AHEAD 2007 - Concurrent Sessions

During the AHEAD 2007 Conference there will be five concurrent session time blocks. Pre-selection of sessions you will attend is required. Please review the session information below and online, choose the one session during each block that you will attend, and indicate those choices on your Conference Registration Form. You will be guaranteed seating, handouts, and any applicable access related services/media for each selection you pre-select.

Concurrent Block One
Wednesday, July 18; 11:00 am - 12:30 pm

#1.1 Facing Fear in the Face of Change.......from Documentation to Design
Molly Sirois, University of Oregon

This session is not for the faint of heart. We’re going to FACE OFF with FEAR, our own and others’ fear about change in our profession, from policies on documentation to design of the educational environment to everything in between. We’ll be asking each other tough questions about our work: how fear shapes our current beliefs and practices and what we fear about changing them. Change is coming so here is an opportunity to prepare for it or, better yet, to be an active participant in bringing it about.
Audience: All

#1.2 Self-Disclosure or Concealment? A Dilemma among Minority College Students with Disabilities
Rosezelia Roy, Virginia State University
Evelyn Whitehead, Virginia State University

Racial differences in self-disclosure of psychiatric and learning disabilities among college students are seen by student service personnel. A panel of counseling and disability professionals will highlight research findings on minority students’ decision to self-disclose or conceal in college. Examples of outreach activities and counseling approaches to encourage self-disclosure will be presented.
Audience: All

#1.3 For Pride and Passion: Making a One-Person Office Survive and Thrive
Kathleen McGillivray, Bethel University
Karen Saracusa, Mount Union College

This session will address some of the unique challenges faced by professionals who run a disability services office alone. Topics covered will include creative budget management, assessing campus culture and politics, locating consultants, policy development, creating a new disability services office and negotiating with administrators. An extensive resource list will be distributed and ample time for questions will be provided.
Audience: Novice

#1.4 Integrating Accessibility into PDF Documents from MS Office Applications
Sean Keegan, California Community Colleges

Developing accessible PDF documents requires attention to the process of PDF document creation as well as the applications utilized to output the completed file. While it is preferable to create an accessible PDF by default, there are situations when it becomes necessary to apply the various tools within Adobe Acrobat to retrofit files into accessible PDF versions.
Audience: All

#1.5 DVD Captioning with Encore
Gaeir Dietrich, California Community Colleges

Captioning DVD materials requires a different workflow and software applications than captioning VHS tape. We will discuss creating captioned DVDs from both captioned and uncaptioned VHS tapes, as well as demonstrate using Adobe Encore to build a captioned DVD.
Audience: All

#1.6 Psst... Hey, buddy... Want to buy an external peer review? It’s really good stuff!
Lydia Block, Ohio Wesleyan University
Sam Goodin, University of Michigan
David Parker, University of Connecticut

Peer reviews are rarely discussed at the AHEAD conference in part because those of us that do them don’t want to be perceived as using the conference to advertise services. Thus this form of assessment has gone “underground” with people furtively seeking reviewers in dark corners of the conference center. It’s time to bring this out into the open! We will discuss a variety of peer review methodologies and their uses and misuses.
Audience: All

#1.7 Making Career Decisions after Brain Injury: Women’s Experiences
Maria Iaquinta, Douglas College

This session will present the findings of a qualitative study that investigated the experience and meaning of career decision-making for women with brain injury. The presenter, a service provider and researcher, will take a social model of disability perspective and use case examples to present common themes in the womens’ stories. The presenter will facilitate a discussion of potential applications of the findings to a valuing of experience and the creation of psychological access on campus.
Audience: All

#1.8 Fitting Accommodations to Test Characteristics and Objectives: Assessing Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students
Ruth Loew, Educational Testing Service
Mary Morrison, PEPNet-West

Test language and format can impact the test taker’s performance. The presenters will delineate ways these factors, as well as the content and purpose of the test, should influence decisions about testing accommodations (on both standardized and course-based postsecondary tests) for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. The issues discussed will also be applicable to other students with disabilities.
Audience: All

