October, 2015 DREAM Newsletter
September 27-0ctober 3, 2015
From DREAM: Disability Rights, Education, Activism, and Mentoring
Sponsored by the Taishoff Center for Inclusive Higher Education at Syracuse University and the Association on Higher Education And Disability (AHEAD)
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Weekly Email Update on Issues Related to Disability and Higher Education
Week of September 27-October 3, 2015
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Disability and higher education in the news (in no particular order):
* Yesterday the Umpqua Community College in Oregon became the latest campus to experience mass casualties after a shooting (https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/probe-in-college-slayings-peers-into-web-rants-and-possible-religious-rage/2015/10/02/d250007a-68ea-11e5-8325-a42b5a459b1e_story.html). As investigators and the media try to piece together motives, it’s worth remembering that most people with mental and emotional illnesses are far more likely to be victims of violence rather than perpetrators. Here are three links explaining more, and a link to Active Minds, which actively fights mental health stigma in higher education:
* University staff and professors cannot ask students with service dogs for the dogs’ documentation, as one student at Texas State learned first-hand after the university began implementing an illegal policy requiring professors to ask for such documentation in courses: http://star.txstate.edu/2015/09/28/veteran-hopes-to-educate-community-after-service-dog-incident/
* This fall, the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) becomes the first conference to offer NCAA and varsity-level athletes with disabilities the same opportunities as nondisabled athletes, and it’s going to make a big difference for many students: https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/10/01/ecac-opening-its-sports-adaptive-athletes/3KQY7qvUftfm2FEdP9TaWO/story.html
* Technology designed for autistic people is evolving, and college students are among those who are benefiting, as highlighted at a recent conference in the UK: http://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2015/oct/01/assistive-technology-autism-autech-biometric-wrist-bands
* One of the Claremont Colleges (5Cs) in California pulled funding for a mad scientist theme party at 5C’s Harvey Mudd College, after concerns that the party trivialized mental health concerns and didn’t involve mental health services users, though the party continued as planned: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/college-party-platform-political-correctness-article-1.2381468
* The EEOC is suing Emory University Hospital for disability discrimination after hiring someone to replace a disabled employee (and veteran) on a two-week leave for emergency surgery:http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/9-30-15c.cfm
* The Multi-Service Eating Disorders Association (MEDA) is offering a free online resource for college students with eating disorders, including tips for college professionals working with them:http://www.medainc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/MEDA-College-Guide.pdf
* University of Wisconsin-Whitewater student Katelyn Pena is profiled in the campus newspaper, as a student, runner, Latina, and a Deaf ASL user: http://royalpurplenews.com/disabilities-dont-stop-pena/
* Mental health services user and professor Peter Beresford is the new director of DRILL, a five-year disability research program in the UK that is led by people with disabilities at all levels:http://www.brunel.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/news-items/ne_446489
* Friends of a Baylor University student with CP set up an online fundraiser to raise money for his electric scooter, but they believe the campus should have done more to help with transportation; the campus notes that it has an accessible shuttle and is in compliance with the ADA (video captioned, but not audio described): http://www.kwtx.com/ourtown/home/headlines/Waco--Disabled-BU-Student-Says-School-Offered-Little-Help-329939911.html
* Eight years ago, Swarthmore began improving physical access under an agreement with the Department of Justice, but students and administrators have different opinions about whether the college has made progress: http://swarthmorephoenix.com/2015/10/01/students-in-wheelchairs-face-access-issues/
* A college student in Glasgow celebrates her recovery from an eating disorder by dancing in a local mall and volunteering to help others: http://www.renfrewshire24.co.uk/2015/10/02/nicole-steps-out-of-eating-disorder-nightmare-with-mall-dance-performance/
* One of the models with disabilities getting attention is art school graduate Melanie Gaydos who is blind and has no hair or teeth due to a genetic condition (video has no captions or audio description):http://www.viralthread.com/she-was-viciously-bullied-as-a-child-for-having-no-hair-or-teeth-now-shes-having-the-last-laugh/?
