleged mishandling of a professor’s tenure case; the former professor now has a serious health condition and no disability benefits or health insurance that covers costs of outpatient care: http://www.ubspectrum.com/article/2017/11/tension-between-faculty-and-administration-grows-as-censure-vote-approaches
 
* The University of Washington is an internationally respected leader in diabetes research, but student Andy Zeiger realized they didn’t have supports for UW students with diabetes, so he helped set up what he needed while helping other students, as well: http://www.dailyuw.com/wellness/article_4db97024-ca7e-11e7-ae2c-1fe9397a456d.html
 
* A student at Binghamton University in New York wrote a scathing editorial condemning emotional support animals as harmful to the academic environment, suggesting students who need them should “re-evaluate their mental health situation:” https://www.bupipedream.com/opinions/88659/emotional-support-animals-dont-belong-on-campuses/
 
* Harvard staged “Frank Steins” about a man with physical disabilities and his community, but a review in The Harvard Crimson questions whether the “staging of disability” should have cast disabled characters or changed its approach, which is “downright skeevy to watch”: http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2017/11/15/frank-steins/
 
* Boston University is celebrating high graduation rates for students with disabilities, bucking national trends: http://dailyfreepress.com/2017/11/14/students-with-disabilities-face-dismal-graduation-rates-but-not-at-bu/
 
* Another lawsuit was filed related to concussions and football, this time by the estate of former North Carolina football player Ryan Hoffman, who are suing the Atlantic Coast Conference and the NCAA: http://gearsofbiz.com/ex-unc-players-estate-sues-acc-ncaa-over-concussions/206435
 
* A diaper fetish or a disability?  The former director of human rights and workplace safety filed a complaint against Vancouver Island University in Canada, alleging that it failed to protect several women on campus from a male student in his 40s who says he is “special needs and three [years old]” so should not be treated as an adult: http://www.sacbee.com/news/nation-world/world/article184769823.html
 
* Students with disabilities face many more living expenses than nondisabled students, so the student association at Carleton University in Canada is starting a crowdfunding campaign to raise awareness and money to help: http://charlatan.ca/2017/11/cusa-to-crowdfund-for-accessible-housing/
 
* A student is getting great services at the University of Texas-Austin, so he wonders – why can’t all universities in the Texas higher ed system go beyond the minimum required by law? http://www.dailytexanonline.com/2017/11/12/uts-ssd-sets-an-example-for-other-schools-to-follow
 
* Floyd Morris is a junior minister in the Jamaican Government and he runs the Centre for Disabilities Studies at the University of the West Indies, but he most recently celebrated getting his doctorate in a country where disability access is often an afterthought: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/commentary/20171113/editorial-enabling-disabled
 
* In response to a student editorial complaining about the lack of transparency regarding an Office of Civil Rights complaint, the Provost responds with an open letter saying that Simmons College agrees with the findings and is working to make the campus better for students with disabilities: https://simmonsvoice.com/2017/11/15/letter-to-the-editor-nov-8-editorial/
 
 
And a few related items of possible interest to college students:

* “How will the Deaf person wake up in the morning?”  “Isn’t it amazing when Deaf people go to the food court at the mall?”  An Ai-Media video mocks hearing employers who don’t get it and shows what interpreters wish they could say in response (video has captions but no audio description): https://www.facebook.com/search/str/Ai-Media+no+filter/stories-keyword/stories-public?esd=eyJlc2lkIjoiUzpfSTIwODI1NTU5OTIxOTpWSzoxMDE1NTExMDgyOTkxOTIyMCIsInBzaWQiOnsiMjA4MjU1NTk5MjE5OjEwMTU1MTEwODI5OTE5MjIwIjoiVXpwZlNUSXdPREkxTlRVNU9USXhPVHBXU3pveE1ERTFOVEV4TURneU9Ua3hPVEl5TUE9PSJ9LCJjcmN0IjoibWVkaWEiLCJjc2lkIjoiYmFiZGE4MTY3NTYwNjgyNGZlMjBkMTRjNDlmMzY3M2EifQ%3D%3D
 
* A world where everyone has a disability and nondisabled people are “duds” treated with prejudice?  That’s the world of “Jeremy the Dud,” a 20-minute film published in Australia (video has captions but no audio description): https://themighty.com/2017/11/jeremy-the-dud-stigma-people-disabilities-face/  
 
* “This is What It’s Really Like to Have ADHD” video shares perspectives of people of all ages who have ADHD (video is open captioned but not audio described): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji0hg1LduU8
 
* Millennials are the first generation educated after the ADA passed and they are more likely to report a mental health condition than Gen Xers and Baby Boomers, but they still have fears about discrimination in the workplace: https://www.inc.com/sylvia-ann-hewlett/millennials-with-disabilities-a-large-invisible-talent-cohort-with-innovative-potential.html
 
* The number of disability hate crimes has dropped for the second year in a row, even as the number of hate crimes overall is rising in the U.S.: https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2017/11/14/fbi-reports-drop-hate-crimes/24430/
 
* The BBC asked seven people with disabilities to keep “disability diaries” of everyday life: https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/nov/15/whats-life-really-like-for-disabled-peopld-disability-diaries-reveal-all
 
* A 12-year old girl from Colorado who has epilepsy joined a group of plaintiffs suing Jeff Sessions, the Department of Justice, and the Drug Enforcement Agency for not allowing medical marijuana in all states (video is captioned but has no audio description): http://abcnews.go.com/US/jeff-sessions-sued-12-year-girl-epilepsy-legalize/story?id=51098947
 
* Blind women from Ethiopia and India discuss disability, religion, travel, and other experiences in their home countries (podcast with no transcript): http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3csvs1x
 
* Aaron Holzmueller is a senior in high school and an elite Parlympic runner with cerebral palsy, and he is suing for the right to compete in Illinois high school state track meets: https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2017/11/14/runner-cerebral-palsy-compete/24424/
 
* Ukraine society used to hide away people with disabilities, but Ukrainian veterans with disabilities are winning medals in international disability sporting events, and changing perceptions of disability back home: https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2017/1117/Wounded-vets-force-disability-rethink-in-Ukraine
 
* A new study suggests that exposure to feminist theory’s ideas of empowerment and body positivity can have a positive effect on people dealing with eating disorders: http://dailycaller.com/2017/11/14/study-feminism-could-solve-eating-disorders/
 
* Singapore photographer Isabelle Lim has physical disabilities and is deaf, and she is getting worldwide attention for her photography: https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/living-grace-through-lens-photographer-born-disability
 
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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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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.