3.01: Establishing a Disability Compliance Office with Limited Staff and a Shoestring Budget
Ella Callow J.D., UC Berkeley
Derek Coates PhD, UC Berkeley
Ben Perez BA, UC Berkeley
Thea Chhun MSW,UC Berkeley
Steve Johnston BSc Hons, UC Berkeley
Donna Lee BA, UC Berkeley
Location: Ruth (Hilton, Level 1)
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) covers a broad range of protections for equal access in public institutions of higher education. Its implementation has largely been at the institution’s discretion. At a large university with over 40,000 students and several thousand employees, how then do we ensure compliance under the ADA? Our Disability Access & Compliance office consists of 6 diverse individuals with their own lived experiences with disability and are therefore uniquely positioned to serve the disabled community on campus. We will discuss how our small office has created programs, written policies and procedures, and collaborated with campus stakeholders across multiple specialties, the challenges we have faced, and how we have overcome them.
3.02: Let’s Practice! Applying the Interactive Process as a New Professional
Rachel Behrmann-Fowler, Georgetown University
Clare Hennigan Raftery, Georgetown University
Location: Paca (Hilton, Level 3)
Many new professionals prepare to work in disability services in higher education by learning the history, disability models, key legal framework, and the interactive process to guide our work. Now that we have learned this core foundational knowledge, we are ready to go into the field. However, it can sometimes be hard to translate what we know from theory to practice, especially as the requests and cases become more challenging. In this interactive session, you will work in groups to practice applying the interactive process to complex cases. The presenters will provide a review of the interactive process and important considerations for determining accommodations. The remainder of the time will focus on case studies based on real situations a new professional may be asked to navigate in their first 90 days. We encourage participants to bring their own challenging situations from their home institution to workshop ideas together.
3.03: Determining Clinical Accommodations: Building Confidence as a Health Science Disability Professional
Matthew Sullivan PhD, Washington University in St. Louis
Grace Clifford MAEd, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
Location: Johnson A+B (Hilton, Level 1)
This session addresses the role of institutions in accommodating students during clinical experiences, emphasizing the need for clarity and examples in determining accommodations. The presenters explore specific clinical accommodations supported nationwide, such as Rotation Decompression, Assistive Technology, and Site Location Specifications. The session delves into the nuances of the interactive process when determining clinical accommodations, highlighting why certain accommodations may be site/rotation-specific or vary between health science programs. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of effectively describing accommodations in student letters. The session aims to provide practical insights and best practices for disability professionals to navigate the nuanced landscape of clinical accommodations, fostering confidence and understanding in the process.
3.04: Strategies and Methods for Increasing Use and Knowledge of Assistive Technology Tools Across Campus
Rachel Kruzel ATP, Texthelp, Woburn, MA, USA
Location: Convention Center, Room 340
Many universities have assistive technology tools and resources with campuswide licenses. Other campuses are eager to adopt tools in this way to support the wider campus community. However, adopted technology many times lacks wider awareness and sustainability outside of the students registered with the disability office, despite goals for it to reach all students who can benefit from these tools, such as un- or under-diagnosed students. This session will discuss methods and strategies that will support professionals as they work to increase awareness of these technologies on campus along with ways to capitalize on their benefits with key stakeholders: faculty, staff, and leadership. For campuses with assistive technology tools in place, this session will spark new ideas for implementation of these tools. For those considering adoption, you’ll leave with insights to help you prepare and plan for the adoption and promotion journey ahead.
3.05: Guiding the Office: Using External Reviews and National Standards for Strategic and Operational Planning
Enjie Hall MA, University of Minnesota
Jill Sieben-Schneider EdD, Northwestern University
Tom Thompson MA, TMLS Consulting Inc.
Location: Convention Center, Room 339
It is increasingly common for disability offices to bring in outside evaluators as a part of strategic and operational planning for their department. This session will cover the value and usefulness of two sets of national standards during internal or external evaluations of our office/department’s functioning, to advance the impact we have on students and the campus. The panelists will discuss how to prepare for an external evaluation, focusing on institutions of various sizes and staffing levels. Time will be allotted for participant groups to discuss using the national standards to guide their work and to network with colleagues who have done, or who want to do, evaluations.