#1.9 Be Prepared: Emergency Planning for All Hazards, All People, All Stages (including Bird Flu)
L. Irene Bowen, US Department of Justice
Emily Singer, The Catholic University of America

This session will focus on what can go wrong, why it matters, and how to prepare for it. The presenters will help participants ensure that their institutions consider the needs of people with disabilities in all aspects of planning for and response to emergencies. A discussion of practical approaches will follow a brief overview of legal requirements.
Audience: All

#1.10 Effective Transition Programs for College Bound High School Students with Disabilities
Jeananne Dixon, New River Community College
Crystal Hill, University of Central Arkansas
Jane Warner, Virginia Tech
Mika Watanabe-Taylor, University of Montana-Missoula

Adequate transition planning for high school students with disabilities is necessary to promote student success in higher education. This presentation will highlight three summer transition programs developed in Arkansas, Montana, and Virginia. Components of the programs will be shared with PowerPoint, videos, web pages, and interactive discussion. Participants will leave with information to replicate the programs in their own states and/or college campuses.
Audience: All
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Concurrent Block Two
Thursday, July 19; 11:00 am – 12:30 pm

#2.1 Infuse Universal Design into your Campus Culture
Terra Beethe, Bellevue University
Melanie Gangle, University of Portland

Implementing Universal Design (UD) into a campus environment can be a daunting prospect, especially for small Disability Services offices. The presenters will provide strategies for implementing UD through a universally designed, interactive presentation. We will share tried-and-true ideas for creating a plan and building allies and support within your institution, ways to assess progress toward your UD goals, and offer proof that it CAN be “all fun and games”!
Audience: Intermediate

#2.2 Understanding Learning AND Teaching: the Important Role that YOU can Play!
Lydia Block, Ohio Wesleyan University
Christy Lendman, Lendman Educational Consulting

There is a magic wand! This session will focus on the interaction between the student and teacher and what role the DS provider can take in creating true academic access. Learning strategies and methods of diversifying instruction will be discussed.
Audience: All

#2.3 Using On-line Service Delivery to Empower and Support Students with Disabilities
Bill Knapp, Ferris State University
Gloria Lukusa, Ferris State University
Eunice Merwin, Ferris State University

Web-based or on-line learning is here to stay and students with disabilities have found it to be an engaging and functional alternative to the traditional classroom. This new learning environment can also give disabled students an alternative to face-to-face counseling sessions and service request appointments. Participants will learn how to begin building an on-line service delivery system using 7 on-line tools.
Audience: All

#2.4 Determining Tech Skill Competency from LD Documentation: A New Breed of Diagnostic Report
Manju Banerjee, University of Connecticut, Storrs
Loring Brinckerhoff, Educational Testing Service

A survey of 50 college and universities websites in the US and Canada indicated that college-bound students with learning disabilities need to be more tech savvy in using both mainstream and “assistive technologies.” The presenters offer some practical suggestions on how evaluators can prepare diagnostic reports that are inclusive of tech skills competencies for this population.
Audience: Advanced

#2.5 Improving Access to Math on the Web using MathType
Sean Keegan, California Community Colleges

MathType is a mathematical equation editor that can assist online instructors and alternate media specialists with the creation of accessible math content. Using the features in MathType, mathematic instructors can deliver math expressions while still including access for assistive computer technologies.
Audience: All

#2.6 Using Word Templates to Create Braille in Duxbury
Gaeir Dietrich, California Community Colleges

Braille is the primary written format for many students who are blind. Since paying professional transcribers can be very expensive, DS professionals should know that with straightforward literary material, they can learn to create Braille documents themselves. Come learn how to leverage your current knowledge of MS Word so that you, too, can create Braille for your students.
Audience: All

#2.7 Using the AHEAD Program Standards to Promote Self-Determination in Your Daily Practice
Lyman Dukes III, University of South Florida, St. Petersburg
Stan Shaw, University of Connecticut

Research supports the importance of self-determination in adults with disabilities. Self-determination (the ability to identify and achieve one’s goals) contributes to greater academic success and financial independence. This session will present select items from the new AHEAD Program Standards and Performance Indicators to help disability professionals programmatically foster student self-determination.
Audience: All

