Disability Paradigms · Web viewHeumann tells the story of her experience with discrimination and pioneering efforts in the fight for civil rights for people with disabilities, resulting

Disability Access and Education

The Least You Should Know about Student AccommodationsBy Melinda Gunning, Director

June 2020Contents

Disability Paradigms.........................................................................................................1

Medical Model..............................................................................................................2

Social Model.................................................................................................................2

Social Justice Model.....................................................................................................2

Anti-Discrimination Laws in Education.............................................................................3

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act............................................................................3

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)........................................................3

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)..........................................................................4

Faculty responsibilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act:...............................4

We Need a Paradigm Shift...............................................................................................5

Effective Communication.................................................................................................5

Fully Accessible Electronic Text.......................................................................................5

Accessibility Checker....................................................................................................6

Hidden Disabilities............................................................................................................6

Resources........................................................................................................................7

Fresno Pacific University..............................................................................................7

In Print..........................................................................................................................7

Websites.......................................................................................................................8

Videos...........................................................................................................................9

References.....................................................................................................................12

Disability Paradigms

Sociological paradigms describe the way we think about issues and groups of people. While entire textbooks are written on the subject, here is a simplification of the major themes that describe how our society thinks about disabilities. We are currently in a slow shift from the medical model to the social and social justice models. People with disabilities in our history have been treated as a shameful secret, excluded from society

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Disability Access and Education

in institutional care, hidden at home, or hiding in plain sight, pretending to be “normal” to be at least marginally accepted. It is important for us to consider where we have been, where we are, and where we are not yet.

Medical Model

The goal is to diminish the symptoms, repair, or cure physical impairments, cognitive disabilities, and mental illness by medical treatment and intervention as much as possible. Health care and service organizations are viewed as the experts on what people with disabilities need to make their lives as unobtrusively close to normal as possible, but individuals bear the burden for overcoming obstacles within the physical and social constructs of our world.

Social Model

Physical characteristics or neurodiversity do not cause disability. Instead, people are disabled by a society that does not consider the wide variety of needs for access, inclusion, and dignity. Differences are not inherently impairments or deficits. There is not a universally desirable “normal” state of being as individuals have a variety of abilities and needs.

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Social Justice Model

We must become aware of our history of ableism and reverse the effects of systemic discrimination against people with physical, cognitive, and emotional differences. Within a society, all people are interdependent and have various degrees of need for assistance. Society is strengthened by inclusion and diversity.

Anti-Discrimination Laws in Education

Most people first encounter anti-discrimination legislation in connection with children in our public education system. It is important that we in higher education understand that laws in K – 12 have very different intent than those that govern post-secondary education. The goal of IDEA is to ensure the success of all children while the goal of the ADA is not success but access. A post-secondary institution’s right to govern its admission, grading, and graduation standards is absolute as long as standards are applied equally and people with disabilities are not excluded solely on the basis of disability.

The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) within the Department of Education is responsible for overseeing enforcement of these laws regarding all levels of education. For a more complete comparison of the following see Comparison of ADA IDEA 504.

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Disability Access and Education

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act

This first law to establish civil rights for people with disabilities, originally enacted in 1973, is a generic anti-discrimination law for any educational program that receives federal funding (in our case, through student loans and grants).

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) About IDEA

The law applies primarily to public K – 12 education with special services from infancy through age 25 for qualified individuals. The goal is to ensure that all children are ensured their right to successfully complete a basic level of education.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ADA.gov/2010

Originally enacted in 1990 and amended in 2010, the ADA is a comprehensive civil rights law prohibiting discrimination against persons with disabilities in any aspect of society, ensuring equal access to goods and services. Private higher education institutions are specifically covered by Title III. The goal is to mitigate the effects of disabilities which may require the provision of auxiliary aids and services, commonly known as accommodations, without creating a substantial change in the essential nature of the service.

Under this law the definition of a disability is anything that limits a major life activity. People do not have to meet a certain degree of impairment nor fit within a specific category for a condition to be considered a disability.

Faculty responsibilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act:

Make sure a student knows accommodations for a disability can be requested.

o If a student tells you of a disability, do not assume that student knows who to contact.

[email protected] 559-453-2247 https://www.fresno.edu/students/disability-access-and-education .

Allow any accommodations approved and communicated by Disability Access and Education.

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Disability Access and Education

We Need a Paradigm Shift

While the ADA is a ground-breaking piece of civil rights legislation with the goal of ensuring full access into all aspects of American society, the language and processes of the law are still rooted in the medical paradigm. Legislation cannot by itself ensure full inclusion and equity. Academic accommodations are needed because our educational system has not evolved to an understanding that differences are not impairments or deficiencies. To move beyond the minimal non-discrimination mandated by law to a more inclusive view of diversity and disability requires a shift toward a recognition that people learn and function in various ways and need options to empower their unique abilities so that the world may one day benefit from the originality of all of the ways humans learn and think.

