The DREAM/NCCSD Weekly News

​DREAM Weekly Email - Disability and Higher Education in the News: Sept. 25-Oct. 8, 2022
 
From DREAM: Disability Rights, Education, Activism, and Mentoring
Sponsored by the National Center for College Students with Disabilities
at the University of Minnesota’s Institute for Community Integration,
in collaboration with the Association on Higher Education And Disability (AHEAD)
                                                                                                                                         
This week’s newsletter and archived newsletters are available Monday at www.DREAMCollegeDisability.org.
 
Top Stories This Week (in no particular order)

• Hurricane Fiona hit Puerto Rico and then Hurricane Ian swept through Florida and the entire Southeastern seaboard, leaving a wake of destruction:
  • Use the NCCSD Clearinghouse Crisis resources, including the Disaster Distress Helpline (1-800-985-5990) and SAMHSA’s Disaster Technical Assistance Center.
  • PTSD affects 30-40% of survivors after natural disasters.
  • Florida students are dealing with flooding and power outages as colleges struggle to deal with repairs and staying open.
  • Networks of organizations are reaching out to disabled survivors, raising funds, and organizing resources.
  • Consider ways to be ready for an emergency or natural disaster if you have a disability.
  • The National Low Income Housing Coalition has resources for people who are homeless after the storms.
• Teen Vogue’s disability section published a series of articles about disability (in)justice, including some experiences of students and academic activists.
• Assistive technology for disabled students can help all students and colleges should help ease technology barriers, says a new Educause report on postsecondary technology use during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Sacramento State English professor Dr. Hellen Lee discusses how student assistants are accommodations for a disability affecting her hands.
• The husband of a former Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation counselor pleaded guilty to a $1.3 million scheme to create fake students with disabilities and steal money designated for their educational expenses.
• There are two new movies focusing on disability and higher education:
  •  “Coming Up for Air” is about a college diver who begins to have mental health issues, and how his family, coaches, and college staff try to help him.
  • “Luckiest Girl Alive” moves between a woman’s current success in business and her experiences in college, revealing the disabilities she’s trying to hide, the horrific trauma she carries with her, and the labels that may or may not define her.

 
General News

• Teen Vogue’s disability section published a series of articles about disability (in)justice, and many include college students or academic activists.  Read about: how “the future is disabled”; what young disabled and chronically ill people want you to know; voting rights; young people providing care for disabled relatives; why prosthetics are so expensive and how to change that; and what disability rights activists say about the fight for disability justice.
• Darla Schumm asks why higher education doesn’t have more disabled leaders and what that says to students.
• Disabled student Disability Ambassadors will be helping new University of Miami students with disabilities connect to resources, campus life, and services.
• Two federal surveys may be missing up to 43% of people with disabilities due to wording of disability questions; the surveys include questions about educational attainment.
• Deaf professor Mary Katherine Monroe taught at Wellesley College from 1881-1888.
• Disability documentation requirements and other systemic barriers can be obstacles for students with disabilities.
• Leading college student housing providers and the JED Foundation are joining to form a College Student Mental Wellness Advocacy Coalition to address stigma, conduct research, and provide resources.
• There’s a need for more higher education faculty and staff with disabilities, says Pepperdine law school dean Paul Caron, who is going public about his stuttering.
• Restrictions on abortion access will have a negative effect on student mental health, and colleges’ counseling centers will need to be prepared to discuss issues related to abortion, pregnancy, postpartum issues, and parenting.
• In a video for his department at IUPUI, Professor Chris Lamb shared his own experiences of depression and urged students to find help; he says faculty and administrators need to do more to combat rising problems with student mental and emotional health.
• Set up during a college student’s internship, Disability Advocates of Kent County in Michigan is bringing up the next generation of disability advocates, in collaboration with the local Center for Independent Living.
• In a new report, Utah ranked highest in levels of mental illness, prompting Brigham Young University to share campus resources with students.
• A new interactive campus map with audio will be unveiled at UC Davis at the annual Disability Awareness Symposium.
• Students with disabilities are raising concerns about accommodations and inclusion at the Claremont Colleges and at Butler College. 
• For students with chronic illnesses, ableism can lead to stigma and discrimination.
• Resident Assistants at Barnard College are planning to unionize; they’re demands include better mental health support.
• A new Disability Support Alliance student club at North Idaho College is assisting students with disabilities in finding resources, “their purpose,” and “creative solutions to daily challenges.”

