November 2006
The articles published in the ALERT represent the opinions of the authors and are not an endorsement by the Association or necessarily representative of the views of the Association.
— From
the President
— From the Editor
— Professional Development
Calendar
— Enabling Behaviors and Disabling Environments: Implementing
AHEAD’s Vision
— NPR Receives Department of Education Grant to Develop
Accessible Radio Technology for Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Blind and Visually Impaired
Communities
— International
Education Week Resources for Students with Disabilities, from the National Clearinghouse
on Disability and Exchange
— Press Release: Adaptive Environments Receives
Grant from the National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation Research of
the U.S. Department of Education
— Landmark College Institute for Research and Training
seeks participants for study: Student Networking Tendencies of Students with
and without Learning Disabilities
—
Internship Opportunity! The American Association of People
with Disabilities (AAPD)
From the President
The AHEAD Board of Directors met in St. Louis in
early October. One of the major issues we discussed was Board
Governance. You may remember that about three years ago the membership
voted on a change to the AHEAD Bylaws that re-titled Board positions,
moving us from specific task-related roles (such as Director
of Membership) to more global roles of leadership and vision.
That change was made in response to the growth of the Association
and the increasing professionalism of the AHEAD office. Where
Board members had previously been the volunteer workers of the
Association, we were finding that much of the nuts-and-bolts
work has been effectively and efficiently handled by the paid
staff in recent years. This move away from Board members as ‘hands-on
workers’ has been exciting because it has meant that time
can be spent on the Board-level tasks of moving the Association
forward and supporting AHEAD in playing a role in the continuing
evolution of our field.
You may have read or heard about the structure that was implemented
upon our change in the role of the Directors. We had established
five “Councils” around topics that were identified
as priorities: Constituency Matters, Member Services, External
Relationships, Diversity and Communication. Board members have
worked hard over the past several years to move each of these
agenda forward under this structure and have made progress in
each area. However, we have also struggled to identify clear
roles and to increase member involvement in the organization.
In an effort to resolve those concerns and to continue our evolution, we’ve researched effective structures, roles and relationships between the Board, the membership and the staff of successful not-for-profit organizations. In October, we decided to move away from dividing the Board into working ‘Councils’ and toward implementation of a Policy Governance model under which Board work will be defined as the fundamental leadership issues of vision, values, authority and roles… empowering other groups in the organization (staff, Initiative teams, SIG’s, etc.) to move us in the defined directions.
While I know that for most members AHEAD is a professional resource and networking association, I share these details on history, evolution and structure to encourage you to think about the impact that the Board will have over the next several years on the vision and direction of our Association. With a strong infrastructure, dedicated staff and committed members, the Board is able to build on this strong foundation to move the Association in directions that will impact how postsecondary institutions respond to issues of full access.
Historically, about 10% of AHEAD members vote for Board members, and positions are often uncontested. We will be seeking nominations for Board positions after the new year… it’s my hope that by better understanding the structure and impact of the Board, more members will consider running and take the time to consider those who are.
In addition to discussing structure, the Board had a sizeable fall agenda, including how we might serve students and their families, what our next steps are in considering the ‘certification question’, whether sponsorship should play a role in AHEAD’s revenue base, and how we can better address issues of cultural competency in the Association. Please let me know if you would like to offer ideas around any of these issues or have concerns. We will get Fall Board Minutes posted as soon as possible. As always, I and all the members of the Board are interested in your thoughts.
Carol Funckes
From the Editor
Dear AHEAD Colleagues,
Happy holidays. With the approach of the new year, we should welcome the opportunity to slow down a bit and to reflect upon how our profession is evolving. Be sure to read the letter from AHEAD President, Carol Funckes, for an update on the AHEAD Board of Directors, and how they are contributing their leadership and vision to a better Organization.
