K-12 | Due Process|College |Featured Scholarship | Profile
This year’s AHEAD (the premiere professional association committed to full participation of persons with disabilities in postsecondary education) conference will be held from July 14 – 19, 2008, at the Grand Sierra Resort and is once again filled with interesting and informative pre-conference institutes, symposia as well as plenary and concurrent sessions. You won’t be disappointed!
http://ahead.org/training/conference/2008/index.php
Read their stories by clicking on the link
NETWORK with other STUDENTS w. DISABILITIES going to COLLEGE
Skill: National Bureau for Students with Disabilities
Disabled Student Organization: UNC Pembroke, Ball State
Disabled Student Services: Cal State - Fullerton, Cal State- San Marcos,
Kansas State, U. of Mich,
Disabled Student Cultural Center: U. of MINN
We’ll add your’s too - just send us the link!
ONLINE EDUCATION
Online education was designed for busy working adults who wanted to further their careers, but could not take time out to attend college classes. A by-product of this burgeoning opportunity is the access it affords learners who have difficulty with physically inaccessible campuses, impossible transportation issues, or challenging effective communication. In an online class, a student’s disability is only as apparent as the student chooses it to be.
Some typical universities offer a few online classes, while others offer complete degrees. There are colleges that offer only online classes. Some schools encourage or require you to participate in face-to-face introductory or periodic sessions and others do not. Some online classes are more accessible to people who use assistive technology than others. There are very rigorous online classes and there are ones that are very easy.
I have helped teach an online class at San Francisco State University several times and the students have found it either or both frustrating and enjoyable. Online learning requires that you be familiar with the technology needed for the class, be able to self-motivate yourself, and feel comfortable communicating online. It also allows students from the far reaches of the world to take a class together, to take a class from the comfort of your living room, and to use the technology tools you are most familiar with. It is not for everyone, so check it out thoroughly before you jump in!
Read more: Distance Learning & Online degrees (Newsweek, April 14, 2008,) Online Education FAQs, Guide to Online Schools.
GCF LearnFree
The freedom to learn what you want, when you want, absolutely free! Classes in Everyday Life, Math & Money, and Computers. http://www.gcflearnfree.org/
Take an Online Disability Studies Class!
Here’s two available Summer 2008
ART 553 The Body in Social Theory: Visualizing Disability, Ann Millett, Art Department, UNC-Chapel Hill Art 55
Sociology of Disability, taught by Steve Taylor, Disability Studies at Syracuse University, link to department.
Educational Resources
Due Process
(What to do if your school want’s to take you to court)
How to Prepare yourself:
How to Obtain Counsel for Free:
College and Beyond
- College Prep Resources
- Accommodations for College Students
- How Students can Advocate for Themselves
- Student Fights for Disabled Access
- Disabled Friendly Colleges
- College Scholarships for Students with Disabilities
- Think College
What does research say about Students with Disabilities?
- Making the transition to post secondary education and training
- Students with Disabilities in Postsecondary Education: A profile of Preparation, Participation, and Outcomes
- Students with Disabilities in Postsecondary Education: Barriers to Success and Implications for Professionals
- Assuring college studentswith disabilities a quality higher education
What do Faculty Expect to do Related to Students with Disabilities
- Faculty Handbook: Communication Disabilities
- College Writing - Adapting Classroom Instruction-Speech Impairment
- College Writing - Adapting Classroom Instruction-Mobility Impairment
Related Books
(All Available at Amazon)
E-Learning and Disability in Higher Education: Accessibility Research and Practice (Kindle Edition)
by Jane K. Seale
Most practitioners know that they should make e-learning accessible to students with disabilities, yet it is not always clear exactly how this should be done. E-Learning and Disability in Higher Education evaluates current practice and provision and explores the tools, methods and approaches available for improving accessible practice.
Examining the social, educational and political background behind making e-learning accessible in higher and further education, this book considers the role of, and provides advice for, the key stake-holders involved in e-learning provision: lecturers, learning technologists, student support services, staff developers and senior managers.
Key topics covered include:
- the opportunities that e-learning can offer students with disabilities
- the impact of accessibility legislation, guidelines and standards on current e-learning practices
- the reliability and validity of accessibility related evaluation and repair tools
- practicalguidelines for “best practice” in providing accessible e-learning experiences
E-Learning and Disability in Higher Education is valuable reading for all practitioners and researchers involved in the design and delivery of accessible e-learning in higher, further and distance education.
Going To College: Expanding Opportunities For People With Disabilities (Paperback)
by Elizabeth Evans Getzel (Editor), Paul Wehman (Editor)
Featured Scholarship
People who wish to honor Harriet McBryde Johnson may make a memorial gift in her name to a scholarship fund at the University of South Carolina School of Law. Contributions are being accepted now. Checks should be made payable to “USC Educational Foundation,” and the words “In Honor of Harriet McBryde Johnson” should be written in the memo line.
Mail to:
Office of Alumni and Development
USC School of Law
701 S. Main Street, Suite 202
Columbia, SC 29208
MAYBE, when you need a scholarship from here there will now be one!
The Ethel Louise Armstrong Foundation, Inc. (ELA) Scholarship
SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS
The ELA Foundation will award scholarships depending on academic and leadership merit. The purpose of the scholarship is to supplement financial assistance for tuition costs for female graduate students with physical disabilities. Scholarships range between $500-$2,000 and are awarded in August.
Only the recipients will be notified. Their names will also be posted on the ELA news portion of the website.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS Applicants must meet the following eligibility requirements:
(1) The student must be a woman with a physical disability.
