7.1: Musings from the Trenches: Three Institutional Approaches for Developing, and Implementing an ADA Transition Plan
Bree Callahan, University of Washington
Julie Blakeslee, University of Washington
Kaela Parks, Portland Community College
Jennifer Gossett, Portland Community College
Track: ADA Coordinators
Location: B114
Is your campus fully accessible? Do you have a barrier removal plan? If not, are you considering developing, or dusting off, an ADA Transition Plan? Institutions were required by law to develop Transition Plans, which include conducting a self-assessment of barriers and creating a barrier removal plan, many years ago, but many were never fully implemented or need updating. This session will provide three case studies, comparing institutional approaches with different processes and funding models: two that are focused on the built environment and another that is focused more broadly on built environments, digital environments, and access to services and programs as a whole. Discussion will include the processes and systems for organizing work, ensuring accountability, prioritizing the investment of funds, as well as addressing institutional resistance and friction points. Attendees will learn practical recommendations to avoid potential pitfalls and processes they can implement at their own institutions.
7.2: Clinicals, Practica, Placements, Student Teaching, and Other Off-Campus Learning Experiences: Accommodations, Policy, and Practice
L. Scott Lissner, The Ohio State University
Track: Health Science Education
Location: B116
Many educational programs, from tech and trade programs to advanced professional degrees, require students to complete an off-campus professional experience. Are the same accommodations that were provided in classroom settings appliable to externship settings? Who determines that? Who is responsible for implementing accommodations in those placements? This session will cover the obligations and responsibilities of the student, site, program, and disability office. Topics will include site contracts/memoranda setting expectations, identifying and implementing appropriate accommodations, how to use the site’s own access infrastructure, working with students who do not want to disclose a disability to their site, and the scenarios and questions you bring. This session will allow you to create the policies and practices needed to help academic programs develop seamless access to off-campus learning experiences.
7.3: Accommodations: The Importance of Effective Decision-Making Processes
Jamie Axelrod ,M.S., Northern Arizona University
Paul Grossman, J.D., Executive Counsel of AHEAD, and OCR and Hastings College of Law, retired
Tom Thompson, Consultant
Mary Lee Vance, Ph.D., California State University Sacramento
Track: Foundations in Disability Resources
Location: C123/124
This session will feature a systematic process and flow chart to follow when determining whether a student is a “qualified individual with a disability (QSD).” Participants will be guided through a step-by-step analytical process that DOJ and OCR expect institutions to have followed in addressing complex accommodation determinations, including those that implicate fundamental alteration and undue burden, through the use of an array of tools, including the flowchart, that are included in the new AHEAD-published book, Laws, Policies, and Processes. Participants will be encouraged to engage in the planned activity and discussions focusing on how to use these processes to implement the rights of students with disabilities more effectively and systematically. Participants will also learn how to communicate with students and parents about the breadth and limits of these rights, and to gain faculty and administrative understanding that disability rights should be recognized, valued, and supported as civil rights.
7.4: Specific Student Sub-Populations: Campus Collaborations to Maximize Your Office Effectiveness and Resources
Teressa Eastman, M.B.A., Butler Community College
Michelle Mitchell, M.Ed., Leigh Carbon Community College
Ashley Ciccolini Erickson, M.Ed., Florida Atlantic University
Courtney McGonagle, M.Ed., Florida Atlantic University
Track: Office Management
Location: A103-104
For students participating in specialized programs or with unique intersectional identities (such as athletes, medical students, veterans, and high school dual enrolled students), as well as blind or visually impaired and deaf or hard of hearing students, specific case management processes and collaboration with other campus offices are essential to ensure complete supports. Join presenters from two community colleges and a four year institution to hear how various schools have built relationships and created internal collaborations with other offices, including Athletics, Residence Life, Student Life, and Campus Police, among others, to ensure that students with unique needs of many types are fully supported. This presentation will go through examples of these processes and ideas for collaboration you can take back to your campus. Collaborative time will be included for discovering the important partners on your own campus.
7.5: Up, Up and Away to Leadership!
Norma Kehdi, Psy.D., University of Oregon
Grace Clifford, M.A.Ed., David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Laura Czajkowski, M.S., California State University, Fullerton
Track: Leadership
Location: C120
Ready to move up into a disability service leadership role but have difficulty identifying an institution that will support your personal and professional goals? Or have you recently transitioned to a leadership role and are struggling to triage priorities while building rapport with a new team? With over 10+ years in higher education, various pre-disability service backgrounds, and extensive small and large group leadership experience – we can help! This presentation will outline how to determine institutional fit during the interview process, provide onboarding guidance when starting a new leadership position, review common pitfalls in leadership transitions, and offer recommendations for building a sustainable and achievable strategic plan. Presenters will engage the audience through scenario debriefs and discussions. Active participation and personal reflections will be encouraged.