Im pleased to announce that beginning with this issue, ALERT will regularly feature a column exploring the topic “Reframing Disability.” In this first column, “Enabling Behaviors and Disabling Environments: Implementing AHEAD’s Vision,” Melanie Thornton of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock offers us some excellent ideas for making changes in the ways we utilize our time and energies. An inclusive environment, she suggests, is best achieved when our energies are focused on fixing the environment, not the student.
Along these lines, in this issue you will find news of some great developments – from an NPR grant aimed at designing accessible radio, to new resources for taking advantage of study abroad programs.
There are some new professional development opportunities identified in the calendar, but we're always looking to include more. Please keep sending information on events for future issues.
Sincerely,
Alvaro Gómez
ALERT Editor
November 2006 Calendar
Take advantage of these upcoming
events, conferences, and other opportunities to increase and
share your knowledge.
Calls for Presentations and Articles
ALERT submission and publication dates:
The ALERT is now being published every other month. Please keep those articles
coming! Here is the schedule for submissions:
Submissions Due: |
Publication Date: |
January 19, 2007 |
February 1, 2007 |
March 23, 2007 |
April 2, 2007 |
AHEAD and Affiliate Events
THE 2007 AHEAD Management Institutes:
February 22 - 24, 2007, New Orleans, LA
The 2007 AHEAD Management Institutes have been developed to offer important professional development opportunities for disability service professionals. All three institutes will be offered in a workshop style format with a friendly balance of lectures, discussions, and small group interaction. In addition to invaluable information and resources, the institutes will offer excellent networking opportunities for participants. The Institutes will be held in the beautiful Sheraton Hotel New Orleans on Canal Street in the heart of the historic city.
Institute One: The
AHEAD Institute for New and Newer Disability Services Managers
Institute Two: Managing Assistive Technology from A to Z
Institute Three: Disability Services in the Community College
- Key Issues and Best Practices.
For detailed information please visit: http://www.ahead.org/training/reg_training/Spring_2007_ProfDev.htm
2007 TRIO Training
Symposium
Students with Disabilities in TRIO Programs
February
22 – 24, 2007, New Orleans, LA
A large percentage of participants served in TRIO programs are
students with disabilities. Understanding the unique needs
of students with disabilities, and having the awareness of
how to best serve them, significantly increases TRIO Directors’ and
staffs’ ability to be fully supportive and inclusive.
These skills and knowledge also assist in increasing retention
and graduation rates, and adding to the overall quality of
the educational supports offered by TRIO programs for all students.
During this intensive and interactive three-day symposium, the dynamic trainers will present in-depth information on a broad variety of disability-specific issues through a framework based in practicality and applicability to services offered by TRIO programs. Attendees will leave the symposium with the knowledge and resources necessary to begin implementing improved, more efficient, fully inclusive services to their students right away!
For registration information and details of the symposium, please visit http://www.ahead.org/training/reg_training/Spring_2007_TRIO.htm
Other upcoming Conferences, Trainings and Expositions
Check out these offerings from our colleagues in the fields of disability and higher education:
Postsecondary Disability Training Institute (The Center on Postsecondary Education and Disability at the University of Connecticut)
Tuesday, June 12 - Friday, June 15 & Saturday,
June 16, 2007 – Saratoga Springs, NY
The objective of this Training Institute is to assist concerned
professionals to meet the unique needs of college students with
disabilities. Participants can select from a variety of Strands,
Single Sessions, and a Saturday Post-Session taught by experts
in the field, which provide participants with in-depth information
and adequate time for questions and follow-up discussions. Participants
also have opportunities to share information and network with
each other at various activities throughout the week.
The Institute will be held at the Saratoga Hotel & Conference
Center -- Saratoga Springs, NY
For more information please visit: http://www.cped.uconn.edu/07pti.htm
Contact:
Carrol Waite, Institute Manager: carrol.waite@uconn.edu OR by
phone: (860) 486-3321
Web conference: Standardized Testing and Students with Disabilities
Internet live conference: November 27 from 3-5 PM Eastern
Presenter: Jo Anne Simon, Esq.