 
Legal and Political News.

• A disabled woman has reached a $7.6 million settlement with the West Valley-Mission Community College District, after accusing a college aide of sexual assault, which the program director allegedly tried to cover up.
• The US Justice Department found Minnesota’s Department of Corrections violated the rights of disabled prisoners by not providing accommodations for adult GRE courses and exams.
• President Biden has made appointments to the National Council on Disability, including Theo W. Braddy, who has taught at Temple University and Millersville University

 
BIPOC and Diversity News

• Jermaine Greaves, the founder of Black Disabled Lives Matter, talked to office about his experiences, his work with black lives matter, and his struggle to go to college and graduate.
• Lakeland Community College faculty are opposing a new Board of Trustees committee to “review equity, diversity, and inclusion language” with the possibility of removing it.
• Dr. Justin Bullock is a Black gay research fellow and “social justice warrior” at the University of Wisconsin who has been open about his bipolar disorder and depression.
• 70% of study abroad students are white, but there are ways to make programs more accessible to BIPOC and disabled students, according to a new Open Doors report.
• A new student working group at Boston College will address bias-motivated speech on the campus’ social media app Herrd; concerns include users’ language about disability.

 
Covid-19 and Monkeypox News

• Academic conferences are increasingly in person with few COVID mandates, meaning disabled and immunocompromised scholars will be inaccessible.
• COVID is shaping retirement for postsecondary employees – especially as pandemic stresses affect mental health.
• In the UK, disabled students’ wish for more online learning came true during the pandemic, but universities are putting barriers back in place

 
International News

• Pakistan held a Conference on Higher Education for the Deaf, for policymakers, educators, and students.
• University College London psychiatry professor Mark Horowitz has been on SSRIs for depression, but his new research study is questioning everything we know about SSRIs, serotonin, and depression. [DREAM and the NCCSD note: do not stop any medications or treatments without consulting your doctor.]
• The Disability Research Network at Queen’s University Belfast has set up a new learning and networking group for university researchers interested in disability.

Sports

• Student Charlie McGee is busy with academics as part of the ClemsonLIFE inclusive higher education program,  but he’s also working with the Clemson University football teams’ strength and conditioning staff.
• In Part One of a three-part series about mental health and athletics, the University of Georgia student newspaper explores how students balance mental health, academics, and athletics.
• The NCAA’s new Mental Health Advisory Group met this week for the first time; the group includes medical and scientific professionals as well as Division representatives and student-athletes.
• 116 colleges around the country recognized College Football Mental Health Week, in partnership with Hilinski’s Hope Foundation.
• The Mizzou Wheelchair Basketball started the season with a tailgating event and celebrated Coach Ron Lykins induction into the Missouri Hall of Fame.

 
Students, Staff, and Faculty in the News

• Spokane Community College student Katie Strickland is also Washington State’s first blind foster parent.

 
 
 
 
DREAM and the NCCSD are funded through a U.S. Department of Education grant (P116D150005) to the Institute on Community Integration at the University of Minnesota, in partnership with AHEAD. For more information about DREAM, send an email to [email protected].  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. 
 
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please go to http://ahead-listserve.org/mailman/listinfo/dream_ahead-listserve.org.  DREAM can also handle requests to subscribe or unsubscribe. 
 
By the way, please don't presume DREAM, the NCCSD, the University of Minnesota, AHEAD, 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, the NCCSD, and the Institute on Community Integration at the University of Minnesota recognize thay are based within the traditional homelands of the Dakota people. “Minnesota” comes from the Dakota name for this region, Mni Sóta Maḳoce, which loosely translates to the land where the waters reflect the skies.
It is important to acknowledge the peoples on whose land we live, learn, and work as we seek to improve and strengthen our relations with our tribal nations. We also acknowledge that words are not enough. We must ensure that our institution provides support, resources, and programs that increase access to all aspects of higher education for American Indian students, staff, faculty, and community members.
 