#2.8 Exploring Professional Certification: AHEAD Curriculum Advisory Council (CAC) Phase #4
Timothy King, University of Dayton

This session is an opportunity for attendees to participate in an open forum about PHASE #4 of curriculum development for the AHEAD professional development initiative aimed at exploring professional certification for disability service professionals. Several topics will be highlighted during the forum including updates from the Foundations, Administrative, & Technical Working Groups research endeavors.
Audience: All

#2.9 Preparing Students with Disabilities for Access in the World of Work: A Look at Current Research and Best Practices
Larry Markle, Ball State University
Veronica Porter, Northeastern University

Since the passage of the ADA in 1990, employment of individuals with disabilities has declined according to current research using major surveys. This presentation will focus on current research that has been done on how college graduates with physical disabilities have fared in the labor market. Successful strategies, from two universities, for helping students transition and gain access to the labor market will be discussed.
Audience: All

#2.10 Strategies for Creating Access: Students with Disabilities in Health Science-Related Programs
Barbara Blacklock, University of Minnesota
Howard Kallem, US Department of Education

Students with disabilities are increasingly applying for and enrolling in health science-related programs. In this session, participants will learn how to reconcile their university’s obligations under disability laws with faculty interest in competency and patient safety, particularly in clinical settings. Representatives from the Office of Civil Rights and Disability Services will provide an overview of the requirements of 504 and ADA as they relate to access for students with disabilities in health science-related programs and will provide strategies for creating equal access to these programs for qualified students with disabilities.
Audience: Intermediate
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Concurrent Block Three
Thursday, July 19; 4:15 pm – 5:30 pm

#3.1 Students with Disabilities: Post-Secondary Voices and Universal Design for Learning
Shirley Coomber, British Columbia Institute of Technology

This presentation points to future innovation in higher education with regard to supporting students with disabilities through universal design for learning. The discussion will focus on the implications of research findings for educational re-design in the areas of professional practice, professional development, and academic access policies, and areas for further research related to universal design for learning, educational leadership, and social justice.
Audience: All

#3.2 Universally Designing College Curricula: Step-by-Step Tools for Faculty and DS Personnel
Kirsten Behling, University of Massachusetts, Boston

How can DS personnel effectively guide faculty to incorporate Universal Design (UD) into courses? This interactive presentation follows the experiences of 75 faculty and 10 DS personnel who worked together, using the Universal Course Design Website, to redesign courses to include UD principles. This presenter will also share the experiences of students with and without disabilities, enrolled in these redesigned courses.
Audience: All

#3.3 Expanding the Circle: A Curriculum to Support American Indian Students in Transition
Jean Ness, University of Minnesota

The presenter will describe a model for preparing American Indian youth-at-risk and with disabilities to transition from high school to postsecondary education. The audience will have the opportunity to participate in creative curriculum exercises and to preview the curriculum. Participants will view sample program models and curriculum activities for possible program replication in a variety of settings.
Audience: All

#3.4 Talking About their Generation: Millennial Students go to College
Kristie Orr, Texas A&M University

“Why are my students always on their cell phones? Why am I talking to parents as much as students? Why is it so hard for my students to find time to meet with me during my office hours?” Have you ever heard yourself saying or thinking those words? If so, this session is for you. Come find out common characteristics of the “Millennial” generation college students and strategies to work more effectively with them.
Audience: All

#3.5 Now Hear This! Best Practices and Late-Breaking News for Managing an Effective Learning through Listening Program on Your Campus
Annemarie Cooke, RFB & D
Jim Marks, University of Montana
Kathleen McGillivray, Bethel University

Whether your campus population is large or small, public or private, this presentation will provide you several tried and true methods for managing the audio accommodation needs of students who have print-related disabilities. The first resource for audio books is RFB&D, a major tool in the postsecondary DS toolkit. Participants will learn about late-breaking developments at RFB&D, including progress on a full text-full audio book product.
Audience: All

#3.6 From Dublin to Alabama – Disability Services on Both Sides of the Atlantic
Judy Thorpe, University of Alabama

