Multiple Perspectives on Access, Inclusion, and Disability
"Who We Are"
April 13 & 14, 2016
The Ohio State University's Columbus Campus
July 2015 was the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act; November 2015 marked the 20th Anniversary of the Disability Discrimination Act in Britain; and December 2016 will be the 10th anniversary of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities.
Multiple Perspectives is an ongoing exploration of disability, a conversation including many voices and reflecting perspectives gained through experience and research; theory and practice, arts and sciences. Presentations will encourage discussions across the typical social, political, and disciplinary boundaries; connect the individual to local, national and international approaches; and consider parallels, distinctions and intersections with race, gender and ethnicity.
This year’s conference will feature presentations by: Joel Snyder (Author; President, Audio Description Associates, LLC; Director, Audio Description Project, American Council of the Blind), Victor Pineda (member of The Access Board; President of World ENABLED; and Senior Fellow at The Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society), and Melanie Yergeau (Assistant Professor, Department of English, University of Michigan).
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
9:00am-5:00pm - Pre-Conference: "Audio Description: The Visual Made Verbal"
Milestones Room, Basement of Ohio Union
Presented by Joel Snyder, Ph.D., author of The Visual Made Verbal: A Comprehensive Training Manual and Guide to the History and Applications of Audio Description and President, Audio Description Associates, LLC; Director, Audio Description Project American Council of the Blind. Registration is required and space is limited.
Dr. Joel Snyder will provide an overview of Audio Description as a tool to make visual information accessible to over twenty-one million print disabled Americans. Audio Description is a translation of images to words—the visual is made verbal—to provide access to the wide range of instructional and entertainment media arts (graphics, video, paintings, television, images, performing arts, museums…) in both the virtual and brick and mortar worlds. The workshop will involve approximately 30% lecture, 20% video-slides presentation, and 50% participation (practica in the creation of audio description).
Who Should Attend:
- Web Designers;
- Instructional Designers;
- Arts Managers;
- Curators;
- Educators;
- Accessibility Professionals who want a deeper awareness of this important access technique;
- Experienced Audio Describers desiring an updated refresher session.
Topics Include:
- Audio description history and theory;
- The "Four Fundamentals of Audio Description" ©;
- Active seeing/visual literacy-developing skills in concentration and observation;
- The art of "editing" what you see;
- Vivid language: "The Visual Made Verbal"™;
- "Speak the speech, I pray you"--using the spoken word to make meaning.
Dr. Joel Snyder is known internationally as one of the world’s first “audio describers,” a pioneer in the field of audio description, making theater events, museum exhibitions, and media accessible to people who are blind or are vision-impaired. Since 1981, he has introduced audio description techniques in over 40 states and 45 countries. Dr. Snyder has made hundreds of live theater productions accessible; his company, Audio Description Associates, LLC uses the same techniques to enhance a wide range of media projects including Sesame Street, PBS, ABC and Fox network broadcasts, dozens of DVDs, feature films, and museum exhibits. He serves as Director of the American Council of the Blind’s Audio Description Project (ADP). The ADP produced description for ABC-TV’s nationwide coverage for both of President Obama’s inaugurations and recently produced the first-ever audio described tour of The White House; the ADP website is the nation’s principal provider of information and resources on audio description. Dr. Snyder holds a Ph.D. from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. The American Council of the Blind recently published Dr. Snyder’s book, The Visual Made Verbal – A Comprehensive Training Manual and Guide to the History and Applications of Audio Description.
