Disability Services: Gate Keeper or Door

Opener

Margaret CampUniversity of South Carolina Upstate

Gladys LoewenConsultant

Session Plan

Explore

attitudes, policies & practices that open doors

intended & unintended outcomes of policies & practices

civil rights intent of the law

Core Beliefs (Presentation)

Inclusion & full participation are a right, not a privilege

Policies, practices & language can open and close doors

Access issues stem from inaccessible or poorly designed environments

Door Opener

What policies & practices in DS office open doors for disabled students, ensuring inclusion & full participation?

Impact of these policies & practices

Gate Keeper

What policies and practices in DS office have a gate keeper function?

Impact of these policies and practices?

Part of the Problem

“We can’t make ourselves part of the solution without seeing clearly how we’re connected to the problem.” Alan Johnson. Privilege, Power, and Differences. 2006

Gatekeeper Role

How does it creep into DS work?Diagnosis/forced categorization: false binary

of ability/disability• standard deviation• discrepancy model

Documentation/eligibility requirements

Legal compliance as a threat and a threshold

Individualized accommodations (versus inclusive design)

The Gatekeeper Role

“services” versus “access”ownership of “our” students and

increasing numbers

Discrimination

“...implementation of the medical model in health care, social services, education, private charity and public policies has institutionalized prejudice and discrimination” Longmore, 2003

The Call for Change

“…especially in light of the ADA amendments which tell us to move away from burdensome demands to prove disability and to focus more on what accommodations a person will need. Just as we evaluate and determine what is a reasonable accommodation, taking into account the individual’s needs and the requirements of the environment in which the person is situated (classroom, lab, dorm, etc.), I believe that disability departments need to rethink what constitutes “reasonable documentation” and its purposes.” Jean Ashmore, June 2011 Alert

The Call for Change

Discrepancy Model vs. Response to Intervention (RTI)

focus on internal nature of disability vs. external changes statistics to determine significant outliers in normal

distribution requires student to fail a certain degree before being

identified testing occurs outside learning environment; testing error

not taken into account; accepted as average performance

The Call for Change

ADA Amendments Act Restore original human rights protections and intents That became too narrowly defined through legislation It moves the question from does the student have a

qualifying disability to has the institution made every effort to provide access? Salome Hayward webinar, 2011

MessagesIntended and Unintended

Consider

How policies, procedures, language, and actions give off messages

Accommodations

What messages are given when accommodations are recommended or arranged?

Accommodation Quote

Adjustments and accommodations tend to “reinforce the individual/medical notion that disability resides with the individual” Guzman, 2008

Design

…has the power to make us feel competent or incompetent; it has the power to include us or exclude us.

Elaine Ostroff, Founding Director, Institute for Human-Centered Design

Sample Mission Statement

Disability Services for Students is the University’s student affairs office which assures program access to the University by students with disabilities. We coordinate & provide reasonable accommodations, advocate for an accessible & hospitable learning environment, & promote self-determination on the part of the students we serve.

Sample Documentation Guidelines

Students with disabilities are responsible for providing documentation of their disabilities to the Office of Disability Services. This documentation must both establish disability & provide adequate information on the functional impact of the disability so that accommodations can be identified & provided. This documentation will be kept confidential & maintained in a locked file. All documentation should:

Sample Documentation Guidelines Cont.

Come from an appropriate licensed clinical professional familiar with the history & functional implications of the disability

Verify the nature & extent of the disability in accordance with current professional standards & techniques. This must include a description of the diagnostic criteria, evaluation methods, procedures, tests & dates of administration, as well as a clinical narrative, observation & specific results

Accommodations Specialist: Learning Disorders

is responsible for recommendation & delivery of academic support services & accommodations to new & continuing students with LD, ADHD & other disorders that affect learning. This employee works directly with faculty, instructional staff & university administration to address & resolve issues concerning equitable treatment &reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities both in policy & practice...this individual serves as a resource to prospective applicants to the university regarding services available through DSS

What Changes in DS

If we believeFull participation is right, not a

privilegeRight to equal accessDesign has the power to include

and exclude

Ponder How

DS policies & procedures can be a barrier to achieving full participation

DS work changes when accommodations viewed as social solution due to poor design & discriminatory practices

Consider Ways to

Design inclusive environments, minimize need for retrofitting & different treatment

Lessen emphasis on documentation to reduce segregation, special treatment & discrimination

Consider Ways to

Ensure full participation is a right not a privilege based on documentation & benevolence

Capacity for Change

“...the true sign of success is not whether we are a source of perpetual aid that helps people scrape by -- it's whether we are partners in building the capacity for transformational change.” Barack Obama, 2009