 
 

​DREAM Weekly Email - Disability and Higher Education in the News: September 18-24, 2022
 
From DREAM: Disability Rights, Education, Activism, and Mentoring
Sponsored by the National Center for College Students with Disabilities
at the University of Minnesota’s Institute for Community Integration,
in collaboration with the Association on Higher Education And Disability (AHEAD)
                                                                                                                                         
This week’s newsletter and archived newsletters are available Monday at www.DREAMCollegeDisability.org.
 
Top Stories This Week (in no particular order)

• Teen Vogue takes on structuralized ableism and injustice in standardized tests like the SAT and LSAT, noting that for 20 years standardized tests have tested students’ disabilities, instead of their abilities.
• Oluwatobi Abubakare talks about her experiences as a Black autistic autism researcher getting her doctorate at Indiana University Bloomington, and how her personal experiences affect her research.
• The new movie “The Whale” starring Brendan Fraser is about an online college professor who develops an eating disorder while grieving the death of his partner.
• Connecticut College’s required first-year reading was Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Advocate, and it has students considering how disabled people aren’t seen or celebrated on campus (read an interview with Judy Heumann to learn more).
• The Gallaudet University Bison are “Deaf America’s Football Team,” credited with inventing the football huddle; The Guardian delves into what Deaf culture is like, and how it influences the team, fans, and students at Gallaudet.
• NASCAR driver and Oakland University student Armani Williams is one of the few Black drivers in NASCAR, and now he’s the first to talk about his autism and how it makes him a better driver.

 
General News

• A student’s tweet went viral after she criticized the process of getting accommodations for an emerging disability at the University of Guelph in Canada, with students and professors sharing their concerns as well, and the problems with “supplementary” accommodations” left up to professors’ discretion.
• Insight Into Diversity magazine asked how to make employment more equitable for people with disabilities, interviewing faculty and staff about what higher education can do to help.
• Disabled students started a “I Am Not Defined” podcast about disability issues at DePaul University, and now faculty and administrators are using it to recruit disabled students to campus.
• A new “Service Animals in Labs” guide gives faculty and students information about the law, safety considerations, and the use of equipment for service animals.
• AstroAccess is making spaceflight more accessible, and their second has flyers, crew members, and researchers that include three disabled university students and one professor.
• The new “Willowbrook Mile” at the College of Staten Island has 12 stations with information about Willowbrook’s harrowing history of inhumane abuse and institutionalization, including abuse by college members.  The stations also educate people about national de-institutionalization and community integration movements.
• Williams College has a new introductory ASL course with a Deaf instructor, thanks to advocacy by students and the town for the past 30 years.
• Being Michelle is a new documentary film about an autistic Deaf woman who experienced abuse and a lack of access in the criminal justice system.  She found hope and artistic abilities through classes at prison with a blind teacher.
• Students with disabilities at Cal State Fullerton lost their designated space in the library during COVID shutdowns, but the student group Abled Advocators is working with Disability Support Services to get it back.
• “The door to fixing college mental health is cracked, and it’s time to blow it open” and start talking about mental health with the same urgency and depth we use with physical disabilities, says U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy.
• Wheelchair-using students talk about accessibility at Brigham Young University and what happens when accessibility equipment and access starts falling apart.
• The Roanoke, Virginia Sheriff is using education to change the culture of city jails and improve recidivism rates through (R).I.G.N.I.T.E., a program that makes significant changes to the system, to support inmates in jail and after they are released.
• Even when a student loves their college, accessibility struggles and feeling included can be a lonely struggle, says Pomona College student Max Zonana, who wishes there were more wheelchair users at the “5C” colleges of Massachusetts.
• Two MIT students realized clothing design is inequitable for people with disabilities, so they created an Open Style Lab for students to solve complex design problems with interdisciplinary teams, showcasing their work at Boston Fashion Week.
• New research at Indiana University verifies that disabled students in K-12 general education courses are better at academics and better prepared for postsecondary education and employment.
• Award-winning film CODA’s star Emilia Jones explains why directors kept mistakes in her signing for the movie about a child of Deaf adults who wants to go to Berklee College of Music.
• Temple University’s Institute on Disabilities received $345,348 from the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage; Temple will use the money to premiere Rhythm Bath by choreographer Susan Marshall, whose art is influenced by her neurodiverse son.
• Mel C from the 90’s group Spice Girls is talking about her eating disorder, which developed when she went to a performing arts college.
• In its short guide to campus access, Columbia College Chicago has included the new disability student organization Varying Visions, a place for students with disabilities to share their art, discuss disability, and plan events that work for campus change.
• What are some reasons to take a break from college?  Anxiety can be one of those reasons.
• Going to college with asthma can mean dealing with new triggers, new asthma plans, and new discussions about the disease.
• What is college like for students with ADHD?  Students at Cal State Los Angeles who are setting up “The Neurodivergent Collective” student group, and Whitman College students share tips.
• Quilts from the National AIDS Memorial are now on display at the University of Alabama, honoring people who died from HIV and AIDS.