Effective Communication

As education becomes more reliant on computers to supplement or take the place of in-person classes, course content must comply with current legal requirements to provide effective communication for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing with the inclusion of closed captioning for all audio elements of the course.

Coincidentally, there are significant educational benefits for all students when captioning is provided. Non-native speakers of English and other students benefit from simultaneously seeing words as they hear them. Students also often find themselves in

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environments that do not allow for audio when they do not have headphones handy. Yet other students simply prefer visual text instead of audio.

Captioning helps:

For assistance contact the Center for Online Learning at 559-453-3460, [email protected]. See also

https://col.fresno.edu/services/media https://app.vidgrid.com/content/W0n8kgWNwzJX for VidGrid, including how to

create captioning

Fully Accessible Electronic TextOnline course content must also be accessible to people who are blind or have visual impairments.

Visual elements must have alternate text, see Alt Text Basics. Pictures and graphs and must have sufficient color contrast. Text in tables must have a clearly identifiable reading order. Text in documents and slide presentations must have titles and sub-titles as

appropriate. Text in pdf files must be fully accessible, not image-only, see PDF Types. Videos should have audio description of visual elements, see Descriptive Audio

Explained.

Accessibility Checker

Microsoft’s built-in Accessibility Checker can help with many of these issues. In any Microsoft program (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), click Review, then click Check Accessibility. The software will then provide explanations of the issues and how to correct them.

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Non-native English users

Visual learners

In a noisy environment

When no audio allowed

Without speakers or headphones

Review Check Accessibility Inspection Results Follow directions to resolve issue

Disability Access and Education

Hidden DisabilitiesMost students who request accommodations are those with different learning needs, chronic medical conditions, or mental health conditions. The need for accommodations may be diminished with creativity and forethought in course design:

Many students compensate for differences in visual processing with the addition of text-to-speech technology. (FPU has a site license to Read & Write software, available for any student.)

o Make sure required textbooks are also available in fully accessible electronic format

Combine written instructions with opportunities to have question-and-answer sessions or non-text-based instructions, either audio or visual.

Timed tests present challenges for students with various learning differences and for students with high levels of anxiety. Assessment of student learning will be more accurate when there are multiple and varied methods of assessment and when alternatives or accommodations for timed tests are anticipated.

Students with chronic physical or mental health conditions with unpredictable, episodic recurrence of symptoms are often challenged by strict attendance requirements. Alternatives to class participation with additional readings, videos, tutoring sessions, or other means of engagement with material can be created to supplement student learning for those who cannot attend class as often as those with fewer health challenges. These alternatives may also benefit students who need more support for learning because of limited foundational education, different learning styles, or lack of natural aptitude with the subject matter.

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Disability Access and Education

Resources

Fresno Pacific University Trainings on FPU Intranet

https://intranet.fresno.edu/departments-offices/disability-services/information-disabilities-faculty-and-staff

Website https://www.fresno.edu/students/disability-access-and-educationo General informationo Formso Policieso Information for Faculty

Accommodation memoso DAE office sends official notice of students’ accommodations via

university email.o Memos provide information on individual student’s approved

accommodations with links to policies on the most common types of accommodations.

Center for Online Learning—provides support in making all digital course material fully accessible

o 559-453-3460o https://col.fresno.edu

Disability Access and Education officeo Melinda Gunning, Director, 559-453-2247, [email protected],

Marpeck 104o Trine Grillo, Administrative Assistant, 559-453-5520,

[email protected], Marpeck 110o Student Workers, [email protected], 559-453-7130, Marpeck

114

In PrintBurgstahler, S. (2015). Universal design in higher education: from principles to practice.

Harvard Education Press.

“As larger numbers of people with disabilities attend postsecondary educational institutions, there have been comparable greater efforts to make the full array of classes, services, and programs accessible to all students. This revised edition provides both a full survey of those measures and practical guidance for schools as they work to turn the goal of universal accessibility into a reality” (Amazon).

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Dolmage, J. (2017). Academic ableism disability and higher education. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

“Brings together disability studies and institutional critique to recognize the ways that disability is composed in and by higher education, and rewrites the spaces, times, and economies of disability in higher education to place disability front and center” (Amazon).

Evans, N. J., Broido, E. M., Brown, K. R., & Wilke, A. K. (2017). Disability in higher education: a social justice approach. https://0-ebookcentral-proquest-com.librarycatalog.fresno.edu/lib/fresnopac-ebooks/detail.action?docID=4816152.

“Examines how disability is conceptualized in higher education and ways in which students, faculty, and staff with disabilities are viewed and served on college campuses. Drawing on multiple theoretical frameworks, research, and experience creating inclusive campuses, this text offers a new framework for understanding disability using a social justice lens” (Amazon).

Kim, E., & Aquino, K. C. (2017). Disability as diversity in higher education: policies and practices to enhance student success. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa Business.

“Addressing disability not as a form of student impairment . . . but rather as an important dimension of student diversity and identity, this book explores how disability can be more effectively incorporated into college environments” (Amazon).