3.06: Toward an Inclusive Campus: Addressing Faculty Training Challenges We All Face
Kristie Orr Ph.D., Texas A&M University
Justin Romack, Texas A&M University
Brandie Wiley M.S., University of North Texas Health Science Center
John McKenzie M.A., M.S., University of North Texas Health Science Center
Location: Convention Center, Room 341-342
Educating faculty about disability and faculty is challenging on most campuses. Barriers such as growing student numbers, faculty and staff turnover, resistance of some faculty members to accommodate, enticing faculty to attend training, and others make this a daunting task. This session will explore how staff on two very different campuses addressed these challenges in unique ways. One campus partnered with the Division of Academic Innovation to develop and implement three resources: a free, open-enrollment course, a microcredential course, and an annual required compliance course on accessibility awareness and best practices. The other partnered with several offices on campus and used data from faculty to determine training topics and strategies that they have implemented. The presenters will discuss the barriers they faced, lessons learned, and strategies that can be applied on any campus.
3.07: Disabling Ableism: Increasing Disabled Student Success in Higher Education Through Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Practices
Mary Lee Vance Ph.D., CSU Sacramento
Elizabeth Harrison Ph.D., Retired
Catherine Spears Ph.D., University of California, Office of the President
Zebadiah Hall, U of Wyoming
Elizabeth Thomson, UM Morris
Location: Carroll A+B (Hilton, Level 3)
Do you need tools to support the communication process with your campus Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) administrators in order to make disability an undeniable part their work? Learn from senior DEI administrators who have incorporated disability justice and inclusion into their DEI mission and work, thereby better supporting students, faculty, staff, patients, and visitors with disabilities on their campuses. A panel of DEI senior administrators will speak to questions provided by the moderators as well as questions from the audience.
3.08: Navigating the Intersection of Title IX and Disability Support for Pregnancy and Related Conditions
Mandy Hambleton M.S., TNG Consulting, Association of Title IX Administrators
Mikiba Morehead M.A., Ed.D., TNG Consulting
Location: Peale A+B+C (Hilton, Level 1)
The new Title IX regulations provide practitioners with a prime opportunity to revisit how institutions are providing support for individuals who are pregnant or have related conditions. Both Title IX and disability resource offices have obligations to support this population, but there is often confusion about who should provide support and when. This presentation will review the new Title IX regulations, including making a distinction between supportive measures under Title IX and reasonable accommodations under disability law, share key takeaways from recent Office for Civil Rights (OCR) resolution agreements with higher education institutions regarding pregnant students, and discuss how Title IX and disability resource staffs can collaborate to develop and implement a seamless support process. Attendees will participate in a series of case studies to apply the concepts from the presentation.
3.09: Hot Topics From the AHEAD Online Community - Your Questions Answered!
Charles Weiner JD, Law Office of Charles Weiner
Jamie Axelrod M.S., Northern Arizona University
Jon McGough M.Ed, University of California, San Francisco
Location: Convention Center, Room 336
Disability professionals often encounter complex accommodation issues. Over the course of the year, certain common questions reflecting that complexity are posted in the online AHEAD Members Community. This panel of seasoned professionals will identify, discuss, and offer responses to these frequently posted topics, including substantive legal requirements under the ADA, the interactive process, fundamental alteration standards, technical standards, educational deference, and policy creation and adherence. The presenters will leave ample time for Q & A and will open the discussion to other common problems facing disability service professionals.