To find out more
about the content of the webinar contact: Noel Gregg, Ph.D.
University of Georgia, Regents Center for Learning Disorders
ngregg@uga.edu OR 706-542-4589
This Web conference is sponsored
by the University of Georgia
Regents Center for Learning Disorders
EASI (Equal Access to Software and Information)
Georgia AHEAD
Alternative Media Access Center
Enabling Behaviors and Disabling Environments: Implementing AHEAD’s Vision
by: Melanie Thornton, University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Lately, I have given a lot of thought to the factors
that serve to maintain the status quo in postsecondary settings—the
factors that slow our progress toward the vision of accessible
and inclusive learning environments. Resistance may be a result
of a lack of awareness or knowledge, of fear that change will
cost too much or take too much time, and/or of concerns about
academic quality and integrity. These types of resistance can
be observed across many of our campuses. But what if we look
closer to home? What role do our disability service offices play
in either moving us toward that vision or supporting that resistance?
As I considered this question, I began to see that by providing
services in the traditional manner we are engaging in enabling
behaviors that may indeed serve to stifle positive change.
Let’s first think about our professional values as reflected
in AHEAD’s organizational mission statement:
AHEAD is the premiere professional association committed to full participation of persons with disabilities in postsecondary education. As an international resource, AHEAD:
AHEAD dynamically addresses current and emerging issues with respect to disability, education, and accessibility to achieve universal access.
As a professional organization, we value “full participation of persons with disabilities”. By embracing this mission, we are saying that we envision a day when barriers to full participation of people with disabilities have been removed. AHEAD works to implement this vision on an international level by addressing “current and emerging issues…to achieve universal access.” And, as members of AHEAD, we are called to support these efforts through the work we do on our own campuses.
How do we best realize that vision of “full participation” and “universal access” on our campus? Most of us have seen that when built environments or learning environments are designed appropriately, a given disability is not really disabling or is, at the very least, minimized. And I think most of us in this field would also agree with this statement:
“The problem does not exist within the person with a disability, but in the barriers—physical and attitudinal—that are imposed by society.”
This idea is consistent with the human interactional model in which disability is viewed as "the systemic mismatch between physical and mental attributes of individuals and the present (but not the potential) ability of social institutions to accommodate these attributes" (Schriner & Scotch, 2001). Thus, we could say that it is a given environment that is disabling, not the characteristics of the person with the disability. But does the traditional approach to service provision support this way of thinking about disability?
It seems to me that by applying individual accommodations rather than putting our energy toward changing disabling environments, we are in a sense “rescuing the environment” from the consequences that might lead to change. When we place emphasis on documentation and diagnosis of students with disabilities rather than spending more time focused on changing physical and attitudinal barriers, we are sending a message that the problem resides within the individual. And when we educate others about disability by spending so much time on the implications of the disability rather on how to create usable environments, we are promoting a medical view of disability rather than a social model.
It has become clear to me that policies and practices are out of step with our emerging beliefs about disability. When our behaviors are not aligned with our professional values, this presents us with an ethical dilemma. Yet how should we respond? Putting an immediate halt to “business as usual” would likely cause more harm than good. We can, however, make shifts in how we spend our time and focus our energy. Here are some ways we can begin to make this shift:
Leading our campuses toward a vision of inclusive and usable learning environments is not just a matter of innovation; it is a matter of ethics. It is time to take a critical look at the policies and practices of our profession in light of new thinking about disability as an aspect of diversity on our campuses and to implement the vision that AHEAD has for its members and the higher education community.
Source: Schriner, K. and Scotch, R.K. (2001) Disability and Institutional Change: A Human Variation Perspective on Overcoming Oppression, Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 12 (2), 100-106.
NPR Receives Department of Education Grant to Develop Accessible Radio Technology for Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Blind and Visually Impaired Communities
NPR and WGBH's National Center for Accessible Media Partner to Research and Create Services
Washington, D.C.,
October 11, 2006 - The Department of Education's National Institute
of Disability Rehabilitation and Research
has awarded a grant to NPR and WGBH's National Center for Accessible
Media (NCAM) to develop accessible radio technology for people
who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind or visually impaired.
