This Week's News in Higher Education and Disability: September 18-24, 2016

Update on Issues Related to Disability and Higher Education 
Week of September 18-24, 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 (NCCSD)
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Disability and higher education in the news (in no particular order):

* The Chronicle of Higher Education had a multi-part series called “Diversity in Academe: Disability on Campus” – the link here is only available to those with a subscription, but campus libraries should be able to provide access, as well (contact the NCCSD or DREAM if you need assistance) viewing any of the articles listed below):
http://www.chronicle.com/specialreport/Diversity-in-Academe-/55?cid=FEATUREDNAV

• "Disability Experts Debate Merits of Universal Design"
• "As Standards Change, Disability Officers Race to Keep Up"
• "How 4 Professors Built Careers Despite Mental-Health Struggles"
• "College Facilities Evolve from Accommodation to Inclusivity"
• "How One College Helps Students with Learning Disabilities Find Their Way" 
• "You Have to Be Fearless" (about “students on the autism spectrum”)
• "Video: DeafSpace by Design"
• "Eating Disorders at Home and on Campus: A Mother’s Story"
• "How My Eating Disorder Nearly Killed Me"
• "Extra Time on an Exam: Suitable Accommodation or Legal Cheating?"

* UC-Berkeley has decided to shut down free online content and courses rather than comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act: 
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/09/20/berkeley-may-remove-free-online-content-rather-complying-disability-law?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=6933764856-DNU20160920&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-6933764856-197595533&mc_cid=6933764856&mc_eid=14caeb9bd9

* At Arizona State University, the new group Autistics on Campus is helping educate people and raise awareness:
http://www.statepress.com/article/2016/09/spcampus-autistics-on-campus-2016

* Vocational Rehabilitation agencies are supposed to help people with disabilities get a college education, training, and jobs, but up to 40% of eligible people are not getting services:
https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2016/09/21/problems-plague-voc-rehab/22777/

* What is it like to be a professor with a chronic illness?  Ellen Ann Andersen from the University of Vermont writes about her experiences and how it affected her perceptions of disability, success, and failure in academia:
​https://thewpsa.wordpress.com/2016/08/31/unruly-bodies-my-life-as-an-academic-with-disabilities/

* NPR writes about how professors use trigger warnings, after a recent survey said half of professors use them by choice, and not because the campus or students request it:
http://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2016/09/21/493913099/content-notice-here-are-a-few-ways-professors-use-trigger-warnings

* Syracuse University’s InclusiveU program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities received a $3 million gift from the Taishoff Family Foundation – the largest donation in the School of Education’s history:
http://dailyorange.com/2015/09/school-of-education-receives-3-million-grant-largest-in-its-history/

* Disability Rights California has filed a lawsuit against West Los Angeles College and the Los Angeles Community College District for failing to provide on-campus transportation:
http://prmediarelease.com/drc-files-federal-lawsuit-against-west-la-college-la-community-college-district/#sthash.ZrclEF7q.dpbs

* A junior at the University of Minnesota wishes students on campus would expand their definition of disability and seek accommodations earlier in their academic careers:
http://www.mndaily.com/article/2016/09/u-disability-assistance-should-start-on-the-first-day-of-class

* Colleges are using a variety of strategies to support students with learning disabilities and ADHD, but there are still many challenges and barriers:
http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/09/there-is-no-right-way-to-learn/501044/ 

* In the UK, a new campaign called “Right Not a Fight” is spreading the message that higher education should be more open to people with disabilities:
https://www.tes.com/news/further-education/breaking-views/it-time-defy-stereotypes-disabilities

And a few related items of possible interest to college students:

* More from the Paralympics:

• Highlights of the Paralympics in Rio: http://www.bbc.com/sport/disability-sport/37401269
• So why the heck aren’t more people watching the Paralympics?  Probably because they didn’t know it existed, as this video shows (captioned but no audio description): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1J7D_vTC68
• Meet the people fixing prosthetics at the Paralympics: http://www.bbc.com/news/disability-37385671
• Iranian Paracyclist Bahman Golbarnezhad died in a crash at the games: http://www.bbc.com/sport/disability-sport/37398333
• How the Paralympics is changing attitudes about disability: http://theconversation.com/the-paralympics-is-changing-the-way-people-perceive-disabilities-65407
• Why is India doing so well at the games?  Much of it has to do with targeted national programs aiming for Paralympic gold and the work of the GoSports Foundation: http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2016/09/16/494085492/whats-the-secret-to-indias-paralympics-success?sc=ipad&f=1001
• Autistic Paralympian Richard Mazur represented his country in Rio, but upon returning home for Dublin was arrested for drunk driving…even though he hadn’t been drinking (video is not captioned or audio described): http://nbc4i.com/2016/09/08/autistic-man-arrested-for-ovi-in-dublin-despite-being-sober/

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* More violence against Black people with disabilities in the news:

