AHEAD 2019 Virtual Conference—you’re invited!

AHEAD 2019 Virtual Conference—you’re invited!

The Office of Disability Services and the Center for Instructional Technology’s Technology Accessibility team are happy to host the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) 2019 Virtual Conference, and you’re invited! The conference’s Opening Plenary address and a dozen concurrent sessions and featured presentations will be streamed live in A232 and A342 Gordon Palmer Hall, Thursday, July 11–Friday, July 12. Drop by for a session or stay for the entire event, and feel free to bring your lunch (and your friends!). Registration is not required.

AHEAD is the leading professional membership association for individuals committed to equity for persons with disabilities in higher education. AHEAD’s annual international conference is the organization’s hallmark event and draws attendees from around the world. Participants and presenters come from diverse fields, including education, technology, law, scholarship, and government, but share a common interest in fostering equitable higher education experiences for individuals with disabilities.

Overall Schedule

Sessions will be streamed in A232 (Track A and opening plenary) and A342 (Track B) Gordon Palmer Hall. Session times are in Eastern Time; Central Time is 1 hour behind.

Thursday, July 11

9:00 – 10:30 am (Eastern Time): Opening Plenary
11:00 am – 12:30 pm (Eastern Time): Concurrent Block 1
2:00 – 3:00 pm (Eastern Time): Concurrent Block 2
3:30 – 5:00 pm (Eastern Time): Featured Presentations A

Friday, July 12

11:00 am – 12:30 pm (Eastern Time): Concurrent Block 3
2:00 – 3:00 pm (Eastern Time): Concurrent Block 4
4:00 – 6:00 pm (Eastern Time): Featured Presentations B

Opening Plenary

Thursday, July 11, 9:00 am –10:30 am (Eastern Time) – A232 Gordon Palmer Hall

Students with Disabilities are an Asset to Universities

Haben Girma, J.D.

Do our schools recognize the tremendous value gained by investing in accessibility? People with disabilities are the largest minority group, numbering over 1.3 billion worldwide. Schools that prioritize accessibility reach a larger audience, including disabled and nondisabled community members. We know from history that difference drives innovation, but few people know about the hidden figures with disabilities who have sparked many of the technologies we use today. Schools that welcome students and faculty members with disabilities are more likely to generate exciting new ideas and solutions. Come join us for this engaging presentation on the many ways schools stand to benefit by choosing inclusion.

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Concurrent Block 1

Thursday, July 11, 11:00 am –12:30 am (Eastern Time)
(Track A – A232 Gordon Palmer Hall)

1.1:  Assistive Technology: An Essential Tool to Support Students in College
Rachel Kruzel, , University of St. Thomas

Learn about how accessibility topics can be integrated into your computing/IT course or how you can encourage faculty in these fields to include accessibility topics in their courses. Promising practices and resources will be shared. Efforts in these areas of application and outreach will result in a high-tech workforce that is fluent in these topics.

(Track B – A342 Gordon Palmer Hall)

1.9: Cripping Campus: Disabled Student Activism and Leadership in Disability Cultural Centers in Higher Ed
Elizabeth (liz) Thomson, M.A., University of Illinois Chicago, et al

When we understand disability in the context of social justice and ableism, a cultural experience influenced by dynamics of power and privilege, we can begin to unpack the many ways disabled people are targets of bias and microaggressions. This workshop will use research to identify stereotypes and microaggressions and explore how these ideas shape the disability experience and inform our personal and professional behaviors and attitudes.

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Concurrent Block 2

Thursday, July 11, 2:00 – 3:00 pm (Eastern Time)

(Track A – A232 Gordon Palmer Hall)

2.6:  Individualization, The Interactive Process and Fundamental Alteration
Jamie Axelrod, M.S., Northern Arizona University
Paul Grossman, J.D., Hastings Law School

In this session, we will look at three key issues that commonly arise in OCR letters and court cases: individualization, the interactive process, and fundamental alteration determination. It turns out that focusing your office practices on these important concepts will help you make more informed and helpful decisions when working with students and faculty.

(Track B – A342 Gordon Palmer Hall)

2.9:  Universally Designing Student Services – What Are We Doing Right? What Can We Do Better? How?

Kirsten Behling, MA, Tufts University
Jennifer Williams, PhD, East Carolina University

UDL is not a new concept, but it may be to those who work in student services. College is about more than the classroom experience, and in our role as disability services providers, we must make sure students’ entire college experience is inclusive. This session will share a new student services UDL audit tool and multi-media tips for how to add UDL into the non-academic side of the college experience.