3.10: With Us? Without Us? Neurotypical Professionals Supporting Neurodiversity
Lee Burdette Williams Ph.D., College Autism Network
Karen Krainz Edison MSW, LSW, Ohio State University Nisonger Center
Chiara Latimer MFT, Rowan University
Ashley Richardson Minnitt LCSW-S, University of Texas-Austin
Matt Segall Ph.D., Emory University
Location: Poe A+B (Hilton, Level 2)
Among the tensions in our work with autistic and other neurodivergent students is a quandary that challenges us to think hard about neurodiversity, inclusion and empowerment: the role of neurotypical professionals in supporting neurodiversity. We have heard, and most of us subscribe to, the rallying cry of the neurodiversity movement: “Nothing about us without us.” The message is clear: people with disabilities can speak for themselves. Autistic people can communicate on their own behalf. Anyone with a marginalized identity should be at the center of work that is ultimately about them. But many in this profession who identify as neurotypical have devoted their professional lives to autism support. Join this discussion about how we can create a community that is truly inclusive, that recognizes the value of neurodiversity (which includes neurotypical people and approaches), and neither privileges nor disadvantages anyone who wants to contribute to this work simply because of how their brain works.
3.11: Leveraging Campus Partnerships for Deaf Student Access
Benjamin Suits Baer MS, National Deaf Center
Kate Lewandowski MS, National Deaf Center
Tia Ivanko M.S.,NIC, ADAC, National Deaf Center
Location: Convention Center, Room 337
This session will emphasize the pivotal role of partnerships between disability services and various campus departments in driving systemic change and improving outcomes to cultivate an inclusive campus environment for deaf students. Collaborative efforts can foster shared responsibility for inclusion and accessibility practices in the classroom and across campus. Attendees will engage in a discussion activity on centering deaf student experiences and leveraging campus partnerships at their own institution by reviewing our campus accessibility guide as well as assessing their own equity gaps on campus. The session actively promotes and cultivates partnerships among participants, facilitating the development of action plans aimed at fostering a culture of inclusion upon their return to their respective campuses.
3.12: Disability Access in Prison Education Programs: Lessons Learned from the Inside
Dominic Winter M.Ed., Washington State Department of Corrections
Jenifer Montag Ed.D., National Center for College Students with Disabilities (NCCSD)
Adam Kasarda, University of California, Irvine
Location: Calloway A+B (Hilton, Level 2)
With the reinstatement of Pell grants for incarcerated students, many colleges are looking at developing prison education programs to meet this need. Incarcerated students have a higher prevalence of disabilities compared to the general population and addressing these barriers requires an understanding of both who the students are and the unique space where they learn. What steps will your office need to take? What additional barriers do the students experience inside? What barriers do you have to contend with in facilitating accommodations in the constrained prison setting? Join a panel of professionals who will share the experience of meeting the needs of disabled students inside a variety of prison settings - each of which impact the process of providing accommodations. You will also learn how the Washington Department of Corrections approached this opportunity by leveraging research to make evidence-based decisions for program development and created a stakeholder workgroup with our partners in higher education.
3.13: How Disabled Identity Informs Practice: An Interactive Workshop
Antonia DeMichiel M.A., University of San Francisco
Erin Mayo M.A., College of the Holy Cross
David Thomas Ph.D, West Chester University of Pennsylvania
Location: Latrobe (Hilton, Level 1)
In the field, there is a significant emphasis on HOW to do the work of a Disability Services professional; however, not as much attention or value is placed on offering reflection and knowledge sharing spaces that center the importance of the lived experience of disability services professionals, particularly, disabled disability services professionals.
The key question we aim to address throughout the session is “How does our lived experience as disabled people shape the WHY, the HOW, and the WHAT behind our work?” We will be discussing topics such as models of disability, understanding disability as part of DEI, the emotional labor of disabled staff and barriers to institutional commitment for disability-focused work. Participants will be invited to use individual reflection, small group sharing, and a guided practice worksheet to promote learning and create an actionable plan to bring back to their campuses.
