Transcript Disability Services: Gate Keeper or Door Opener

Margaret Camp
University of South Carolina Upstate
Gladys Loewen
Consultant
Explore
attitudes, policies & practices that open
doors
 intended & unintended outcomes of
policies & practices
 civil rights intent of the law


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

What policies & practices in DS office
open doors for disabled students,
ensuring inclusion & full participation?

Impact of these policies & practices

What policies and practices in DS office
have a gate keeper function?

Impact of these policies and practices?


“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
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)


“services” versus “access”
ownership of “our” students and
increasing numbers

“...implementation of the medical
model in health care, social services,
education, private charity and public
policies has institutionalized prejudice
and discrimination” Longmore, 2003

“…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
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


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
Intended and Unintended

How policies, procedures, language, and
actions give off messages

What messages are given when
accommodations are recommended or
arranged?

Adjustments and accommodations tend
to “reinforce the individual/medical
notion that disability resides with the
individual” Guzman, 2008
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
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 selfdetermination on the part of the students
we serve.
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:
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

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
If we believe
 Full participation is right, not a privilege
 Right to equal access
 Design has the power to include and
exclude

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

Design inclusive environments, minimize
need for retrofitting & different treatment

Lessen emphasis on documentation to
reduce segregation, special treatment &
discrimination

Ensure full participation is a right not a
privilege based on documentation &
benevolence

“...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