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Featured Presentations A

Thursday, July 11, 3:30 – 5:00 pm (Eastern Time)

(Track A – A232 Gordon Palmer Hall)

A2:   Everyday Ableism – Exploring Disability Bias and Microaggressions
Amanda Kraus, Ph.D., University of Arizona

When we understand disability in a context of social justice and ableism, a cultural experience shaped by dynamics of power and privilege, we can begin to unpack the many ways disabled people are targets of bias and microaggressions. Emerging research on bias challenges us to appreciate bias as unintentional or even well-intended, behaviors and attitudes. As disability services professionals, it is important to have awareness of disability bias and the many ways bias manifests in higher education. This workshop will include discussion of research on bias and microagressions and relate it to practice.

(Track B – A342 Gordon Palmer Hall)

A5:  Online Access & Accommodations: We’ve Been There, Done That
Kelly Hermann, M.S.Ed., University of Phoenix
Linda Sullivan, M.A., Harvard University
Sheryl Burgstahler, Ph.D., University of Washington, DO-IT
Ana Quiroz

Are you stumped by online courses and digital access? Do you wish that you could hear from other DS providers about what they have done to tackle this challenge? Your wish is granted. Come join members of the Online Learning SIG to hear some tried and true tales from the field from DS providers just like you.

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Concurrent Block 3

Friday, July 12, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm (Eastern Time)

(Track A – A232 Gordon Palmer Hall)

3.1:  Comprehensive Accessibility Training Means Everyone, Including Students
Carolyn Speer, Ph.D., Wichita State University

The agreement Wichita State has with the National Federation of the Blind defines instructors broadly to include anyone providing course content to students. This means the entire campus community, including students, needs to be trained in accessible presentation. This, along with other training requirements listed in the agreement, has presented a monumental training challenge for the university. The manager of the office involved in creating, delivering, and promoting this training state-wide will be on-hand to discuss how this was done and its effectiveness.

(Track B – A342 Gordon Palmer Hall)

3.4:  Neurodiversity and the College Campus
Jane Thierfeld Brown, Ed.D., College Autism Spectrum & Yale Child Study
Lorre Wolf, Ph.D., Boston University

Neurodiversity is sometimes used as a term to refer to Autism. However, neurodiversity can be recognized in many forms on college campuses. ADD/ADHD, Autism, Psychiatric Disabilities, and many other brain related impairments can affect students in multiple and complicated ways. A focus on simple cognitive strategies designed for DS practitioners will help attendees learn to foster development of self-regulatory skills to support students’ success. Reactions and responses to other students will also be discussed.

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Concurrent Block 4

Friday, July 12, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm (Eastern Time)

(Track A – A232 Gordon Palmer Hall)

4.2:  The Invisibility of Disability in Diversity Initiatives in Higher Education: A Demand for Action
Arlene Kanter, J.D., LL.M., Syracuse University

It is now more than 25 years since the adoption of the Americans with Disabilities Act and more than 45 years since the enactment of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Both of these laws prohibit discrimination against students, faculty and staff with disabilities, including by colleges and universities. Yet even after all these many years, disability remains virtually invisible from diversity conversations, curriculum, and scholarship in higher education in the United States. We will discuss the reasons for this absence of disability in diversity initiatives within higher education in the U.S. and in other countries, followed by a discussion of what we can and must do about it.

(Track B – A342 Gordon Palmer Hall)

4.6:  At the Intersection of Disability and Conduct
L. Scott Lissner, The Ohio State University

A brief overview of research and statistics on campus threats and violence will frame a review of current regulations and case law and how they intersect with college conduct processes, behavioral assessment/care teams, and campus threat response. Practices that balance individual rights and community safety with be addressed.

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Featured Presentations B

Friday, July 12, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm (Eastern Time)

(Track A – A232 Gordon Palmer Hall)

B2:  Know Your WHY to Excel at Your WHAT
Adam Meyer, Ph.D., University of Central Florida
Lance Alexis, Ed.D., Middle Tennessee University
Ann Knettler, M.A., Delaware State University

Long hours, strained resources, and increasing responsibilities make it easy to lose sight of core purposes of a disability office. However, if you do not know WHY you exist and intentionally incorporate your WHY in all you do (language used, documentation processes, accommodation determinations, faculty interactions, etc.), you cannot be effective in establishing, promoting, and accomplishing your office’s purpose. This session will explore strategies for developing your overall purpose and integrating it into your practice.

(Track B – A342 Gordon Palmer Hall)

B3:  Building a Campus-wide Universal Design Framework from the Ground Up
Sheryl Burgstahler, Ph.D., University of Washington

UD has emerged as a paradigm to address diversity and equity in the design of a broad range of applications, including educational software, instruction, and student services. Engage with the speaker and other participants about how applying a UD framework to all aspects of campus life can influence the expectation that technology procured, developed and used on campus will be accessible too. Develop a UD framework tailored to your campus that provides a guide for making teaching and learning, student services, IT, and physical spaces inclusive of everyone.

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