S.O.S. - serve our students: a response to hurricane katrina

Hurricane Katrina is the worst disaster to hit the United States in 100 years. Not since the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 has there been such a toll in human life, and the damage to property is unfathomable.

A number of institutions of higher education appear to have been directly in the storm path and are likely to have suffered extensive damage. That means that thousands of students, including students with disabilities, will see their educational careers significantly disrupted -- a horrific blow to folks whose lives have already been devastated by this natural disaster and its aftermath.

Among these students will most certainly be students with disabilities. As is their experience in living with a disability, the impact of Hurricane Katrina on their lives could be even more complicated than for their classmates. Along with everything else that has been lost, many will have lost critical documentation of their disability and past history of services -- and may have no conceivable means of retrieving or recreating that documentation in the foreseeable future.

Institutions of higher education across the country are stepping forward to offer their help in providing a safe haven for displaced students, and a chance to resume their lives and their education as quickly as possible. As these students are absorbed into our campus communities, it is appropriate for the disability services unit to do its part in creating a welcoming atmosphere that will allow students who have already experienced so much loss to get on with their educational careers.

For students with disabilities who arrive on our campuses without formal documentation, it is appropriate to consider what options and alternatives we can provide that will allow them access to services and support through nontraditional mechanisms. Moreover, the successful integration of students with disabilities into host institutions will take more than a welcoming campus climate or disability services office. They will need help in orienting themselves to a new campus/community. They will need help in finding and maintaining their focus in the wake of their devastating losses. They will need the patience and understanding of those around them.

The membership and leaders of AHEAD have watched with growing concern over the past week as the situation in the Gulf Coast region has deteriorated. While many of us have offered both prayers and financial support to the recovery efforts, we cannot be on the spot to provide more active assistance to the thousands of people whose lives have been so significantly disrupted. We can, however, make every effort to be prepared to offer assistance to the students with disabilities who hope to move beyond this tragedy.

This information has been developed to provide support to disability service providers in higher education who are likely to be the “first stop” on the long road to educational recovery for students with disabilities displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The information and suggestions you read here have been contributed by active members of the DSS community in hopes of assisting colleagues in the task of supporting these unfortunate campus newcomers. We invite you to browse through all of the sections included with this information, whether you need them now or not, so that you will be aware of the resources available and can use them for yourself or others, as need arises.

The information compiled here was gathered quickly, in response to a perceived urgent need for support of both students and service providers. It is our hope that this information will be an active resource, continually growing with your contributions. If you have suggestions for content, if you have innovative ideas to offer, if you would like to add your name to those offering to share their expertise, or if you have concerns about anything presented here, please contact ahead@ahead.org

SWD – Students without Documentation
Our first concern in supporting displaced students will be to get them into classes with appropriate disability-related support. Because it is likely that they will have limited, if any, access to documentation either of their disability or of past services, it will fall to the DSS provider to conduct a thorough interview to gather the information needed both to establish eligibility and to assign appropriate services and accommodations.

It is a given that we may need to rely more on student self-report, rather than hard documentation in this circumstance. Within this section you will find suggestions of the kinds of questions that may be helpful for students from different disability groups, as well as general information on conducting a structured interview. You will note that these segments were compiled by different individuals, and there may be significant differences both in approach and format. The intent was to provide guidance, not specific instructions, and we hope you will find these suggestions useful in that vein.

Structured Interview as Documentation (Word doc, 32KB)

Students with Mobility Impairments (Word doc, 10KB)
Students with Visual Impairments (Word doc, 16KB)
Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing (Word doc, 34KB)
Students with LD/ADHD (Word doc, 12KB)
Students with Asperger Syndrome (Word doc, 11KB)
Students with Psychological/Psychiatric Impairments (Word doc, 15KB)
Students with Chronic Health Impairments (Word doc, 24KB)

SIT – Students in Transition
Getting the student duly registered for classes and for your services is only a beginning. Remember, all students displaced by Hurricane Katrina are likely to find themselves disoriented on a new campus and in a new community, especially after having suffered such a huge upheaval in their lives. For students with disabilities, who sometimes found navigating the system on their home campuses to be a little overwhelming, the orientation process will likely take a little longer and need to be a little more directed than for students without disabilities. The following information was developed to help disability service providers think through what kind of help they can give to Katrina’s survivors outside of traditional classroom/accommodation issues.

General Orientation for the “New Kid in Town" (Word doc, 21KB)

Students with Mobility Impairments (Word doc, 7KB)
Students with Visual Impairments (Word doc, 10KB)
Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing (Word doc, 18KB)
Students with LD/ADD (Word doc, 16KB)
Students with Psychological/Psychiatric Impairments (Word doc, 13KB)
Students with Chronic Health Impairments (Word doc, 20KB)
Moving from Public to Private – Negotiating Differences in Campus and Climate (Word doc, 17KB)
Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic and Hurricane Katrina (Word doc, 20KB)
National Council on Disabiliy on Hurricane Katrina Affected Areas (Word doc, 45KB)

Innovative Ideas
This section is dedicated to sharing ideas that may help students in the recovery process. As the weeks pass, members of the DSS community are invited to send in strategies and reports of activities they have found to be useful in supporting displaced students now and in the future. All suggestions should be sent to ahead@ahead.org

Helping Students to Recreate Missing Documentation (Word doc, 7 KB)
Using Coaching to Support Displaced Students and Staff (Word doc, 26KB)

Reflections
It is important that disability service providers not lose sight of the magnitude of loss, devastation, and disorientation that many of these students have experienced. While service providers may be enthusiastic about an opportunity to help the students move on and a chance to be actively involved, the students themselves may not be able to move on as easily, and perhaps we should not pressure them too much to share our immediate priorities for their recovery. The following personal reflections are offered simply to remind the DSS community of the broad impact such a tragedy can have on the lives of those it touches.

One Person’s Experience of Hurricane Floyd (Word doc, 22KB)
Gone With the Wind: Chronicle of a Survivor (Word doc, 27KB)
Serving the WHOLE Student (Word doc, 22KB)