The Accessible Digital Radio Broadcast Services grant
- in the amount of $150,000 for the first year - will help
fund an anticipated three-year research and development project
to
prototype, field test and assess the cutting-edge radio technologies
to serve the needs of people with sensory disabilities. NPR
and NCAM are internationally recognized experts in digital
radio
technologies and accessible media service models.
"As radio moves into the digital transmission arena, public radio is committed to providing people with sensory disabilities equal access to news, entertainment and emergency services," said Mike Starling, CTO and Executive Director of NPR Labs. "Thanks to the Department of Education's support through this grant, NPR and our WGBH partner will leverage our shared abilities to deliver on this promise."
"The time to address the needs of people with sensory disabilities is now," said Larry Goldberg, WGBH's Director of Media Access. "Considering those who are deaf or blind at birth, through trauma or illness, or baby boomers reaching retirement age over the next few years, the numbers of Americans with hearing or visual loss are expected to climb. It is crucial for us to address the unique needs of this growing population as we further develop HD radio services."
In creating radio technologies specifically geared to people with sensory disabilities, NPR and NCAM will bring together experts from broadcasting, academia and non-profit service organizations to best serve the needs of people who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind and visually impaired. The overall goal is to guide the design of prototype digital radios for evaluation by consumers with special needs. At the conclusion of the study period, the design criteria - to be developed with collective input from a representative cross section of disabled consumers - will be turned over to receiver manufacturers as best operating practice. NPR has teamed with Dr. Ellyn Sheffield of Salisbury University, a widely recognized researcher of consumer adaptation to digital radio services, to help design and test the technology in development.
The project's total budget for the first year is $227,810. The Department of Education grant will cover 65 percent of the project costs for the first year, while NPR will fund the remaining 35 percent. Additional federal funding after the first year is dependent on congressional appropriations.
NPR and the NPR Member stations have a long history of pioneering inclusive access for people with sensory disabilities. More than 100 radio reading services for the blind operating in the United States are offered by NPR stations, providing the reading of text from daily news, books and magazines.
In another effort to make radio programming accessible to the deaf and hearing-impaired community, NPR has in recent years tested Web-based real-time captioning of radio programs through www.NPR.org. For a two-hour special on deaf culture and education airing this Thursday October 12, NPR's Talk of the Nation has collaborated with WGBH's Media Access Group, the pioneer of captioning for television, to provide live captioning of the program. The October 12 broadcast will feature an interview with Dr. I. King Jordan, retiring president of Gallaudet University, the world's only university dedicated to deaf and hard of hearing students and a look at the shifting debate over the cochlear implant. Details can be found at www.npr.org/deafculture.
NPR Media Relations:
Emily Lenzner, 202.513.2754,
elenzner@npr.org
Media Access Group at WGBH:
Mary Watkins, 617.300.3700
voice, 617.300.2489 TTY, mary_watkins@wgbh.org
International Education Week Resources for Students with Disabilities, from the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange
Why do many young leaders with disabilities, who have achieved success in many areas of their lives, still hesitate when it comes to participating in the international arena? Judy Heumann, consultant to the World Bank and disability rights leader, asked this question in her keynote address during the 2006 AHEAD International Conference. From the audience, a disability service provider asked, “Can our students be Peace Corps volunteers?”
Yes – people with disabilities can and do participate in the Peace Corps and other overseas programs. Stories written by people with disabilities who were Peace Corps volunteers are online at the National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange website at: www.miusa.org/ncde/stories/peacecorps.
Congress declared 2006 The Year of Study Abroad. And November 13-17, 2006 was International Education Week. This national recognition underscores what many college students are learning: staying competitive in the global economy means having workers with the experiences and skills to work anywhere, anytime, crossing cultures and languages to get the job done. People who have hopes of turning an education into jobs and those jobs into careers must add international components to their resume, including those 33.1 million people with disabilities of working age in the United States.