Have you ever wondered how disability services might differ if you worked in another country? Participants in AHEAD’s first International Exchange Program will discuss their experiences in the program: similarities and differences in service provision, implications for students who wish to participate in international exchange programs, and how international partnerships can help rejuvenate and refresh our professional outlook.
Audience: All

#3.7 Determining Reasonable Accommodations for Test Takers with Disabilities: An International Dilemma
Loring Brinckerhoff, Educational Testing Service

Educational Testing Service (ETS) is the world’s largest testing agency. Each year ETS receives over 10,000 requests for testing accommodations from individuals with disabilities on high stakes tests such as the GRE, PRAXIS and TOEFL tests. One of the challenges faced by ETS is how to determine reasonable accommodations for individuals who submit disability documentation from foreign countries. This session will examine this process of documentation review from an international perspective.
Audience: Advanced

#3.8 The AHEAD Program Standards and Postsecondary Institutions: Results of a National Survey
Zach Sneed, University of North Texas

The AHEAD program standards set a nationally recognized minimum set of standards that ensure students with disabilities an equal opportunity to pursue their postsecondary education. The session will report the results of a recent national survey of disability service providers with regards to effectively meeting the program standards set forth by AHEAD.
Audience: All

#3.9 Investigating a College Success Opportunity for Students with Cognitive Disabilities
Kathy Haberer, Lewis and Clark Community College

Students with cognitive disabilities have a difficult transition from special education placement to their local community college. Lewis and Clark Community College has provided academic programming and support services for these students for more than a decade. The presenter will share the historical evolution and the framework of the program for these students not typically served at community colleges.
Audience: All

#3.10 Ticket to Work 2006 Re-Launch: A Workable Business Model
Theola Snowden, Social Security Administration

Congress directed the Social Security Administration to study how the Ticket to Work program was serving beneficiaries with higher support needs. The Adequacy of Incentives study group which Social Security commissioned suggested a number of changes that would synchronize the Ticket to Work with Supported Employment services. The new proposed rules for the Ticket to Work incorporate these changes. This workshop will highlight the significant changes proposed and how they can be used to expand programs providing supported employment services to beneficiaries. The revised Ticket program regulations will allow employment providers to be paid for helping beneficiaries obtain part-time as well as full-time employment.
Audience: All
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Concurrent Block Four
Friday, July 20; 9:00 am – 10:30 am

#4.1 Universal Design of Student Services
Debra Casey-Powell, South University
Lyla Crawford, University of Washington
Jim Gorske, University of South Carolina, Spartanburg
Patricia Richter, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania

We know that compliance under the ADA means access to programs, services and activities. How do we move beyond classrooms and physical building access to student services, clinical sites, and meetings, events and programs? Are you and your campus committed to accessibility but not sure where to start? Find out how to make student service areas more accessible to students with disabilities by incorporating principles of universal design and receiving handouts.
Audience: All

#4.2 The Ethics of Doing Business as Usual: Reframing Disability, Reframing Our Roles
Sharon Downs, University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Melanie Thornton, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

As we shift our thinking about disability and view it as an aspect of diversity integral to society, we must also examine our practices in light of this new perspective. Join us in this highly interactive session as we take a challenging look at some of the common policies and practices in our field via a guided ethical decision-making process.
Audience: Intermediate

#4.3 Assistive Technology for Students with Reading-related LD to use in Researching the Internet
James Bailey, University of Oregon

Technological reading supports for students with learning disabilities are not new. The types of resources available, however, are expanding rapidly. This presentation will highlight existing reading supports available to access the vast data on the Internet. It will also report on new integrated features designed to work specifically with the Web. This presentation is based on WYNN Wizard version 5.x
Audience: All

#4.4 AHEAD E-Text Solutions Forum
Jim Marks, University of Montana
Ron Stewart, Chair, AHEAD E-text Solutions Group

Join this informative session on current activities of the AHEAD E-Text Solutions Group and get up-to-date developments in the provision of educational materials in accessible formats.
Audience: All

#4.5 Disability Service Providers’ Views on Accessibility and eLearning: A Canadian Perspective
Jennison Asuncion, Adaptech Research Network
Maria Barile, Adaptech Research Network
Catherine Fichten, Adaptech Research Network
Susan Alcorn Mackay, Glenn Crombie Centre