* Jenelle Pitt, professor of rehabilitation at Fresno State, has won national recognition for her work on rehabilitation for people from minority backgrounds: http://tricountysentry.com/blog/fresno-state-prof-pitt-wins-national-award-for-disability-and-multicultural-advocacy/
* A blind student and a professor at Georgia State offer some suggestions for blind students and for making campuses more accessible to people with visual impairments: http://georgiastatesignal.com/how-accessible-and-inclusive-is-georgia-statestudent-living-with-blindness-shares-what-its-like-to-attend-a-university-in-the-center-of-atlanta/
* One graduate student shares his quick tips for college students with ADHD: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2015/10/01/succeeding-in-college-when-you-have-adhd/
And a few related items of possible interest to college students:
* A coalition of more than 80 colleges are experimenting with portfolios and free online admissions applications to level the playing field of college admissions, but will it work?http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/09/30/444498625/the-big-new-effort-to-revamp-college-admissions-will-it-work?sc=ipad&f=1001
* As refugees stream across Europe and the Middle East, people with disabilities are facing many challenges (video has limited subtitles, and no captions or audio description): http://www.bbc.com/news/disability-34357957
* “Have you tried some tea?” Comparing responses to mental vs. physical illnesses: http://www.buzzfeed.com/kirstenking/have-you-tried-herbal-tea#.ygN38b71by
* The Empowered FeFes of Chicago has created a free downloadable guide about reproductive health for women with disabilities (the article includes a link to the guide):http://thinkprogress.org/health/2015/10/01/3707749/reproductive-health-care-disabilities/
* Let’s hope you’re reading this from Overland Park, KS and not Providence, RI – there’s new national rankings of how cities compare for people with disabilities: http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2015/10/01/ranking-livable-disabilities/20842/
* Why would someone choose to have a deaf baby? Insights about reproductive technology from a viewpoint in Deaf culture: http://motherboard.vice.com/read/how-reproductive-tech-could-threaten-or-preserve-deaf-culture
* A new film highlights a disability wrestling club in Japan – are all things equal in the ring, or is it just more exploitation? http://www.bbc.com/news/disability-32450071
For more information about DREAM, the Taishoff Center, or AHEAD contact Wendy Harbour ([email protected]) or check out our website at http://www.dreamcollegediability.org. Wendy can also handle requests to subscribe or unsubscribe.
By the way, please don't presume DREAM, the Taishoff Center, Syracuse University, 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.
Sponsored by the Taishoff Center for Inclusive Higher Education at Syracuse University and the Association on Higher Education And Disability (AHEAD)
-------------------------------
Weekly Email Update on Issues Related to Disability and Higher Education
Week of September 27-October 3, 2015
-------------------------------
Disability and higher education in the news (in no particular order):
* Yesterday the Umpqua Community College in Oregon became the latest campus to experience mass casualties after a shooting (https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/probe-in-college-slayings-peers-into-web-rants-and-possible-religious-rage/2015/10/02/d250007a-68ea-11e5-8325-a42b5a459b1e_story.html). As investigators and the media try to piece together motives, it’s worth remembering that most people with mental and emotional illnesses are far more likely to be victims of violence rather than perpetrators. Here are three links explaining more, and a link to Active Minds, which actively fights mental health stigma in higher education:
- http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150723-the-myth-of-mental-illness-and-violence
- http://www.vox.com/2015/6/23/8833529/mental-illness-mass-shootings
- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1525086/#!po=0.684932
- http://www.activeminds.org/
* University staff and professors cannot ask students with service dogs for the dogs’ documentation, as one student at Texas State learned first-hand after the university began implementing an illegal policy requiring professors to ask for such documentation in courses: http://star.txstate.edu/2015/09/28/veteran-hopes-to-educate-community-after-service-dog-incident/
* This fall, the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) becomes the first conference to offer NCAA and varsity-level athletes with disabilities the same opportunities as nondisabled athletes, and it’s going to make a big difference for many students: https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2015/10/01/ecac-opening-its-sports-adaptive-athletes/3KQY7qvUftfm2FEdP9TaWO/story.html
* Technology designed for autistic people is evolving, and college students are among those who are benefiting, as highlighted at a recent conference in the UK: http://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2015/oct/01/assistive-technology-autism-autech-biometric-wrist-bands