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
8:30am-10:00am - Concurrent Sessions
Session A: Think College Track
8:30am-9:15am - Ohio’s Statewide Consortia: THINK COLLEGE Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities
Margo Vreeburg Izzo, Ph.D, Nisonger Center, The Ohio State University; Darlene D. Unger, Ph.D., Youngstown State University; Bill Bauer, Ph.D., Professor, Marietta College; Diane E. Clouse, Ed.D., Interim Director, Transition and Access Program Advancement and Transition Services CECH, Special Education University of Cincinnati
The goal of Ohio’s Statewide Consortia (OSC) is to build, enhance, and sustain a network of inclusive postsecondary programs for students with intellectual disabilities across Ohio to improve academic, employment and adult living outcomes for youth with intellectual disabilities (ID). Program Directors from five different urban and rural areas of Ohio will share how their college programs deliver options including inclusive college classes, internships, housing, and social experiences that result in improved employment and independent living outcomes.
9:15am–10:00am - Faculty Perspectives
Mallory Workman, Program Coordinator and Jessie Green, Program Manager, The Ohio State Wexner Medical Center; OSU Faculty; and TOPS
This lecture paired with discussion will focus on what educators can expect when working with students with intellectual disabilities (ID) in their college level courses. Faculty who are and have worked with the TOPS (Transition Options in Post-Secondary Settings) will be available to speak on the following
Faculty perspective of having a student with an ID in their class
Impact of students with ID on other students in the classroom
Implementing accommodations and modifications for ID students in the inclusive classroom
Myths of having students with ID in an inclusive setting
Session B: Unveiling the Cloak of School Choice, Revitalizing Commitment to Inclusive Public Schools in Ohio
Barbara McKenzie, Chairperson Ohio TASH, Author, Parent Advocate; Kathleen M. Hulgin, Assistant Professor, University of Cincinnati, Clermont; E. Frank Fitch, Professor Emeritus, University of Cincinnati, Clermont
The "school choice" movement has been a significant detriment to public education in Ohio. The development of voucher programs and charter schools has progressed despite issues of inequity and lack of effectiveness. While there has been resistance to the movement in general, the negative impact on students with disabilities has gone relatively unchallenged in this state. Ohio leads the country with its use of vouchers, including those specifically developed for students with disabilities. In 2003, the National Council on Disability cautioned that extending vouchers to students with disabilities could lead to a new type of institutionalization at the public's expense.
The purpose of this presentation is to describe, critique and challenge Ohio's voucher program and charter schools as increasing numbers of students with disabilities are being segregated while others are left in public schools with diminishing resources. As Board members of OH TASH, the state chapter of an organization committed to social justice and strengthening local school communities to be inclusive, the presenters will engage participants in developing a strategic response.
Sesson C: Audio Description
Joel Snyder, Author of "The Visual Made Verbal: A Comprehensive Training Manual and Guide to the History and Applications of Audio Description", President, Audio Description Associates, LLC; Director, Audio Description Project, American Council of the Blind
Dr. Joel Snyder will provide an overview of Audio Description as a tool to make visual information accessible to over twenty-one million print disabled Americans. Audio Description is a translation of images to words—the visual is made verbal—to provide access to the wide range of instructional and entertainment media arts (graphics, video, paintings, television, images, performing arts, museums…) in both the virtual and brick and mortar worlds. The workshop will involve approximately 30% lecture, 20% video-slides presentation, and 50% participation (practica in the creation of audio description).
Session D: Reaching and Supporting Student Veterans with Disabilities in Higher Education
Adam Crawford, Counselor and Amanda Hostetter, Student Veteran Advocate; Disability Services, The Ohio State University
Student veterans, many with disabilities, are arriving on college campuses in increasing numbers. How do we connect this population with disability services when the messaging and practices can often sound off-putting to them? This session will review the two-year-long initiative in Student Life Disability Services at The Ohio State University to better reach and support student veterans with disabilities.
