DREAM Weekly, Disability and Higher Education in the News: October 22-28, 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) ------------------------------- Weekly Update on Issues Related to Disability and Higher Education Week of October 22-28, 2017 ------------------------------- Disability and higher education in the news (in no particular order): * Grinnell College faculty and students received a grant from the campus for an Innovation Inspires Inclusion project to train six student leaders, two staff, and two faculty members on conducted accessibility user reviews of the campus programs and spaces, while also expanding access awareness and expertise to others on campus: http://www.thesandb.com/article/autumn-wilke-and-professor-eliza-willis-awarded-grant-to-improve-campus-accessibility.html * After advocacy by numerous student groups, the Abilities Hub is opening at Stanford University, a designated space for people with and without disabilities to “come together, socialize, study, and hold events”: https://www.stanforddaily.com/2017/10/24/assu-led-disabilities-week-to-culminate-in-launch-of-abilities-hub/ * 60 campuses that are members of Universities Canada have adopted principles committing them to identify and remove barriers for women, visible minorities, indigenous people, and people with disabilities – in hiring practices, leadership roles, and the student body: https://globalnews.ca/news/3826078/canadian-universities-diversity-accessibility/ * Alan Goldstein and his NYU engineering course is about disability, with people who have disabilities, making collaborative films, and that innovation has won him recognition from the Chronicle of Higher Education as one of “10 Classroom Trailblazers” in the U.S.: http://www.chronicle.com/article/Alan-Goldstein-Makes/241484?cid=cp156 * Three staff from Syracuse University talk about their experiences with mental and emotional health issues in a short film, and their advice for students who might be experiencing similar situations or struggles (film is captioned but not audio described): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GySqG2Dowo&feature=youtu.be * Taking an ASL course? Here’s a humorous guide for what NOT to do when you are making a video in ASL for homework and tests (no captions or audio description for the non-signing, but most sighted non-signers will still appreciate it): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOIILzYgxTk * Students are fighting back and raising awareness at the University Limpopo in South Africa, widely regarded as having some of the best disability services in the country – with students saying that from their experience, the services are not working: https://mg.co.za/article/2017-10-27-00-students-say-disability-friendlyvarsity-is-anything-but * Lake Washington Institute of Technology in Kirkland, Washington, has opened a new RISE Center that puts programming and support services for all traditionally under-represented and underserved groups together, including services for students with disabilities, so students can build inter-cultural competence and community: http://www.kirklandreporter.com/news/lwtechs-rise-center-creates-an-inclusive-space-for-students/ * Ada Palmer, professor at the University of Chicago, won science fiction’s prestigious “Best New Writer” Campbell award at the Hugo Awards in Finland, and used her speech to publicly discuss her disabilities of Crohn’s disease and PCOS for the first time (full text of her speech available at this link): https://www.exurbe.com/?p=4269 *Many colleges still do not accept American Sign Language in fulfillment of the foreign language requirement, even though it is a “real” language, and Deaf Syracuse University student Kate Corbett Pollack asks why this is still happening: https://petroleusesletter.wordpress.com/2017/10/23/yes-sign-language-is-a-real-language-on-american-sign-language-asl-and-academic-language-credits/ * Sexual assault is not viewed as a “disability issue,” but it is, meaning any government actions on Title IX could have a disproportionate effect on college students with disabilities: https://rewire.news/article/2017/10/24/betsy-devos-title-ix-actions-will-hurt-students-disabilities/ * Yeshiva University has launched Makor College Experience Program to give young men with intellectual disabilities an inclusive college experience within a Modern Orthodox Jewish community: http://yucommentator.org/2017/10/makor-college-experience-caters-students-intellectual-disabilities/ * Disabled veteran Will Milzarski is permanently disabled, so the government forgave his student loans, but sent him a $70,000 bill for federal and state taxes, interest, and penalties; hr is one of many people discovering that student loan disability “forgiveness” doesn’t always mean zero debt: http://www.theblaze.com/news/2017/10/20/wounded-and-disabled-this-veteran-is-burdened-by-loan-forgiveness-taxes/ * After discovering a community venue could not be made accessible for an upcoming show, a Cambridge University theatre group in England has asked university students to boycott the theatre and started a petition for the situation to be “rectified as quickly as possible”: https://www.varsity.co.uk/news/13822 * A student death on campus, and professors are left wondering what to do – an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education has advice for professors about how to help students deal with death, tragedy, and their own emotional responses: http://www.chronicle.com/article/What-to-Say-After-a-Student/241534?cid=cc&utm_source=cc&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=94d5511bbad04985a465cf8ce1b97f05&elq=66c81c1481ab4c63ad71da69fc782927&elqaid=16234&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=7019 * A new “Diversability” student group has started at Albion College in Michigan, emphasizing diversity and intersectionality of people with disabilities while still focusing on disability: http://www.albionpleiad.com/2017/10/diversability-an-interest-group/ * At Reedley College, a community college in California, the campus had a Human Library event that included “books” with disabilities, to encourage dialogue and