7.6: Developing and Implementing an Information and Communication Technology Accessibility Policy in Higher Education
Paula Possenti-Perez, Syracuse University
William Myhill, Syracuse University
Brian Tibbens, Syracuse University
Kara Patten, Syracuse University
Christian Jones, Syracuse University
Track: Technology
Location: B112
Digital technologies have created both access and barriers to the disability community, especially those with visual, hearing, and fine motor impairments. The commitment to disability inclusion launched a university-wide policy for accessible Information & Communication Technology (ICT), aiming to ensure all disabled community members and guests have effective access to our institutional ICTs and content. This workshop will demonstrate how to advance from no policy to a robust policy, and from small cohorts thinking about accessibility to an institution that expects and enables its constituents to create and procure accessible ICT. Additionally, an assessment committee, comprised of disability and ICT leaders with and without disabilities, was formed, which developed and implemented a transparent process for procuring accessible ICT applications and hardware. The workshop will shepherd participants through our processes, such as with case studies of requested procurements and conclude with takeaways, sample tools, and Q&A time.
7.7: Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students in STEM Majors – a Discussion Session
Theresa Johnson, M.Ed., National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Marcia Kolvitz, Ph.D., Educational Consultant
Melanie DeLeon, Portland Community College
Cheryl Reminder, B.S., CI, Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID)
Brian Trager, M.S., Rochester Institute of Technology’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID)
Track: DeafTEC
Location: B110-111
What works…what doesn’t? When working with deaf and hard of hearing students in STEM programs, how can disability office staff and faculty work together to offer an accessible learning environment? Knowing that “one size doesn’t fit all,” this discussion session will look at a variety of issues such as using assistive technology in laboratory/hands-on settings, managing access services in block schedules, and utilizing partnerships and collaborative relationships. This presentation also will provide an update on many of DeafTEC’s resources including: best practices for teaching, curricular materials for job readiness and STEM careers, an online course for employers, an ASL STEM Dictionary, and other online resources. Time will be available to address audience questions and discuss their experiences in addressing student access in STEM programs.
7.8: Intersecting Identities in Higher Education: A Panel Discussion About "Triple Cripple" Experiences
Earlee Kerekes-Mishra, Oregon State University
Location: A107
Join us for this panel discussion focusing on moving the social justice movement forward. We will first watch a video of a TEDx talk presented at the University of Sussex in England about being a Black Woman with Disabilities, which the speaker calls being “Triple Crippled,” and then spend time with panelists who share these identities on a college campus. Are we taking into account the true meaning of intersecting identities when it comes to the work we do? What does the lived experience of those with these identities teach us about our practices in our work? This session provides us the opportunity to delve a little deeper and learn a little more about how our policies, processes, and practices can be better informed to support our students and colleagues with intersecting identities.
7.9: A Positive Approach to Transforming Practice: Using Appreciative Inquiry to Develop and Enact Socially-Just Disability Resources
Morgan Strimel, George Mason University
Jamilah Anderson, George Mason University
Jennifer Torrance, George Mason University
Location: C121/122
Although higher education disability resources is compliance-focused by design, we have the potential to go beyond the mandates of federal legislation in our roles. Specifically, we have the potential to engage in more proactive work to enhance disability inclusion in higher education and remove disability-related barriers to the greatest extent possible, as opposed to only accommodating them. This reflects an emergent professional paradigm, socially-just disability resources, that shows potential in aligning disability resources more closely with the spirit of the law, not just the letter – but how can we move the needle in our practices? In this session, attendees will explore appreciative inquiry as a tool to transform their disability resource centers to align with socially-just disability resources. After discussing appreciative inquiry in-depth, attendees will be invited to practice this technique in a presenter-facilitated activity to bring back their offices and apply to lead transformative, long-lasting change.
7.10: Hot Topics in Neurodiversity: A Facilitated Community Discussion
Adam Lalor, Ph.D., Landmark College
Emily Helft, Ed.S., Landmark College
Location: B113
Although the concept of neurodiversity was developed in the 1990s, higher education has only recently begun to explore it. As such, new and complex issues related to neurodiversity are arising at a rapid pace. Some of these issues have been particularly complex resulting in a wide variety of opinions. Join us for a facilitated conversation about some of these hot topics in neurodiversity. The presenters will prepare brief remarks about a number of related topics, in order to outline each issue and some perspectives on them. Attendees will then be given the opportunity to select from the slate of topics to engage in dialog. Come prepared to discuss!