The National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange (NCDE) celebrated International Education Week, November 13-17 (http://iew.state.gov) with the launch of its newly redesigned website at: www.miusa.org/ncde. The NCDE website offers many features to allow people with disabilities to explore the possibilities that come with having an international exchange experience in one’s educational background. Find a program, explore a destination, connect to people with disabilities who have studied abroad, or read about disability access in one of our featured countries.
New Features:
Based on the NCDE publication "Survival Strategies for Going Abroad: A Guide for People with Disabilities," this overview presents general information on finding the right exchange programs for you, funding resources, disability disclosure and accommodations, preparing for departure, living abroad, and returning home.
International activities to do before you go abroad and after returning home, including steps toward an international career.
Listings of scholarships, fellowships and places to find funding for overseas exchanges. Also funding tips for access-related accommodations and services.
Resources for students with disabilities from the United States and abroad about community college international study opportunities and advice.
Information on outreach to and increased inclusion of people with disabilities from different racial and ethnic backgrounds, age groups, geographic locations, and other underrepresented groups in international exchange programs.
Information to help people learn about the countries to consider when deciding on an international experience, including China, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, and United Arab Emirates.
The NCDE encourages students with disabilities
to see how international education will improve their future. To learn more about opportunities for people with disabilities
participating all types of international exchange contact:
National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange (NCDE)
Tel/TTY: (541) 343-1284
Fax: (541) 343-6812
Email: clearinghouse@miusa.org
The NCDE is a comprehensive one-stop resource for people
with disabilities, exchange and disability staff interested
in study, work, intern, volunteer, research or teach abroad
programs.
The National Clearinghouse on Disability and Exchange is administered by Mobility International USA and sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State.
PRESS RELEASE:
Adaptive Environments Receives Grant from
the National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation Research
of the U.S. Department of Education
Adaptive Environments, a Boston-based 28 year old educational non-profit, is pleased to announce that it has received a five year federal grant award from the National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation Research of the U.S. Department of Education to serve the six New England states to provide technical assistance, training and information dissemination on the rights and responsibilities of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and to research effective strategies to improve employment results for people with disabilities. The grant totals just over $5M.
Adaptive Environments has been home to the New England ADA Center since 1996. The new award requires a name change, to be standardized nationally, to the Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center. It will now be known as DBTAC: New England ADA Center. It is one of ten regional DBTACs. These 10 Centers comprise a nation-wide infrastructure to support voluntary compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. They share a single 800 number (800-949-4232). The geographic configuration of the centers remains but each center will undertake a research agenda tailored to regional needs.
DBTAC: New England ADA Center has created a new set of partnerships and collaborations that will help to meet the new expectations and is pleased to report that The Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University is the primary research partner. Other collaborations will include the new regional initiative of the six Governors and the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE): College Ready New England.
The target populations for New England ADA Center’s research are students with disabilities and their diverse support services at institutes of higher education, and employers in demand-driven, high growth industries in New England. Goals for this ADA Center are to: improve understanding of rights and responsibilities under the ADA; identify innovative approaches and tested solutions that increase employment; produce and disseminate a "Guide to New England Jobs" for individuals with disabilities; publish results of findings in refereed journals; and utilize networks of new collaborators to disseminate information, materials, and research findings.
For additional information, please contact Project Director, Dr. Oce Harrison at 1 800 949 4232 or oharrison@AdaptiveEnvironments.org
Landmark College Institute for Research and Training seeks participants for study: Student Networking Tendencies of Students with and without Learning Disabilities.
Dear AHEAD Members,
I am writing to ask if your institution would be interested
in participating in a study to examine the networking tendencies
of students with and without learning disabilities (including
attention disorders). Dr. Bill Godair, Director of Business
Studies, and I (as Director of Research) will be starting this
study during the 2006-2007 academic year.