 
COVID-19 and Monkeypox News

• Yale students are questioning sickness policies, as attendance and accommodation double standards arise for those who have COVID-19 vs. those who have other respiratory illnesses.
• Clea Taylor is filing a disability discrimination suit against Reed College, alleging that she was not allowed to work from home in 2022 for disability-related reasons, even though she says her online work during the COVID shutdown received praise from her superiors.
• COVID-19 triggered “The Big Quit” but now even tenured professors are leaving academe after realizing they don’t have to put up with the mental and physical stress, strains on private life, and concerns over the health risks of teaching in-person.
• As students return to campuses, faculty need more tools and resources to handle illnesses and absences in the classroom.

 
BIPOC and Diversity News

• Whitney Fear uses her experiences with mental illness, addiction, poverty and growing up on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation as a psychiatric nurse practitioner and the subject of a new documentary for nurses titled “Who Cares: A Nurse’s Fight for Equity”
• More faculty of color are facing serious mental and physical health risks in academia, and they’re no longer willing to accept those risks in an effort to be “more than a diversity hire.”
• California College of the Arts student and staff member Ronika McClain says that becoming more comfortable as a person with chronic illnesses meant becoming more comfortable being a Queer person who practices BDSM.
• Northwestern STEM graduate students are changing words to action with several diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives that include race and disability, such as a campus climate survey, and inclusion of new DEI content into STEM courses.
• Brooki Fixico of the Muscogee (Creek) nation is a University of Oklahoma doctoral student working to educate Native American parents about special education services and postsecondary transition planning.  
• Black, Latinx, first-gen, low income, queer/trans students or students with mental illnesses have higher rates of persistence if they feel a sense of belonging and connection to support services.
• Assumptions persist about women in non-White cultures having lower rates of eating disorders, and a new study suggests this may be true for Hispanic and Native American college students.
• The Vanderbilt University clinic or Transgender Health is under attack by right-wing conservatives; transgender people are at high risk for mental and physical health concerns. [CW: The article contains strong and potentially triggering language about transgender health care.]
• Most students’ trust levels for their colleges and universities stayed relatively the same during COVID-19 lockdowns, increasing for students with disabilities and declining for Black and first-generation students.
• Eleven colleges and universities will receive $15 million from the National Science Foundation to create a collaborative system for more inclusive models of higher education and workforce training for BIPOC, people with disabilities, and other traditionally marginalized groups in rural areas and small cities.  The consortium includes RIT’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf.
• The University of Texas at Dallas is investigating Professor Timothy Farage, after he suggested “homosexuality…is a medical disorder” and a “cure for homosexuality” would take care of the monkeypox outbreaks.