(2) The student must be currently accepted to a graduate program working towards a Masters degree or above in an accredited college or university in the United States.
(3) The student must be active in a local, state, or national disability organization - either in person or electronically - which is providing services and/or advocacy for people with disabilities.
(4) The student must be willing, as an ELA Scholar, to network with the ELA Board of Directors and previous ELA Scholarship recipients on our listserv. This will enhance the ELA Scholar’s support base in professional and advocacy arenas.
(5) The student must be willing, as an ELA Scholar, to update the ELA Foundation with an annual letter on September 1st of each year on her progress in her academic and/or working career.
SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION PROCESS If you meet the eligibility requirements above, send your completed application packet to the ELA offices. The deadline is June 1st at 5 PM Pacific Time.
APPLICATION PACKET
(1) A completed and typed ELA Scholarship Application form with signed affidavit.
(2) A completed ELA Verification of Disability form filled out and signed by your Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor or physician.
(3) An essay in 1,000 words or less, typewritten in 16-point font or larger and doubled spaced explaining, “How I Will Change the Face of Disability on the Planet”. Use of page numbers and headers and footers will be greatly appreciated.
(4) Two typed letters of recommendation from current teachers, faculty members or employers on their letterhead regarding your scholastic aptitude, leadership abilities and personal qualifications. Letters typed in 14-point font or larger will be greatly appreciated.
(5) An unofficial copy of the college/university transcript reflecting your most recent college or university academic year.
Please note that no hand written applications will be accepted.
To read further: http://www.ela.org/scholarship_app2005.php
Deborah Lewis
Executive Director
Ethel Louise Armstrong Foundation, Inc.
2460 North Lake Ave.
PMB #128
Altadena, CA. 91001
Email:executivedirector@ela.org
Phone: 626-398-8840.
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Profiles
College Success Story
Thanh Diep is college graduate and here’s what she had to say
I am a Vietnamese American woman with Cerebral Palsy (CP). I socialize with people with the assistant of my Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device called a Pathfinder.” Attending San Francisco State University was a very long seven and very difficult years. My major was Liberal Studies and I graduated with my Bachelor of Arts from there in May 2005. It was very difficult trying to keep up with all the readings, although I took three or four courses per semester. I got many of my textbooks on book on tape, or scanned them into the computer in order for me listen to it. I could understand something faster, if I could listen to it instead of trying to read it by word by word. I got many accommodations with my courses from the Disability Programs and Resource Center (DPRC) on campus, which provides people with disabilities with some resources, education and direct services. It took a while for them to scan my textbooks into the computer and send it to me by e-mail, or give me a CD with the reading materials. Although I always tried to buy my textbooks and get them to the DPRC, before school started, I was often behind with my readings because scanning them into the computer took a very long time and I had to find some time to listen to them also.
I had some good and some bad professors. Some good professors were very understandable about my accommodations, such as letting me to take the exams in another quiet room with some extra times with a student assistant from DPRC and giving me some extra times to complete the assignments, when needed. Also, they were fine when I explained to them about some of my reading situations and I told them that I was doing my best to catch up with it.
On the other hand, not all professors were very nice. They under estimated my abilities to understand at the beginning of the semester just because I was in a wheelchair and I could not speak verbally. Some of them did not have the patient and time to know me better, while others realized that they made a mistake. I was able to show and teach them what I could do and could not do
I also got many note takers in classes from DPRC. Some note takers were good and some were bad. Sometimes I had to report them to the DPRC for not showing up in class on time, or taking the notes really bad that I could not read or understand. When a note taker did not show up in class or was running late, I asked for a volunteer in class to take notes for both of us and I gave him/her some double sided of note papers. So I could have a copy and she/he also could have a copy as well.
And lastly, I struggled with issues related to finding and affording qualified physical care attendants. At one time during my college years I had no alternative other than to attend the University without an aide, and return home when I needed to eat, drink, and use the bathroom. This significantly impacted the quality of my life, and yet I endured it and continued to search for and eventually hire an aide.
Nowadays, I like to express myself through the creation of arts, animations and videos at Creativity Explored II in San Francisco, which is for people with developmental disabilities, where we can express ourselves through the creation of arts. We do many drawings, varieties of abstract paintings, write stories, make animation videos, and many more art forms that we do there. I have also written a book and created soundtracks for three animated films with the assistance of my AAC device. I also like to volunteer at a middle school once a week and mentor a student with his/her AAC device. I would love to work with children with or without disabilities and teach them about disability awareness and art in the near future.
One Student’s Prospective on Private School
The following questions were asked of Alva who is a senior at a California Private school and has a disability. This is what she had to say about her experience.
How did/do you like private school?
Private school has been an interesting experience. I’m the first student with a disability to attend my school. It has bee very isolating not to have anyone who uses a wheelchair with me who understands what it’s like to be in a wheelchair at the place where I spend most of my time. What were the positives and negatives?
The positives are that I get to educate people about my life and everything I’m able to do. However, because there are so few extra curricular activities that I am able to participate in at school, no one gets to see all the things I can do.
If you could change anything, what would it be?
If I could change one thing, I would like there to be at least one other person with a disability (preferably a really cute guy!) who attended my school.
What (if any) barriers were caused by your disability at school?
I am very isolated and I don’t have any true friends who are my age at school. The students see my wheelchair, but not me inside of it.
Did/does you feel your school helped you work around these? If yes, how so?
My school has not done anything to help me have better interactions with my school mates.
