April 09th, 2021

DREAM Weekly Email - Disability and Higher Education in the News: April 4-10, 2021
 
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)
 
This week’s newsletter and archived newsletters are available at www.DREAMCollegeDisability.org
 
 
Top Five News Items This Week (see attached Word document for full newsletter with links):

• In a major policy change, The Department of Veteran Affairs will now allow disabled veterans using the Veteran Readiness and Employment (“Rehabilitation”) program to also use education benefits with the Post-9/11 GI Bill, allowing students to receive rehabilitation services, job training, and a college degree.
• After nearly two years of work, the Student Disability Union at Emerson College announced The Access Advocacy Project – an “action plan for disability equity and accessibility” created by “the Emerson disability community.”
• At universities across the country, Asian American students are rallying to fight anti-Asian bias and violence after a mass shooting in Atlanta and increasing anti-Asian violence, and many of the groups are asking campuses to provide culturally responsive mental health services.
• A federal appeals court ruled that people with mental or physical disabilities can train their own service dogs, because private training organizations lack standard certification and may be financially inaccessible – a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
• SUNY Purchase is building a senior living facility on campus, giving senior citizens a chance to audit courses, watch performances, and participate in campus activities; 34.6% of seniors have disabilities.

 
 
General News:

• In Inside Higher Ed’s annual survey of college and university presidents, top concerns were the physical and mental health of students and employees, as well as student accessibility to online learning platforms and tools.

• After students criticized Yale University, campus administrators announced over 30 new staff positions to address mental health through various services on campus and in residence halls.
• Three universities collaborated to develop a free ASL-LEX database with information about 3,000 ASL signs, including lexical information and details about how signs relate visually to each other.
• Despite faculty dealing with their own mental health concerns, they are increasingly supporting students with the same issues, but instructors need guidance and resources to actually help anyone.  
• Congress is expanding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to give an estimated 3 million part-time college students access to the program; food-insecure students often have difficulty with their mental and physical health, but they may not know about the recent changes to eligibility rules.
• Over 50% of undergraduate autistic students at Trinity University in Ireland say the university has not done enough to support them during the pandemic, and 34% say the university wasn’t doing enough before the pandemic started.
• A new Center for Adult Autism Services Community Center at Rutgers University is a 10,000 square-foot center offering programming, training, services, recreational programs, and community space for adults and college students with autism.
• The Netflix movie Run portrays soon-to-be college student Chloe as “athletic, strong, badass and reluctantly heroic,” but it also shows the “horror” of abuse against people with disabilities; college student and lead Kiera Allen says it’s an “honor” to be one of the first actual wheelchair users her generation will ever see onscreen.
• How can colleges respect student privacy while creating compassionate policies for mental health and substance abuse wellness checks?
• Friday, April 2 was World Autism Day:
• On World Autism Day, researchers at The Ohio State University announced findings that most federal autism research is focused on treatments and intervention, even though the government’s own autism advisory committee suggested evidence-based services and lifespan issues be a priority
• The Emerson College Police Department faced criticism after making social media posts supporting #AutismAwarenessDay and #LightItUpBlue on World Autism Day – the event and hashtags are associated with the controversial organization Autism Speaks.
• Arkansas State University recognized World Autism Day by announcing a new “EduCare” program where health care students will mentor autistic college students in life skills, social skills, and career development.
• A new $1.3 million grant will help researchers at North Carolina State College create a program to prepare autistic high school students for STEM careers in geospatial and data sciences.
• To fulfill its commitment to accessibility, the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Australia is the first university to become a “Disability Confident Recruiter” after going through a program to better attract and support job candidates with disabilities on campus.
• Autistic McGill student Kate Ellis writes about the “life-changing” ways she was inspired by autistic character Abed on the fictional community college-based sitcom Community.
• “Intuitive Eating Counselors” may help college students with eating disorders, says a student at the University of Arizona
• Notre Dame had one of the first centers specifically supporting students with learning disabilities, ADHD, and autism, and in celebration of its 15th anniversary they are changing the center’s name from “Academic Support Center” to the “Thrive Learning Center”.

 
 
BIPOC and Diversity News:

• Learn about Charles “Chuck” V. Williams, and his lifelong work as a Black Deaf activist; Gallaudet University just set up a new scholarship in his honor, for Black Deaf and hard-of-hearing students.
• A new Japanese manga graphic novel A Sign of Affection Volume 1 is about a Deaf college student and a hearing student who fall in love, putting sign language “at the forefront of the story.”
• “Learning to advocate for my neurodivergent, Asian American self is a long and slow journey,” says prospective student Emily Chen as she reflects on her experiences of racism and ADHD.
• Williams College student Abby Fournier writes about different types of privilege and how they affect students’ ability to get access and accommodations.
• The Diverse Student Champion Program at Penn State’s College of Medicine Is providing mentors for students from underrepresented groups, including students with disabilities.

 
 
COVID-19 News:

• An increasing number of colleges will require COVID-19 vaccinations for all students, although several of these allow medical exemptions.
• One year after the pandemic started, students with disabilities at Capilano University in Canada reflect on the past year, what they still need, and how changes toward disability justice can happen.

 
 
Politics and Law:

• The ACLU and the Director of Disability Services at the College Charleston are suing South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster after he ordered all state employees to stop telecommuting and go back to their offices, which is causing childcare problems and difficulties for high-risk people, including pregnant women and people with disabilities.
• Psychiatrist and professor Bandy X. Lee is suing Yale for dismissing her after she tweeted that Donald Trump and associates had a “shared psychosis” – some of those associates call it an ethics violation and she calls it free speech. 
• President Biden plans to invest in home and community-based services as part of his $2 trillion infrastructure plan and the $400 billion American Jobs Plan.
• Jacob Akopnik and Kayla Simpkins are running for CSUN student president and vice president, under a “Rise Up” slate emphasizing inclusivity and not just diversity, including better access for students with disabilities (and Simpkins has worked as a paraprofessional for students with disabilities at CSUN).
• Mossimo Giannulli, husband of actress Lori Loughlin, has been released from prison after being incarcerated for his role in the “Varsity Blues” college admissions scam, which included false disability diagnoses to get unqualified students into Ivy League colleges.

 
 
Sports:

• Balancing school and athletics has been difficult for Fordham University student Patrick DeCrescenzo, but he is focused on getting a spot on the U.S. Paralympic snowboarding team for 2022 in Beijing.

 
 
Student Stories:

• Texas A&M doctoral student Maureen Hayden discusses the technology, services and skills that have helped her navigate the marine biology program as a blind student.
• Joanna Buoniconti discusses dating with a disability, and says she will graduate soon but has never been kissed or been on a date.

 
 
Faculty and Staff Stories:

• Leanne Baumeler at Northwestern Michigan College received the national Disability Services Provider Award from the American College Personnel Association

 
 
 
 
 
DREAM and the NCCSD are funded through a grant to AHEAD from the US Dept. of Education (P116D150005).  For more information about DREAM, send an email to DREAM@ahead.org.  This newsletter is available in other formats upon request.  If you have difficulty accessing articles, please let us know and we may be able to help. 
 
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By the way, please don't presume DREAM, AHEAD, the NCCSD, or the U.S. Department of Education agree with everything we send out - we're just passing along the information so you can form your own opinions.  Thanks.
 
DREAM and the NCCSD acknowledge, with respect, the Waccamaw Siouan Tribe -- the Indigenous people on whose ancestral lands DREAM and the NCCSD are based.  We hope our work honors them.