 
International News

• Disability studies professor Jun Ishikawa was part of the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which has called on Japan to change policies isolating and institutionalizing disabled people throughout society, including education.
• The UN praised Jordan for its work on disability rights and legislation prohibiting disability discrimination, which has also improved access to schools and universities.
• Saudi Arabian health authorities are planning to offer more counseling services and “mental health literacy” across the country to reduce stigma about mental illness, but negative cultural-based biases against mental illness continue about Saudi college students and society in general.
• Researchers in Israel believe there is a connection between use of Facebook and social media and the declining mental health of college students.
• The Delhi High Court will allow an Indian student with a physical disability to begin postgraduate work in medical counseling; the program had said she was ineligible because polio had affected her left leg.
• In March, Canadians with mental illnesses will qualify for assisted suicide, and Professor David Fancy from Brock University is trying to address socioeconomic concerns that may make disabled people feel life isn’t worth living – what he calls “Hunger Games style social Darwinism.”
• Ireland’s Late Late Show featured bakery owner and author Una Leonard, who shared stories about worsening anorexia, bulimia, and suicidal ideation during school and college, but the host shut down any discussion of suicide, earning social media backlash.
• ADHD medicine may have a reputation as harmless “academic steroids” in India, but the Daily Star notes that recreational use can be dangerous for students, and it’s disrespectful to students who often have difficulty convincing others that they have ADHD and need medication.

 
Students, Staff, Faculty in the News

• Georgina Kleee is a new Dean’s Scholar-in-Residence at NYU Steinhardt, continuing her work in disability studies and representations of blindness in culture.
• Have I Told You About My Superpowers is a new book of poetry by UNC Charlotte student Luther Kissam, who uses writing to manage his bipolar disorder.
• Wendy Sun, from a Chinese immigrant family, is getting her MD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She had worked to establish a disability student group and cultural center, and hopes for more disability representation in health professions.

 
 
 
 
DREAM and the NCCSD are funded through a U.S. Department of Education grant (P116D150005) to the Institute on Community Integration at the University of Minnesota, in partnership with AHEAD. For more information about DREAM, send an email to [email protected].  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. 
 
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please go to http://ahead-listserve.org/mailman/listinfo/dream_ahead-listserve.org.  DREAM can also handle requests to subscribe or unsubscribe. 
 
By the way, please don't presume DREAM, the NCCSD, the University of Minnesota, AHEAD, 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, the NCCSD, and the Institute on Community Integration at the University of Minnesota recognize thay are based within the traditional homelands of the Dakota people. “Minnesota” comes from the Dakota name for this region, Mni Sóta Maḳoce, which loosely translates to the land where the waters reflect the skies.
It is important to acknowledge the peoples on whose land we live, learn, and work as we seek to improve and strengthen our relations with our tribal nations. We also acknowledge that words are not enough. We must ensure that our institution provides support, resources, and programs that increase access to all aspects of higher education for American Indian students, staff, faculty, and community members.
 
 

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 [email protected].  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. 
 
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please go to http://ahead-listserve.org/mailman/listinfo/dream_ahead-listserve.org.  DREAM can also handle requests to subscribe or unsubscribe. 
 
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.
 
 
 
 

DREAM Weekly Email - Disability and Higher Education in the News: March 14-20, 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):

• After Stanford refused to provide a scribe as an accommodation for prospective student Antonio Milane, a campus debate started about disability and personal services, 57,000 people signed a Change.org petition in protest, and the university reversed its decision and will provide the service, although they have not provided details about how or what they will do.
• EdTech discusses how technology accessibility in higher education continues to be an issue with “a focus on tools rather than outcomes” and “individual students rather than systemic issues.”
• The National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine have released a report suggesting mental health, substance use and wellbeing in higher education can only be addressed with a holistic approach that improves campus climate, rather than relying on counseling centers.
• At the NWBA Collegiate Wheelchair Basketball National Championship, the University of Texas-Arlington’s “Movin’ Mays” men’s team brought home their ninth title, while the University of Alabama’s “Crimson Tide” took home their second.
• Netflix’s new movie Operation Varsity Blues reveals new details about the 2011-2018 college admissions scandal involving wealthy parents paying for fake learning disability diagnoses and athletic histories for their children.