3.14: One Size Doesn't Fit All: College Transition Strategies and Programs for a Range of Students with Disabilities
Annie Tulkin M.S., Accessible College, LLC
Leslie Thatcher M.Ed., Perkins School for the Blind
Adam Lalor Ph.D., Landmark College
Marc Thurman B.A., Landmark College
Kathleen Geddes Jay Ed.D., Commonwealth University
Location: Convention Center, Room 343-344
The transition from high school to college is not easy for any student, but for students who had significant support and services in high school, the transition can mean unexpected changes to those supports that can leave them underprepared for the collegiate experience. Join this panel of experts to hear them discuss research-tested strategies and novel programs to support the transition-to-college needs faced by students with underrepresented disabilities, including:
- Students with vision disabilities
- Students with physical disabilities and health conditions
- Students with emotional-behavioral disabilities (EBD) transitioning from therapeutic high schools to college
- Neurodivergent students with foster care and/or adoption experience
Plenty of time will be reserved for Q&A. You will leave better able to anticipate and manage student and parent expectations and better equipped to support students with all types of disabilities in becoming successful college students.
3.15: AHEAD Talks - A Series of Short Expert Talks on Various Subjects
You've heard of TED Talks, but have you ever experienced an AHEAD Talk? During this session, several speakers will present short talks on a subject they know well.
Location: Convention Center, Room 338
3.15.1: The Power of Neurodiversity: Planning Awareness and Acceptance Training on a Small College Campus
Brittany Jackson Ed.D., Hiram College
This session will focus on Hiram College's Power of Neurodiversity project, which was created to create awareness and acceptance of neurodiverse individuals, by highlighting the positives and power neurodiversity has for our society. This project included awareness efforts, neurodiversity training for faculty and staff, and creating a sensory room.
3.15.2: Collaborating for Access: How to Bridge the Divide Between Faculty and Disability Resource Offices
Libbie Rifkin Ph.D., Georgetown University
In this session, the presenter will share the learnings from a multi-unit collaboration to address the role of faculty in the accommodations process and accessible pedagogy more broadly. The presentation will situate the challenges within a structural analysis of the impediments to communication between faculty and student affairs professionals, arguing that they are tied to the uneven distribution of the “labor of care” within higher education.
3.15.3: Re-imagining STEM-Specific Notetaking Accommodations with Artificial Intelligence (A.I.)
Monal Parmar, UC San Diego
In Higher Education STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) courses, teaching often relies on chalkboards and whiteboards, yet there’s a gap in how students with disabilities receive this information, because existing software solutions don’t capture the actual content written on the boards. Our group at UC San Diego has developed an A.I. tool that innovatively addresses these issues by automatically converting what’s written on boards into notes. It also remediates long instructional videos into shorter, more digestible sections with features like a screen reader friendly table of contents and written summaries.
3.15.4: Educational Materials Made Accessible (EMMA), a Service for Sharing Remediated Print Materials to Campuses Nationwide
John Unsworth, University of Virginia
EMMA provides the infrastructure for sharing remediated educational materials among disability office staff at participating institutions, and will open to membership in July of 2024. EMMA has also developed a schema for describing the nature of the remediations made, so disability office staff can readily determine whether the remediations made will meet the needs of the student they serve.
3.15.5: Grounds for Saying No: Navigating Accommodation Denials
Courtney McGonagle M.Ed., Florida Atlantic University
Ashley Ciccolini Erickson M.Ed., Florida Atlantic University
Disability professionals sometimes struggle with "How to say no?" The process of coming to the conclusion of denied requests will be covered in this session, and prime examples of when to and how to say no will be reviewed. This session will be effective for any members of disability offices, but primarily, is designed to assist disability professionals in feeling comfortable and confident in their approaches and decisions.
3.15.6: Building Inclusive Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act (WIOA) Team for Students with Disabilities
Shannon Austin, Robert Morris University
The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) requires vocational rehabilitation (VR) agencies to set aside certain funds to provide pre-employment transition services (Pre-ETS) to students with disabilities who are eligible or potentially eligible for VR services, to improve the transition of students with disabilities from secondary school to postsecondary education or the workplace. Learn from a VR expert how to effectively utilize resources and support provided by WIOA to enhance educational and employment opportunities for students with disabilities through practical strategies and best practices for fostering effective teamwork.