The study consists of an online questionnaire with 28 questions
that are rated from "Strongly agree" to "Strongly
disagree." These questions were designed to identify
the networking tendencies of students. There are also 8 questions
about demographics, including the number of semesters attended,
the gender of the participant, and the estimated year of
first diagnosis for a learning disability.
The networking questions are based on a questionnaire developed by A. Hwang, E. Kessler, and A.M. Francesco, presented in their article, "Student Networking Behavior, Culture, and Grade Performance: An Empirical Study and Pedagogical Recommendations", Academy of Management Learning and Education, 2004, Vol. 3, No. 2, 139–150. This study examined how culture might influence student networking tendencies, and whether these tendencies correlate with subsequent grade performance. We have secured permission from the authors to adapt their questionnaire to examine how having a learning disability might influence networking behaviors as well.
We are currently recruiting multiple institutions of higher education to participate in this study. Because we need to ensure that students with learning disabilities know they can participate in the study, we are contacting disability services offices to help coordinate the study. The questionnaire will be anonymous, and we will not collect any information that would enable us to establish the identity of each participant. However, we will need help from each institution to ensure that we can associate each respondent's answers to their learning disability status and their grade point average.
If you or someone at your institution would be willing to work with us on this study, we anticipate that the workload would include the following activities:
1. Communicating the availability of our survey to students
with and without learning disabilities
2. Providing each student with an identification code for the
survey
3. Ensuring that at least 30-50 students (equally divided between
students with and without learning disabilities) respond to
the survey
3. Providing us with the identification code, diagnosis, and
GPA for each participant
In exchange for participating, we will provide each site coordinator with a honorarium of $50. To help motivate students to participate, we will randomly select 10 identification codes to receive a $25 gift certificate to Amazon.com.
Thank you for helping us determine if your institution would like to participate in this study. If you are not the appropriate person who could serve as a site coordinator, could you please help us identify that person?
Sincerely,
Dr. Steve Fadden
Director of Research, Landmark College
stevefadden@landmark.edu
(802) 387-1642
Dr. Bill Godair
Director of Business Studies, Landmark College
billgodair@landmark.edu
(802) 387-7169
Internship Opportunity! The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)
The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) is committed to the development of leadership, employment, and self-sufficiency skills of students with disabilities. In fact, through the sponsorship of Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation and the Microsoft Corporation, students have opportunities to develop those skills.
2007 SUMMER CONGRESSIONAL INTERNSHIP FOR COLLEGE
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Administered by AAPD and sponsored by the Mitsubishi Electric
America Foundation, second-semester sophomores through first-semester
seniors interested in working on Capitol Hill are encouraged
to apply. Accepted candidates will work in congressional offices
in Washington, DC. Roundtrip travel and housing will be provided
to interns, and each student will receive a stipend.
Applications will be available in August 2006 from www.AAPD.com.
Apply by: DECEMBER 1, 2006 (5:00pm, eastern).
Questions and submissions for Congressional program to: aapdcongintern@aol.com.
2007 SUMMER INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (I.T.) INTERNSHIP FOR COLLEGE
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Administered by AAPD and sponsored by Microsoft Corporation,
undergraduate students interested in pursuing careers in information
technology are encouraged to apply. Accepted candidates will
work in various agencies in the executive branch of the federal
government. Roundtrip travel and housing will be provided to
interns, and each student will receive a stipend. Applications
will be available in August 2006 from www.AAPD.com. Apply by:
DECEMBER 1, 2006 (5:00pm, eastern).
Questions and submissions for I.T. program to: aapdmsintern@aol.com.
For more information, please contact:
Shonda McLaughlin, PhD, CRC
Program Manager of Mentoring & Leadership
American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD)
1629 K St NW, Suite 503
Washington, DC 20006
Number: 202-457-0046, Ext 26 or 1-800-840-8844
Email: shondamc@verizon.net