 
 
General News:

• David Flink is a 2021 “CNN Hero” for using his own experiences in developing Eye to Eye, which matches college student mentors and middle school mentees who both have LD, ADHD, and other “beautiful minds.”
• Neurodiverse students, faculty, and staff at the University of Nevada, Reno have formed a Neurodiversity Alliance to “raise awareness, promote access, and ensure equity for the neurodiverse population.”
• Words have consequence: “Pulling trig,” “freshman 15,” and similar phrases can trigger or normalize eating disorders on campus, while “being OCD,” “Schizo,” or other phrases can be harmful for people with mental health conditions or addiction.
• A student-initiated survey is gathering possible new names for the University of Houston’s Center for Students with DisABILITIES, saying the emphasis on ABILITIE makes disability seem negative.
• The National Center on Accessible Educational Materials re-released a 2018 “Critical Components for the Quality Indicators for Higher Education” publication to help higher education institutions provide accessible materials and technology.
• There is no one right way to be disabled, and disabled people shouldn’t have to hide their pain to make others comfortable, says Aryanna Falkner of Bowling Green State University.
• Buffalo State College will be offering a new Deaf culture course taught by Deaf instructor Amy Crockford.
• University of North Texas student Jessica Schlottman formed “Someone Like Me” to address experiences of students with invisible disabilities, and now the group has 115 members.
• EduRef.net has published a list of “Most Affordable Online Colleges for Students with Learning Disabilities,” with Florida Atlantic University ranked as #1.
• A new Employment Assistance and Social Engagement (EASE) peer mentoring program at Arizona State University helps autistic engineering students transition to college and teaches career readiness. 
• Brigham Young University students with physical disabilities shared their experiences as college student, and the barriers and misunderstandings they face.
• Female college students with ADHD often go undiagnosed or unsupported, with doctors often assuming they have psychiatric conditions.
• Three students have created the first Disabilities Awareness Week at Lafayette College.
• Realities of college look nothing like the TV show “Skins” and for some first-year students, the show’s portrayals of partying, trauma, eating disorders, and illness can be problematic.

 
 
BIPOC and Diversity News:

• Drones, drivers picking up assignments, Internet access…Tribal colleges and universities are finding creative ways to support resilient students, but mental health needs and grief are still significant problems.
• Soledad O’Brien interviewed Georgetown and American University lecturer Lydia X. Z. Brown to talk about intersections of racism, ableism, identity, and disability justice; Brown will be part of O’Brien’s “Matter of Fact Listening Tour” series.   
• Black disabled actress and disability activist Lauren “Lolo” Spencer has been cast as one of the regulars in Mindy Kaling’s upcoming comedy series “The Sex Lives of College Girls.”
• A new report recommends telemedicine and collaboration for community colleges in rural areas, with public community college and tribal colleges having difficulty meeting the demand for health care and mental health services. 
• After emigrating from Brazil when she was 12, opera singer Louisa Waycott developed type I diabetes, but she didn’t know how to manage it until a college study abroad trip, finding a life coach, and meeting other women with diabetes.
• A new Osaze Osagie College Scholarship Endowment honors Osagie, a Black student who had autism and schizophrenia, who was killed by State College police officers in 2019.
• Perri Meldon at Boston University worked with the National Parks Service and the National Historic Landmarks Program to create a disability history and culture handbook for park staff, including information about disability and its complex history with gender, race, ethnicity, and class.
• NASA is celebrating National Deaf History Month with a profile of Frances Cheney and her evolution from a deaf child with no accommodations in China, to having two Master’s degrees and working at Goddard Space Flight Center.
• LGBTQ+ students at Christian colleges are less likely to have peer supports, more likely to be closeted, three times more likely to report higher rates of depression and anxiety, and more likely to be bullied or sexually assaulted compared to cisgender students. 

