DREAM Weekly: June 24-30, 2018

​Summer Edition: DREAM Weekly on Disability and Higher Education in the News: June 24-30, 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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Disability and higher education in the news (in no particular order):
 
* Student-run mental health clubs and organizations are making a big difference in changing the campus climate and helping students get services they need, says a new research study: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/06/28/college-students-are-forming-mental-health-clubs-and-theyre-making-a-difference/?utm_term=.5fd5704bb708&wpisrc=nl_sb_smartbrief
 
* From 25 programs in 2004 to 270 this fall, the number of inclusive higher education programs for students with intellectual disabilities has rapidly increased with state and federal support: http://www.philly.com/philly/education/the-choice-should-be-there-more-colleges-enroll-students-with-intellectual-disabilities-20180625.html
 
* Carleton University student Hannah MacLellan successfully lobbied for Prince Edward Island to remove the word “handicapped” from five different pieces of legislation: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-hannahs-bill-more-1.4718678
 
* Members of Congress have introduced a bill for the Higher Education Mental Health Commission Act, to set up a commission studying mental health concerns of college students in the U.S.: http://www.lewistownsentinel.com/news/local-news/2018/06/casey-colleagues-look-to-improve-access-to-mental-health-services/
 
* Despite criticism from students and the Ontario Human Rights Commission, the University of Toronto approved a controversial policy that could require students with mental health issues to take a mandatory leave of absence: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/toronto/article-university-of-toronto-approves-criticized-student-leave-of-absence/?cmpid=rss
 
* Bianca Martinez, editor-in-chief and author of “Bianca Bitches” at Cerritos College offers frank and irreverent advice for student mental health, including advice about not self-diagnosing with WebMD and not assuming self-care is all “face masks and bath bombs:” https://www.talonmarks.com/college-life/arts-entertainment/2018/06/22/bianca-bitches-how-to-maintain-mental-health/
 
* Netflix’s captioning has been censored and simplified on “Queer Eye” and other shows, prompting film student Chrissy Marshall to join Queer Eye star Karamo Brown and other activists in demanding change: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-44643667
 
* Changes in laws for medical marijuana are challenging colleges and universities that must comply with federal regulations to keep their funding: https://www.law.com/thelegalintelligencer/2018/06/28/medical-marijuana-and-the-effect-of-legalization-on-college-campuses/?slreturn=20180529151454
 
* More than 70% of college faculty and staff do not feel equipped to deal with student veterans showing signs of psychological distress: http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2018/06/29/survey-campus-supports-student-veterans
 
* Professor Julie-Ann Scott-Pollock is challenging ableism through performance ethnography, and you can learn more about her work with a new podcast on public radio (transcript not available): http://whqr.org/post/coastline-understanding-disability-through-performance-ethnography#stream/0
 
* #CountAllStudents is encouraging campuses to participate in the Student Achievement Measure project to better track retention data for students who transfer, take breaks, or take leaves of absence: https://www.universitybusiness.com/article/campaign-seeks-track-college-students-omitted-federal-graduation-rates
 
* The University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public Health will no longer be named after Thomas Parran Jr who headed up the Tuskegee syphilis study and other studies “fundamentally at odds with the university’s core values”: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/06/29/pitt-moves-rename-building-public-health-school-which-honors-disgraced-scientist?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=f4e72a43da-WNU_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-f4e72a43da-225808461&mc_cid=f4e72a43da&mc_eid=d5645fe552
 
* ABLE Accounts help people with disabilities save money for college and other needs, but 390,000 people need to open accounts if the program can survive: https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2018/06/28/able-jeopardy-advocates-warn/25251/
 
* College student Kayla McKeon is also the first registered Capitol Hill lobbyist with Down syndrome: https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2018/06/26/new-first-lobbyist-down-syndrome/25237/
 
* An economics professor at Ohio University writes in Forbes that higher ed bureaucracy is “expanding the number of disabled, disrupting and diluting the educational experience” of nondisabled students, suggesting disabled students get “special privileges” with accommodations: https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardvedder/2018/06/26/disability-accommodation-on-campus-some-unintended-consequences/#32533cb1fc1d
 
* CTE is showing up in an increasing number of college athletes, even though 20% of them have never had a diagnosed concussion: http://www.thedailyworld.com/sports/increasing-number-of-young-athletes-like-tyler-hilinski-suffering-from-cte/
 
* Dennis Lang, a founder of the disability studies program at the University of Washington, has passed away at age 61 – the Society of Disability Studies has posted an article with more about his work and a scholarship in his name: http://www.washington.edu/news/2008/11/20/dennis-lang-the-activist-behind-disability-studies-at-the-uw/
 
* The state of Virginia will pay $525,000 to a former wrestler at Old Dominion University, settling a lawsuit that alleged a lack of medical treatment for multiple concussions: https://pilotonline.com/sports/college/old-dominion/article_48158678-7bb6-11e8-8662-eb4628586da4.html
 
* In the wake of sexual abuse scandals with team doctors, many universities are changing policies to require chaperones during exams of female athletes: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/college-abuse-scandals-put-sports-doctors-under-new-scrutiny-n886336
 
* The University of Washington has created an exhibit about disability and campus disability resources to coincide with national Special Olympics games on campus this summer: http://www.dailyuw.com/news/article_72b26806-7814-11e8-95bf-6744f4e0e542.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).