intersectional conversations between people who may not normally talk to each other: http://kvpr.org/post/which-book-would-you-take-out-human-library * Applications just to get into student organizations? On-campus recruiters for jobs? One professor at the University of Pennsylvania says campuses can take a hard look at the ways they needlessly perpetuate stress and competition while contributing to student anxiety: http://www.chronicle.com/article/High-Anxiety-How-Can-We-Save/241519?cid=cc&utm_source=cc&utm_medium=en&elqTrackId=1ca4d3f0d9c1496e8bf129322eb57b78&elq=66c81c1481ab4c63ad71da69fc782927&elqaid=16234&elqat=1&elqCampaignId=7019 * After DeVos and the U.S. Department of Education rescinded 72 policy documents related to transition and special education, they continue to insist it will have no effect on policy or special education implementation, but one journalist writes that it doesn’t matter – the lack of communication about the rollbacks and advocates’ continual worries about disability protections is problematic enough: https://psmag.com/education/betsy-devos-rolls-back-disability-rights * Collin Diedrich says his learning disabilities make him a better scientific researcher, even though his doctoral advisor had suggested a career in business might be a better option than microbiology: http://science.sciencemag.org/content/358/6362/558 * $6 million renovations to Clark Howell Hall are finished at the University of Georgia, with greater accessibility for the Disability Resource Center, Career Center, and University Testing Services housed there: http://news.uga.edu/releases/article/clark-howell-hall-renovation-17/ * Adelphi University is having an “autism-friendly” performance where house lights will be left on low, audience members will have fidgets, and quiet rooms will be available, among other accessibility features the theatre hopes will make the show more welcoming for people of all ages: https://theislandnow.com/community-news/adelphi-presents-theater-experience-people-autism-spectrum/ * Kenyon College suspended its men’s and women’s rugby teams after a very high number of concussions were reported and amid concerns about whether teams were able to follow guidelines from insurers: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/10/25/kenyon-college-suspends-club-rugby-teams * Top female college athletes are twice as likely to develop eating disorders compared to other college women, and far more likely to develop disordered eating habits, and a three-part series in the University of South Dakota student newspaper is shedding light on this issue: http://volanteonline.com/2017/10/hidden-figures-the-silent-struggle-with-the-scale-for-female-athletes/ * At age 2½, doctors told Stephan Shore’s parents he was psychotic and autistic and should be institutionalized, and today he is a professor of special education at Adelphi University in New York, arguing that autism is something that can be leveraged as a strength: https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/make-autism-about-abilities-not-limits-says-professor-with-condition-1.3265018 * Two Boston Marathon bombing survivors have set up a new scholarship at Boston College for students who have “conquered their own disability while at the same time, helping others,” and the first recipient is athlete and amputee Jack Manning (video is captioned but does not have audio description): http://boston.cbslocal.com/2017/10/23/boston-college-strong-marathon-bombing-scholarship-jessica-kensky-patrick-downes/ * Oxford University’s Bodleian Library’s honored Keeper of the Books, Professor Dennis Shaw, recently passed away from mesothelioma cancer that may have been caused by asbestos poisoning from Shaw supervising various renovations to the 400 year-old library: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2017/10/26/keeper-books-oxford-universitys-bodleian-library-may-have-killed/ And a few related items of possible interest to college students: * #InvisiblyDisabledLooksLike has gathered thousands of stories from across the world from people with disabilities that are not always visible to others: http://www.bbc.com/news/disability-41733769 * The Asian and Asian American communities have specific mental health needs, and the New York-based Asian American Federation has issued a report hoping to help professionals and policymakers understand the issues, with statistics about New York, cultural stigmas, and recommendations to move forward: http://www.atimes.com/article/group-calls-new-york-asians-mental-health/ * Happy Halloween from around the world – 90 Deaf people from different countries sign “Happy Halloween” in their native sign languages (video is not captioned or audio described): https://www.facebook.com/exploretheworld2017/videos/1656876901029664/ * The BBC covers the story of a man with multiple sclerosis (MS) who had plans to go to Switzerland for planned assisted suicide, until he met a woman with MS who helped him navigate the healthcare and social systems enough to realize that a life with proper supports and technology might be a life worth living: http://www.bbc.com/news/disability-40042731 * She may have an “orphan disease,” but she isn’t an orphan, writes Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, noting that her disease has given her perspective on what it means to be part of a human family: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/26/opinion/my-orphan-disease-has-given-me-a-new-family.html?_r=0 * Uber is being sued in New Orleans for not having any options for electric wheelchair users, as they do in other cities like New York, Chicago, and Houston: http://www.nola.com/traffic/index.ssf/2017/10/uber_ada_lawsuit_wheelchair_ne.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, 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. Comments are closed.
|
DREAM Weekly NewsThe DREAM newsletter is published every Friday during the academic year.
Let your friends, colleagues and especially your schools know about us! To subscribe or unsubscribe to the email version of this newsletter, go to http://ahead-listserve.org/mailman/listinfo/dream_ahead-listserve.org
Archives
March 2021
|