 
 
COVID-19 News:

• COVID-19 has revealed truths about ableism and how a simple accommodation can be denied, but “when millions of people need complex accommodation, it is deemed essential.”
• Ten different University of New Mexico services offices, including the Accessibility Resource Center, share statistics about changes during the pandemic, including a 623% increase in hours of captioning for courses.
• A research study published in the Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability studies disabled students’ transition to online learning during spring 2020, with students reporting some barriers and concerns, but overall support from their campuses, faculty, and disability services providers.
• An Inside Higher Ed opinion piece says re-opening higher education will require major effort and collaboration, including allowing telecommuting for workers who are caregivers or high risk, having affordable health care and paid medical leave for all employees, and numerous protections to keep everyone safe.
• The California Governor’s Council for Postsecondary Education has created Recovery with Equity: A Roadmap for Higher Education after the Pandemic, with recommendations to address students’ mental health needs and to promote inclusion and collaboration.
• Students with learning disabilities may have developed strategies for in-person courses that aren’t working with online instruction, but there are resources to help.
• News about student mental health during the pandemic:

• At UC Berkeley, 80% of the students visiting counseling services were experiencing stress due to the pandemic.
• Students are increasingly using TikTok during the pandemic, and students with eating disorders are finding it difficult to avoid harmful messages around exercise, eating, and recovery, even while the recovery community is fighting pro-ana content.
• Students at the University of Pennsylvania are increasingly turning to student organizations and telehealth counseling services.
• K-12 schools and colleges are all preparing for students to return to classrooms with an “onslaught of serious mental health conditions” they may bring with them.

 
 
Politics and Law:

• President Biden overturned President Trump’s ban on federally funded diversity training, but legislators in Iowa are trying to find ways to continue the ban that still exists at the University of Iowa, and Boise State University has halted a diversity course for 1300 students that some Idaho legislators condemn as a course “infused with social justice, a toxic ideology.”
• In a worst-case scenario, students in mental health crises who take a medical leave of absence can lose services or financial aid, and be expelled or deported, and Christian Roman alleges all of that happened to him at the University of Toronto, leading to his formal complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.
• The American Rescue Plan stimulus checks will be available for adult dependents, helping many people with disabilities eligible for their first checks.
• Autism researchers, along with agencies and activists, are concerned about the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee not meeting since July 2019; the committee makes recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

 
 
International News:

• Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union campaigns and elections were all online, but only one of the 13 candidates had an accessible website.
• Students with disabilities will be able to get support and services from counseling centers at Ghana’s University of Development Studies, with hopes the university will be a model for other public universities.
• A bullying incident involving an autistic student at Singpore’s Institute of Technical Education has drawn condemnation and an apology from the alleged bully for “preying on the weak.”
• Saudi Arabia’s Taibah University held an “Excellence in Education and Learning for People with Disability” conference, including sessions on e-learning for university students.

 
 
Sports:

• Xander Van Der Poll was the first disabled rower at the University of Bristol, and now the medical student with a spinal cord injury is planning to compete in the Paralympics.
• There have been notable deaf and hard of hearing players and coaches at the college and pro levels of baseball.
• Autistic Fort Hays State University student Will Fried wants to break down barriers for people with disabilities by being a basketball referee.

 
 
Student Stories:

• Ele Sorenson of Hamilton College received the U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarship to study Arabic in Morocco – as a disabled student she is interested in disability policy in the Middle East.
• Autistic Sheridan College student Matteo Esposito created “Sorting It Out,” a play exploring autism, and now BurlOak Theatre in Ontario is producing it.
• As a quadriplegic, Paul Chiou at USC understands the importance of accessible technology, and plans to make a career of developing it.  

 
 
Faculty and Staff Stories:

• After an autism diagnosis at age 45 gave him some “peace,” California University of Pennsylvania professor Rueben Brock made a short film “Discovering Autism,” which premieres in Philadelphia this weekend.
• The President of Ecuador honored Harvard professors Michael Ashley Stein and William P. Alford with the National Order of Merit, in recognition for their work on international disability policy and founding of the Harvard Law School on Disability.
• Julie Paulson at San Francisco State University received a research award to support her book on intelligence, people with intellectual disabilities, and higher education.

 
 
 
 
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