In this interactive session we will discuss results from the 77 disability service providers involved in our recently completed three-year study on accessibility of eLearning (e.g., PowerPoint in class, WebCT) to Canadian postsecondary students with disabilities. As findings are shared, the audience will be encouraged to relate their own experiences, with the objective of exchanging best practices amongst attendees.
Audience: All

#4.6 Don’t Stay in your Box…Managing your Office and Planning for the Future
Colleen Lewis, Columbia University
Emily Singer, The Catholic University of America

The goal of this session is threefold: one, to provide newcomers a foundation of information and best practices in managing a disability services program; two, to provide an orientation to AHEAD’s program standards; and, three, to provide participants with information about how to plan for the future while maintaining their offices and services on a day-to-day basis.
Audience: Novice

#4.7 Exploring Professional Certification: AHEAD Curriculum Advisory Council (CAC) Phase #4
Timothy King, University of Dayton

#4.8 Response to Intervention (RTI): ...and the Band Plays on.
Susan Vess, ACT

Response to Intervention (RTI), the latest educational bandwagon, is included in the IDEA, thereby giving this movement a credibility and mandate that prior educational theories and strategies never realized. The presenter will describe RTI in theory and practice, discuss its promises and pitfalls, and describe what RTI means to disability service providers at the postsecondary level.
Audience: All

#4.9 Effective Transition Training Materials for Students, Parents and Professionals
Carolyn Boone, Tomkins Cortland Community College
Randy Borst, State University of New York at Buffalo
Kathy Hoffman, Erie Community College
Marianne Savino, Buffalo State College

Making a successful transition from high school to college is challenging. Western New York has taken a regional approach to addressing the issues of training all the stakeholders. In this interactive session participants will have hands-on experience in the use of many of the materials that have been developed and are used widely. Participants will then be able to implement or adapt these materials for their own use.
Audience: All

#4.10 Passion for Collaboration: One Affiliate’s Perspective on How to Make it Work
Melanie Gangle, University of Portland
Clark Hochstetler, University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Rick Muthiah, George Fox University
Martha Smith, Oregon Health and Science University

What makes a state disabilities services professional organization successful? ORAHEAD (Oregon) is a recent affiliate to AHEAD but has a 20-year history as an active state organization. ORAHEAD prides itself as an organization that consciously and collaboratively represents public 2 and 4-year public and private institutions of higher education. Come find out what makes this “maverick” organization so successful.
Audience: All
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Concurrent Block Five
Saturday, July 21; 9:00 am – 10:30 am

#5.1 Reexamining the Foreign Language Requirement through a Universal Design (UD) Framework
Wade Edwards, Longwood University
Sally Scott, Longwood University

This session will describe the collaborative process used on one campus to re-examine the general education foreign language course requirement using a UD framework. Revisions in the course waiver petitions process, instructional innovations, and expanded accommodations available to all students will be discussed. Participants will be given opportunities to discuss issues and brainstorm strategies for their own campus.
Audience: Intermediate

#5.2 Disability Culture in Design Education: Universal Design, Equity and Diversity
Julie Grant, University of Oregon
Daniel Hunter, Adaptive Environments; University of Oregon
Elaine Ostroff, Adaptive Environments
Beth Tauke, State University of New York at Buffalo

“Access to Design Professions” improves universal design by supporting people from disability culture in the field of design. Policies for service delivery are inadequate for the unique needs of studio-based education. The presenters will showcase a collaborative policy model developed by students, professors, disability services, and the Diversity and Equity Committee of the School of Architecture and Allied Arts at the University of Oregon.
Audience: All

#5.3 Planting DAISY’s & Arranging Garlands: Developing a Program for E-Text Production
Daniel Berkowitz, Boston University

Boston University has developed and continues to refine a model program for the production and dissemination of DAISY Books and E-Text materials. This session will provide a step-by-step guide to assist other institutions in developing similar processes. The session will also assist disability service professionals in working with upper level management in the creation of such a facility.
Audience: Intermediate

#5.4 Six Sigma: A Management Tool for Effectiveness
Michelle Peters, Drexel University

