DREAM Weekly: Sept. 30-Oct. 6, 2018

​DREAM Weekly on Disability and Higher Education in the News: September 30-October 6, 2018

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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Just a reminder: the DREAM Weekly Email just has highlights from the news  – to access the full version:

• Read the attached Word document (with active links)
• Visit our visual and graphic-based version of the news at http://www.nccsdonline.org/news.html
• Read the news online with searchable archives at https://www.dreamcollegedisability.org/this-weeks-news-in-disability-and-higher-education

 
Having trouble accessing an article?  Check with your campus library or reach out to us (NCCSD@ahead.org).
 
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Disability and higher education in the news (in no particular order):
 
* Self-described “queer disabled woman” and Trent University student Tessa Smith created chatability.org, an online forum for Canadian college students with disabilities to connect and fight for disability rights: https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/disability-as-superpower-for-tessa-smith
 
* Students at the University of Manchester in the UK have voted to stop clapping at events and instead do British Sign Language “clapping” by waving their hands, to better accommodate people with anxiety or sensory disabilities: https://globalnews.ca/news/4512283/jazz-hands-to-replace-clapping/  and https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-45729031  
 
* The ACT is no longer flagging any information about students’ disabilities, after a lawsuit by students: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/high_school_and_beyond/2018/10/act_stops_flagging_scores_of_students_with_disabilities.html
 
* California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed Senate Bill 968 requiring all California state universities and community colleges to have at least one full-time mental health counselor per 1500 students, as well as evaluation of mental health resources every three years: http://dailybruin.com/2018/10/05/gov-brown-vetoes-bill-imposing-quotas-for-mental-health-staff-at-universities/
 
* AnnCatherine Heigl, a sophomore with Down syndrome in George Mason University’s LIFE Program, was not invited to join during rush week:

• The sororities on campus aren’t saying much about the situation: https://www.thecollegefix.com/sororities-quiet-after-student-with-down-syndrome-doesnt-get-a-single-callback/
• Inside Higher Education uses the Heigl case to ask whether diversity and inclusion efforts extend to students with disabilities, and whether Greek organizations should be exclusive if their universities are pursuing inclusion: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/10/02/sororities-reject-student-down-syndrome-calling-diversity-pledge-question?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=b4b172b4e9-DNU_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-b4b172b4e9-198891893&mc_cid=b4b172b4e9&mc_eid=a51c972f65

 
* More universities are turning to technology for college counseling, but experts say campuses need to keep in-person counseling services and ask questions about who is developing these products: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/10/05/colleges-turn-wellness-app-address-student-mental-health
 
* With a few glitches, Oberlin College has a new information management system, a dis/ability student organization, and a dis/ability Solidarity Wing – just some of the disability-related changes at Oberlin College, mostly spear-headed by students with disabilities: https://oberlinreview.org/17030/news/students-staff-chart-new-course-for-accessibility-at-oberlin/
 
* Deaf Bingo in ASL is becoming one of the most popular events for Texas Tech’s annual Disability Awareness Week: http://www.dailytoreador.com/lavida/student-disability-services-hosts-deaf-bingo-as-part-of-disability/article_0b01283c-c783-11e8-92d9-476eb550c61c.html
 
* University of Minnesota professor David Perry writes about the day Anthony Bourdain died, and his realization that it was time to get help for his depression: https://psmag.com/social-justice/how-i-discovered-my-depression
 
* Cornell University plans to spend approximately $60 million over the next five years to recruit more diverse faculty, with a definition of “diversity” that includes disability studies professors: https://cornellsun.com/2018/10/03/provost-announces-plan-to-divert-more-spending-towards-recruiting-more-diverse-faculty/
 
* Kansas University is setting up Mentoring Circles for Disability Inclusion for employees: http://humanresources.ku.edu/university-kansas-mentoring-circles-disability-inclusion-program
 
* A new “InclusAbility” campaign at Vanderbilt University will celebrate diversity among people with disabilities and work toward greater equity for students, staff and faculty with disabilities: https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2018/09/28/inclusability-campaign-to-bring-awareness-more-inclusive-lens-to-disability-identities/
 
* Oakland University alum and Syracuse University staff member Micah Fialka-Feldman is getting media attention for his role in the film Intelligent Lives, which questions what society calls “intelligence”: https://thejewishnews.com/2018/10/04/intelligent-lives-michah-fialka-feldman/ and https://www.detroitnews.com/story/entertainment/2018/10/03/intelligent-lives/1497504002/
 
* Coming out as a dyslexic has been a truly profound experience,” says “The Dyslexic Professor” Nigel Lockett at Lancaster University in the UK: https://www.lep.co.uk/news/education/professor-who-was-the-laughing-stock-of-classroom-1-9381371
 
* Six former University of British Columbia staff members have filed disability discrimination complaints, leading the union to complain of “systemic” issues and the need for a “just cause” clause in contracts so the university must have valid reasons for terminating employment: https://www.vernonmorningstar.com/news/six-ubc-employees-allege-discrimination-based-on-disability-pregnancy/
 
* Jessica Grono, an Edinboro University alumna with cerebral palsy, talks about the end of a 40-year program on campus that provided attendant care, transportation, and other services to students with physical disabilities: https://cerebralpalsynewstoday.com/2018/10/02/cerebral-palsy-college-attendant-care-program-opens-doors/
 
* JPMorgan Chase provided a 10-year grant to the University of Delaware to launch Spectrum Scholars, a college-to-career program for students with autism that also trains university and local business professionals about working with people who have autism: https://www.engr.udel.edu/news/2018/10/spectrum-scholars/
 