WebsitesUse these resources to learn practical ways to apply Universal Design to education or to learn about some of the conditions most common among college students.

ADDitude. https://www.additudemag.com/

A magazine-style website on ADHD and other related conditions, providing professional research and practical advice for supporting students and living with a condition as an adult.

Autism Speaks. https://www.autismspeaks.org/

Advocacy, support, and research on autism spectrum disorder and related conditions

Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST). http://www.cast.org/our-work/about-udl.html

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“Universal design for learning (UDL) is a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn.” This website prioritizes K – 12 education but with applicability to post-secondary education.

Center for Universal Design in Education (CUDE). https://www.washington.edu/doit/programs/center-universal-design-education/postsecondary/universal-design-instruction-postsecondary

“Develops and collects resources to help educators apply universal design (UD) in order to make all aspects of the educational experience welcoming to, usable by, and inclusive of everyone, including people with disabilities.”

HealthyPlace: Mental Health Support, Resources & Information. https://www.healthyplace.com/

Information on psychological disorders

How to ADHD. https://howtoadhd.com/

Website for You Tube Channel with practical applications for daily life and information on the condition

Learning Disabilities Association of America. https://ldaamerica.org/

Information on learning disabilities, practical solutions, and resources

VideosDen Houting, J. (2019, September) “Why everything you know about autism is

wrong.” TEDxMacquarieUniversity. https://www.ted.com/talks/jac_den_houting_why_everything_you_know_about_autism_is_wrong.

Not only does Den Houting discuss research done about Autism by people with Autism, she also makes it clear why a paradigm shift about disabilities is necessary.

Dunlap, T. (2015, Jan 10). “Isn't it a pity? The real problem with special needs.” TEDxAmerican’sFinestCity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ7QaCFbizo.

Dunlap challenges our use of the word “special” for children with disabilities. She gives examples of various models of disability paradigms and discusses how they influence our behavior and attitudes, resulting in inclusion or exclusion.

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Heumann, J. (2018, March). “Our fight for disability rights and why we’re not done yet.” TEDxMidAtlantic. https://www.ted.com/talks/judith_heumann_our_fight_for_disability_rights_and_why_we_re_not_done_yet.

Heumann tells the story of her experience with discrimination and pioneering efforts in the fight for civil rights for people with disabilities, resulting in the history-making Disability Rights Movement.

McCabe, J. (2017, January). “Failing at Normal: An ADHD Success Story.” TEDxBratislava. https://www.ted.com/talks/jessica_mccabe_this_is_what_it_s_really_like_to_live_with_adhd_jan_2017.

McCabe’s engaging personal story exemplifies the struggles of a person living and thriving with ADHD. The combination of research and personal experience provides valuable insights into the condition.

Mullins, A. (2010, 19 Feb). “The opportunity of adversity.” TED MED. https://www.ted.com/talks/aimee_mullins_the_opportunity_of_adversity.

As a highly acclaimed Paralympic athlete, model, and actor, Mullins ponders the connotations of the words used to define disability. Her talk highlights the importance of the paradigms about disabilities.

Social model of disability. (2017, November 28). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24KE__OCKMw.

This brief, animated video from a group in the UK provides a clear definition of the Social Model of disability.

Things People with Disabilities Wish You Knew. (2018, May 30). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b7k6pEnyQ4 .

In this brief, positive video, individuals with disabilities discuss common societal attitudes revealed through actions and words and how those attitudes affect them.

Tudisco, R. (2014, 4 April). “Coping with Adult ADHD: A View from the Inside.” You Tube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2KxYcGg49c.

Tudisco, a successful and influential lawyer, shares his experiences as a person with ADHD with a group of educators. In this hour-long video he shares his personal experience learning to understand his own diagnosis and

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how he has used his professional life to help others understand and live with the condition successfully.

Young, S. (2014, June). “I’m not your inspiration, thank you very much.” TEDxSidney. https://www.ted.com/talks/stella_young_i_m_not_your_inspiration_thank_you_very_much.

This highly entertaining talk by Australian comedian/activist Stella Young is an absolute must watch for anyone wanting to learn more about attitudes about disabilities. Young challenges the assumptions that objectify disabled people, creating what she calls “inspiration porn.” She also explains how her true disabilities are created by the limitations imposed on her by society.

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References

About IDEA. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. https://sites.ed.gov/idea/about-idea/.

A Comparison of ADA, IDEA, and Section 504. Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund. (2020, February 6). https://dredf.org/legal-advocacy/laws/a-comparison-of-ada-idea-and-section-504/.

Alternative Text. WebAIM. https://webaim.org/techniques/alttext/.

The Current ADA Regulations. 2010 ADA regulations. https://www.ada.gov/2010_regs.htm.

Types of PDFs. ABBYY FineReader PDF. https://pdf.abbyy.com/pdf-types/.

What is "Descriptive Audio"? What is "Descriptive Audio"? | Web Access. (2016, October 5). https://webaccess.berkeley.edu/ask-pecan/descriptive-audio.

Credit: ADA National Network (adata.org)

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