* One of the Claremont Colleges (5Cs) in California pulled funding for a mad scientist theme party at 5C’s Harvey Mudd College, after concerns that the party trivialized mental health concerns and didn’t involve mental health services users, though the party continued as planned: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/college-party-platform-political-correctness-article-1.2381468
* The EEOC is suing Emory University Hospital for disability discrimination after hiring someone to replace a disabled employee (and veteran) on a two-week leave for emergency surgery:http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/9-30-15c.cfm
* The Multi-Service Eating Disorders Association (MEDA) is offering a free online resource for college students with eating disorders, including tips for college professionals working with them:http://www.medainc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/MEDA-College-Guide.pdf
* University of Wisconsin-Whitewater student Katelyn Pena is profiled in the campus newspaper, as a student, runner, Latina, and a Deaf ASL user: http://royalpurplenews.com/disabilities-dont-stop-pena/
* Mental health services user and professor Peter Beresford is the new director of DRILL, a five-year disability research program in the UK that is led by people with disabilities at all levels:http://www.brunel.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/news-items/ne_446489
* Friends of a Baylor University student with CP set up an online fundraiser to raise money for his electric scooter, but they believe the campus should have done more to help with transportation; the campus notes that it has an accessible shuttle and is in compliance with the ADA (video captioned, but not audio described): http://www.kwtx.com/ourtown/home/headlines/Waco--Disabled-BU-Student-Says-School-Offered-Little-Help-329939911.html
* Eight years ago, Swarthmore began improving physical access under an agreement with the Department of Justice, but students and administrators have different opinions about whether the college has made progress: http://swarthmorephoenix.com/2015/10/01/students-in-wheelchairs-face-access-issues/
* A college student in Glasgow celebrates her recovery from an eating disorder by dancing in a local mall and volunteering to help others: http://www.renfrewshire24.co.uk/2015/10/02/nicole-steps-out-of-eating-disorder-nightmare-with-mall-dance-performance/
* One of the models with disabilities getting attention is art school graduate Melanie Gaydos who is blind and has no hair or teeth due to a genetic condition (video has no captions or audio description):http://www.viralthread.com/she-was-viciously-bullied-as-a-child-for-having-no-hair-or-teeth-now-shes-having-the-last-laugh/?
* Jenelle Pitt, professor of rehabilitation at Fresno State, has won national recognition for her work on rehabilitation for people from minority backgrounds: http://tricountysentry.com/blog/fresno-state-prof-pitt-wins-national-award-for-disability-and-multicultural-advocacy/
* A blind student and a professor at Georgia State offer some suggestions for blind students and for making campuses more accessible to people with visual impairments: http://georgiastatesignal.com/how-accessible-and-inclusive-is-georgia-statestudent-living-with-blindness-shares-what-its-like-to-attend-a-university-in-the-center-of-atlanta/
* One graduate student shares his quick tips for college students with ADHD: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2015/10/01/succeeding-in-college-when-you-have-adhd/
And a few related items of possible interest to college students:
* A coalition of more than 80 colleges are experimenting with portfolios and free online admissions applications to level the playing field of college admissions, but will it work?http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/09/30/444498625/the-big-new-effort-to-revamp-college-admissions-will-it-work?sc=ipad&f=1001
* As refugees stream across Europe and the Middle East, people with disabilities are facing many challenges (video has limited subtitles, and no captions or audio description): http://www.bbc.com/news/disability-34357957
* “Have you tried some tea?” Comparing responses to mental vs. physical illnesses: http://www.buzzfeed.com/kirstenking/have-you-tried-herbal-tea#.ygN38b71by
* The Empowered FeFes of Chicago has created a free downloadable guide about reproductive health for women with disabilities (the article includes a link to the guide):http://thinkprogress.org/health/2015/10/01/3707749/reproductive-health-care-disabilities/
* Let’s hope you’re reading this from Overland Park, KS and not Providence, RI – there’s new national rankings of how cities compare for people with disabilities: http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2015/10/01/ranking-livable-disabilities/20842/
* Why would someone choose to have a deaf baby? Insights about reproductive technology from a viewpoint in Deaf culture: http://motherboard.vice.com/read/how-reproductive-tech-could-threaten-or-preserve-deaf-culture
* A new film highlights a disability wrestling club in Japan – are all things equal in the ring, or is it just more exploitation? http://www.bbc.com/news/disability-32450071
For more information about DREAM, the Taishoff Center, or AHEAD contact Wendy Harbour ([email protected]) or check out our website at http://www.dreamcollegediability.org. Wendy can also handle requests to subscribe or unsubscribe.
By the way, please don't presume DREAM, the Taishoff Center, Syracuse University, 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.