* After hearing about a massacre of disabled people in Japan, Long Beach State University senior Christiana Koch was inspired to talk about her autism, become a disability activist on campus, and set up a Students with Disabilities at Large student group: http://www.daily49er.com/news/2018/09/30/christiana-koch-advocates-for-people-with-disabilities/
 
* For the fifth year in a row, rivals Michigan State and the University of Michigan joined together for “Alex’s Great State Race,” which raises funding and awareness for disability resource offices on both campuses: https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2018/in-state-rivals-work-together-to-raise-awareness-for-disabilities/
 
* Students at the University of Delhi were not pleased with how visually impaired students were treated during an event promoting the new Hindu film AndhaDhun, which is a mystery featuring a blind pianist and his love interest: https://edtimes.in/miranda-students-not-happy-with-insensitive-promotion-of-the-movie-andhadhun-in-their-college/
 
* The latest issue of Mobility International’s A World Awaits You shares stories about engaging students with disabilities in study abroad: http://www.miusa.org/resource/booksjournalspodcasts/awaychampions
 
* Natalie Prizel, a lecturer in Victorian literature, queer studies, and disability studies, has joined the Princeton Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts, which will allow her to teach half time at Princeton while pursuing research projects: https://www.princeton.edu/news/2018/10/01/five-scholars-join-society-fellows-liberal-arts
 
* Rachel Gallardo founded the College Diabetes Network (also known as the Broken Pancreas Club) at Appalachian State, in addition to being in the marching band and the Hispanic Student Association – now she can add “Top of the Rock” (the equivalent of Homecoming Queen) to her list of accomplishments: https://www.wataugademocrat.com/community/gallardo-named-top-of-the-rock/article_3338a8ae-da84-5a57-9166-c1e7e477a468.html
 
* The Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination hearings raised the issue of college drinking; Psychology Today takes a look at how college drinking can lead to long-term disabilities and illnesses, as well as resources for those who need help (additional contacts are available at the Crisis Resources page at the NCCSD’s Clearinghouse at www.NCCSDClearinghouse.org): https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/changepower/201810/kavanaugh-hearings-shine-light-college-alcohol-abuse
 
* Students with chronic illnesses at the University of Iowa now have the Chronic Illness Alliance, a new student organization that will offer support: https://dailyiowan.com/2018/10/04/new-ui-organization-seeks-to-build-community-for-students-affected-by-chronic-illness/
 
* George Washington University agreed to improve online accessibility and staff training by October 1 of this year, but the Department of Education has agreed to shift the deadline to January 15, for reasons that are not being made public: https://www.gwhatchet.com/2018/10/04/gw-pushes-first-federal-deadline-to-improve-online-accessibility/
 
* Eating disorders are on the rise, and they often begin during college: https://www.moms.com/eating-disorders-college/
 
* Syracuse University will begin a campus-wide review of digital accessibility: http://dailyorange.com/2018/10/su-administrators-trying-make-tech-platforms-accessible/
 
 
 
A Few Other Items of Possible Interest:
* With a cuteness warning, here’s a story of Stephen the turtle with a cracked shell, and his little Lego wheelchair developed by a vet student: https://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/with-help-from-u-of-s-vet-student-lego-wheelchair-gets-turtle-crawling-again
 
* A new art exhibit in Chicago explores how the city’s artists fueled its disability rights activism: http://www.chicagomag.com/arts-culture/October-2018/How-Artists-Helped-Propel-Chicagos-Disability-Rights-Movement/#/0
 
* After collecting more than 140 testimonies, the Disability Visibility Project, under the leadership of Alice Wong, is now publishing a new anthology, working to get out the vote and change policy, and more: https://progressive.org/dispatches/stories-for-us-and-by-us-disability-rights-activists-181002/
 
* Homeland Security issued a disturbing report about a California immigration jail, including serious concerns about immigrants’ mental and physical health (fyi – the article contains graphic descriptions of conditions in the jail): https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nooses-rotting-teeth-and-neglect-inspectors-find-dismal-conditions-at-california-immigration-jail/2018/10/02/38adb5a8-c679-11e8-9158-09630a6d8725_story.html?utm_term=.fe54b753963b
 
* How “Mad” Are You? Is a new Australian reality show with ten people with and without mental illness who live together while three experts try to figure out who actually has mental illnesses: https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/how-mad-are-you-review-mental-health-deserves-more-than-a-reality-show-20181001-h162yy.html
 
* Disability activist Rebecca Cokley talks about the need for a #MeToo conversation in the little person community during Dwarfism Awareness Month: https://medium.com/@rebecca.cokley/damn-metoo-f428cdc404a7
 
* Actresses Emma Stone (https://www-m.cnn.com/2018/10/02/entertainment/emma-stone-anxiety/index.html) and Keira Knightley (https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-45758416) are opening up about their struggles with mental and emotional illnesses
 
* Former Miss Iowa and Miss America contestant Nicole Kelly used to call her disability a “difference,” but being with people who passed the Americans with Disabilities Act changed her attitude about the word “disability:” https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/higher_education/former-miss-america-contestant-uses-disability-to-advocate-for-others/article_144e19e4-c734-11e8-980c-df6c22ce48db.html
 
* A new publishing house, Oleb Books, will focus on publishing works by authors with disabilities:  https://themighty.com/2018/10/belo-cipriani-oleb-books-disability-publishing-house/
 
* President Donald Trump suggested that veterans suffering from PTSD are not as “strong” as those who can “handle it”: https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-veteran-ptsd-suicide-strong-handle-it-172839989.html
 

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For more information about DREAM or AHEAD contact Wendy Harbour (wendy@ahead.org).
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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).