• Charlotte has erupted into protests after police fatally shot Lamont Scott, a Black disabled man.  Police say Scott was armed and exited the vehicle, but witnesses say he was inside the vehicle, unarmed and reading a book: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/charlotte-police-shooting_us_57e1c953e4b0e80b1b9efd69
• Kamilah Brock was forcefully injected with psychotropic medication for eight days in a mental hospital, when police did not believe a Black woman could own a BMW: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/kamilah-brock-nypd-bmw_us_55f2c9aae4b063ecbfa3e60d
• Deaf teen DeSean Welch was killed after he texted the gunman explaining he and his friends were deaf and could not understand what the man wanted: http://www.theroot.com/articles/news/2016/09/deaf-teen-killed-by-gunman-after-friend-explained-in-text-we-cant-hear-you/
• A Montreal police officer working at McGill College physically and verbally harassed a man using a wheelchair (who appears to be Black) for simply crossing the street (warning – content includes video and language that may be disturbing): http://globalnews.ca/news/2956558/wheelchair-bound-man-allegedly-harassed-by-montreal-police-for-crossing-street/

* If you haven’t watched ABC’s new comedy series ”Speechless,” you may want to tune in to watch this show featuring a lead male star with cerebral palsy and many issues related to disability.  You can read about the lead Micah Fowler here (https://www.buzzfeed.com/arianelange/micah-fowler-speechless-abc?utm_term=.dwz6XqzKy#.ovYbPKlm1) and learn more about the show itself at https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2016/09/20/aside-laughs-speechless-awareness/22773/
 
* With a glossy black spike for a prosthetic, an artist from StreetArtGlobe on Instagram is using a sexy video to explore disability, beauty, ballet, and art (no captions or audio description): 
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKK2RgDjVmW/
 
* Some activists still don’t recognize ableism as a social justice issue, so you can share this article describing “Six Ways Your Social Justice Activism Might be Ableist”:
http://everydayfeminism.com/2016/09/social-justice-activism-ableist/
 
* Jennifer Bartlett writes in the New York Times about how men see her as a woman with a disability:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/21/opinion/longing-for-the-male-gaze.html?_r=0
 
* Take care of yourself:

• Race-based trauma can create symptoms and experiences similar to PTSD, so here are some ideas for taking care of yourself if you are doing difficult work and activism (and much of this article applies to disability activists, as well): http://justjasmineblog.com/self-care-for-people-of-color-after-emotional-and-psychological-trauma/
•   Self-care can be pleasurable, but for people with disabilities it can also mean “completely terrible” vulnerability, “adult-ing” and painful honesty, writes Mawiyah Patten about her experiences taking care of herself with depression: https://themighty.com/2016/09/self-care-how-to-take-care-of-yourself-when-you-have-depression/

 
* The president of the Ford Foundation wrote an open letter after realizing the organization was not adequately addressing disability (https://www.fordfoundation.org/ideas/equals-change-blog/posts/ignorance-is-the-enemy-within-on-the-power-of-our-privilege-and-the-privilege-of-our-power/), but the Longmore Institute is asking the Foundation to explore what that really means to people with disabilities and to learn a little disability history (https://longmoreinstitute.wordpress.com/2016/09/19/an-open-letter-to-darren-walker-the-ford-foundation-and-america/) 
 
* Uber is increasing efforts to make its services more accessible for people who use wheelchairs, including providing adapted Dodge Caravans for drivers to lease:
https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2016/09/23/uber-improving-access-wheelchair/22790/
 
* You may have heard about Jerika Bolen, a 14 year-old girl with spinal muscular atrophy who chose to die after having a large prom.  She passed away this week, and disability activists are mourning both her death and the way it was reported in the media: 
https://disabilityvisibilityproject.com/2016/09/19/ableism-in-journalism-how-the-coverage-of-jerika-bolens-story-negatively-affects-all-readers/
 
* Bruce Springsteen came out about his 30 years with depression, comparing it to a car (which, as the author notes, is pretty much what we expected for Bruce Springsteen metaphors):
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2016/09/07/bruce-springsteen-gets-candid-about-depression/89956220/
 
* Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is making news by deliberately courting votes from people across the political spectrum who have disabilities, even though most candidates overlook this demographic: 

• See an article about her efforts here: https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2016/09/22/in-rare-clinton-courts-disability/22785/  
• Information about political leanings of those she is trying to reach: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/09/22/the-voters-with-disabilities-being-courted-by-clinton-span-the-political-spectrum-survey-finds/
• Criticism of her efforts by those who wish candidates would work from an intersectional perspective: https://rewire.news/article/2016/09/22/advocates-clintons-speech-disabilities-fell-short-one-big-way/

 
* Presidential nominee Donald Trump mocked the injury of Democrat Harry Reid and suggested he go back to doing the exercise that blinded him in one eye, earning Reid’s sharp response: 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-harry-reid-eye-injury_us_57dbf220e4b08cb14094fe87
 
* The leader of the disability organization Respectability created waves by suggesting the election hinged on how White people with disabilities vote, triggering social media fury by implicitly suggesting people of color do not matter in the election:
https://www.facebook.com/CripTheVote/
 
* Want to know what pollsters are thinking about people with disabilities and how they vote?  Check out this profile about the latest data: 
​http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/09/22/a-political-profile-of-disabled-americans/
 
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.  
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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.