7.11: Accessing Graduate School: Identifying Gaps and Opportunities for Collaboration between Disability Services Professionals and Disabled Graduate Students
Rachel Adams, MEd, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amelia-Marie K. Altstadt, MA, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Karly Ball, MPP, George Washington University
Jeff Alex Edlestein (“Jae”), MA, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of Massachusetts Boston
Justin MH Salisbury, MA, NOMC, NCRTB, University of Vermont
Elizabeth Anh Thomson, PhD, University of Minnesota Morris
Location: B117
Existing disability services practices largely emphasize support for disabled undergraduate students. However, as more undergraduate students with disabilities matriculate to graduate programs, two key issues have become clear: 1) disability services providers are not as familiar with how to best support students in graduate programs and 2) disabled graduate students are not confident in disability services offerings. This panel aims to tackle these gaps in practice by drawing on the expertise of six disabled professionals who are currently or were recently in graduate school. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn from these individuals’ widely varied personal and professional experiences and identify unique issues that affect disabled students at the graduate level of study. Participants will then engage in a process of bringing together the knowledge of disability service professionals and disabled graduate students to craft a centralized repository of emerging practices and resources in support of disabled graduate students.
7.12: A Skills Building and Barrier Removal Approach to Notetaking Accommodation Requests
Gwynette Hall, MS, University of Wisconsin - Madison
Location: A105-106
With notetaking requests rising, but students not using the accommodations provided, our institution began to take a closer look at notetaking accommodations in general. We questioned what barriers students are experiencing when taking notes and how notetaking accommodations were determined. This led us to develop two paths for students: one for skills building where we offer resources for developing notetaking skills, the other for removing barriers where we use technology-based tools that not only remove the barriers, but allow the student to develop independent notetaking skills. We will discuss how to determine the most appropriate accommodation, current trends, notetaking technologies, and student feedback on notetaking accommodations. During this presentation we will also have an interactive discussion about notetaking accommodations and how we can all continue to innovate.
7.13: To Pee, or Not to Pee? That Is Just One Question. Exploring Policy in Facilitating Accommodated Testing
Allen Sheffield, University of Michigan
Bryan Hilbert, The University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV)
Kelsey Jordan, Purdue University
Chris Stone, Ed.D., Washington University in St. Louis
Location: B118-119
Whether 'tis nobler for an accommodated testing center to primarily focus on test security or to provide an equitable experience? Join a panel of experienced disability office administrators who manage Testing Centers as they discuss their contrasting philosophies of accommodated testing whilst exploring what it means to be responsible for facilitating testing, what is reasonable and/or necessary in the name of test security (and is there such a thing as too much), who should be responsible for making requests, how to balance the conflicting expectations of faculty and students, and the role students experience in decision making. Attendees will hear multiple perspectives on managing a testing space, explore nuanced details of facilitating testing, and be provided materials and resources to aid their work on their own campuses.
7.14: A Look at Current Research: Three Topics
Researchers will present their latest work, which you can apply to the work you do.
Location: B115
1. Disability Justice in Higher Education: The Lived Experiences of Disabled White Women Disability Services Directors
Emily Gaspar, Ph.D., Coastal Carolina University
There is no more expert group regarding disability identity on campus, than the 43% of disabled disability services practitioners working at colleges and universities. These practitioners have both personal and professional disability experience. Despite being a wealth of knowledge, there is little to no research centering disabled disability services staff. This session will reveal findings from a recent dissertation study in which women-identified, disabled disability services directors shared their experiences working in disability services in higher education. The ten principles of disability justice provided the framework for this interpretative phenomenological analysis with a focus on disability identity and intersectionality. Session attendees will engage in personal reflection, along with discussion of continued application of the 10 principles of disability justice in disability services spaces. This session is well-suited for new and seasoned professionals, and both disabled and non-disabled people.
2. The Pathway to Independence Inventory: Assessing Individual Support Needs for Diverse Learners
Kyle Reardon, Ph.D., University of Oregon
Sean LaRoque, Ph.D., Mansfield Hall
Sophia Howard, M.S., Mansfield Hall
The Pathway to Independence Inventory (P2I) is a transition assessment tool designed specifically to meet the needs of college students with disabilities who have identified gaps in the areas of adaptive skills, executive function, and social skills and to provide a comprehensive understanding of students’ current levels of adaptive functioning. This session will describe the development and validation of the P2I as well as case study examples of how it can be used in practice to inform goal setting and support plans.
3. Establishing Racial Cognizance: Blackness, Dis/ability, and Disability Services
Anna Acha, M.Ed., University of California, Riverside
Danielle Mireles, Ph.D., University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Collective care demands we assess the espoused institutional awareness of (and purported commitment to supporting) Black dis/abled students in Disability Support Service (DSS) offices. Engaging DisCrit and Multimodal analysis, we conduct a critical discourse analysis of University of California DSS websites to investigate indicators of racial cognizance.
Back to Top