The tools available for analyzing processes and possibilities for improvement can vary from campus to campus. As leaders in disability services, we find ourselves needing to justify and substantiate the resources within our campus/system, and are sometimes unsure of where to go after the legal precedent issues have been well presented. Six Sigma is one type of management tool and will be shared and explored in this session.
Audience: Intermediate

#5.5 The Metrics on Disability and Postsecondary Education Model: A Systemic Tool
Marya Burke, University of Illinois

The Metrics on Disabilities and Higher Education (MDPE) model is a response to the paucity of empirical information regarding students with disabilities in postsecondary education. When implemented, this system collects data regarding high school to postsecondary transfer, campus support services, and student experiences and outcomes allowing comparisons within and across disability types, and between students with and without disabilities.
Audience: All

#5.6 Transition to Career: Student Experiential Education and the Role of Disability Services
Sarah Helm, The University of Tennessee
Katherine McCary, Sun Trust Bank
Alan Muir, Career Opportunities for Students with Disabilities

Work experience is the key for students with disabilities to be competitive in searching for an appropriate career. This session focuses on several internship programs for students, as well as providing an employer’s perspective on career preparation. A new resource that directly connects students with disabilities with employers for full-time and internship positions will also be highlighted.
Audience: All

#5.7 Asperger’s Syndrome Unraveled: Applied Strategies for Successful Integration into Campus Life
Louise Bedrossian, Georgia State University
Rodney Pennamon, Georgia State University

Students with Asperger’s Syndrome have emerged with increasing frequency on college campuses in recent years. They often require not only more extensive, but also atypical, interventions in order to successfully integrate into campus life. Through interactive discussion and examination of case studies, participants will be provided with a toolbox of applied strategies which can be implemented on their campuses.
Audience: All

#5.8 When Worlds (and Professions) Collide: Act 3!
Jane Jarrow, Disability Access Information and Support
Scott Lissner, The Ohio State University

Back by popular demand, this well received offering from the Milwaukee/San Diego conferences provides insight into the logical/legal responses to day-to-day disability service issues. This lively discussion among DS leaders will remind participants that attorneys and service providers may react very differently to the same scenario. There is no one, right answer in this business!!!
Audience: All

#5.9 A Training Session of Validated Strategies Specifically for Faculty
Stephanie Gaddy, Lincoln College

This presentation provides participants with a ready-to-use training session for faculty. As DS providers assist students with disabilities to receive accommodations, it is important to also provide assistance to faculty. Implementing universal design ideals, this session presents four validated literacy strategies. Participants will leave the session with all of the materials necessary to present this training session on their campus
Audience: All

#5.10 Effective Grievance Procedures: How to Ensure a Prompt and Equitable Response to Grievances – and Keep OCR Out of Your Hair!
Howard Kallem, US Department of Education
Judith Risch, US Department of Education

A student wants to file a grievance based on disability. What do you do with it? Where should it be filed? Is your grievance procedure up to snuff? Do you have more than one? Should there be an investigation? Who should be involved? OCR will discuss the components of an effective grievance procedure and how to ensure a fair result that will stand up to OCR review—and may even avoid an OCR investigation. We will conclude with some illustrations of how to conduct an investigation.
Audience: All
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AHEAD 2007 - Concurrent Sessions

Concurrent Block One Wednesday, July 18; 11:00 am - 12:30 pm

Concurrent Block Two Thursday, July 19; 11:00 am – 12:30 pm

Concurrent Block Three Thursday, July 19; 4:15 pm – 5:30 pm

Concurrent Block Four Friday, July 20; 9:00 am – 10:30 am

Concurrent Block Five Saturday, July 21; 9:00 am – 10:30 am

Concurrent Block One
Wednesday, July 18; 11:00 am - 12:30 pm

Concurrent Block Two
Thursday, July 19; 11:00 am – 12:30 pm

Concurrent Block Three
Thursday, July 19; 4:15 pm – 5:30 pm

Concurrent Block Four
Friday, July 20; 9:00 am – 10:30 am

Concurrent Block Five
Saturday, July 21; 9:00 am – 10:30 am