10:15am-11:45am - Concurrent Sessions
Session A: Think College Track
10:15am–11:00am - The Use of Peer Mentors in the Marietta College Pioneer Pipeline Program
William M. Bauer, Ph.D.; Christopher L. Klein, Ph.D., and select peer mentors; Marietta College
Marietta College has replicated the Transition Options in Postsecondary Settings (TOPS) developed by The Ohio State University for students with IDD. This program has provided a successful outcome for enabling youth with IDD to build a meaningful life, whether as a college student or towards immediate employment. Marietta has modified this program to fit with the more rural environments found in southeast Ohio’s Appalachian area, as well as with secondary and post-secondary students. The base for the activities in this program has been on the campus of Marietta College, giving students with IDD a chance to become comfortable in a college setting by allowing them to participate in a wide variety of opportunities with their peer mentors. Most importantly, the major goal throughout the program is to access the readiness of our students and their interest in internship opportunities as an entryway to employment. The panel of directors and peer mentors will discuss the successes and challenges of using peer mentors in a hybrid program, and integrating evidence-based practices.
11:00am–11:45am - Using Technology Supports to Enhance Employment Outcomes for Postsecondary Students
Michael P. Kranak, BA, LEND Trainee; Kristin Dell’Armo, MAT, LEND Trainee; Rebecca M. Kirchner, BS, LEND Trainee; Austin Shirk, LEND Trainee; Megan Ryan, LEND Trainee, Jessie Green, MA, Program Manager; Margo V. Izzo, PhD, Program Director, TOPS, Nisonger, The Ohio State University
Given the current high-stakes climate and push for integrated employment for individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD), the need for high quality transition programs and various supports has never been greater. The Ohio State University’s Nisonger Center is home to one of six such programs in the state of Ohio – Transitions Options in Postsecondary Settings (TOPS). The TOPS program uses a vast system of supports, including faculty, families, job and education coaches, and technology to improve students’ success and assist students in gaining employment following high school.
This beginner-level lecture presentation will discuss how technological supports, such as video prompts and models, can enhance and lead to better postsecondary employment outcomes for students with IDD. This presentation will discuss the different types of video supports available and identify situations in which these supports would be most useful. We will describe our process for selecting the type of supports we wanted to use, as well as which apps best fit our needs, and will show attendees how to create and use video prompts with these apps. We then will discuss the feedback that we have received from our job coaches and students thus far, and lead a group discussion about the effectiveness of these technological supports. Attendees will have the opportunity to share their own experiences with technological supports in the workplace.
Session B: Designing the Arts and Autisim Institute
Dr. Leslie A. Bostic and The Arts and Autism Institute team
Dr. Leslie A. Bostic and The Arts and Autism Institute team will present its new and innovative program that seeks to build career, communications, and social skills using latent interests in art with individual’s that have autism. Working artists, in a myriad of disciplines, will be mentor participants in the creative process. The presenters will describe the start-up program and its ability to gather empirical evidence as a base for future development and breakthrough approaches.
Session C: The Evolution and Future of Disability Rights
L. Scott Lissner, ADA Coordinator and 504 Compliance Officer, The Ohio State University
A brief review of how the conception of disability, from being blessed or cursed by the gods to the U.N. Convention on The Rights of Persons with Disabilities has shaped our current notions the rights will be explored. Three concurrent rights conceptions will be identified to triangulate current conceptions:
Natural or Devine Rights
Punishment of past wrongs by individual or family
Reward, gift or challenge
Inalienable rights
Normative Rights
Relies on diagnosis
Resides in the individual
Compensatory approaches
Social Contract Rights
Resides in the transactions between the individual and natural, built and social environments
Universal design approaches
This context will provide a foundation for discussing the current and evolving advocacy and legislative efforts around access, inclusion and disability.
Session D: Bereavement & Disability: Taking a Look at Loss
Brent Simonds, MSW, LISW, Bereavement Counselor, OhioHealth Hospice
After making a career shift into the world of bereavement counseling, it didn’t take long for a social worker with 10 years of direct practice in the disability community to start wondering how grief impacts those with disabilities. After some research, he realized that this is a newly budding area for discussion, training and research. Through OhioHealth Hospice and a grant from the Columbus Foundation, Brent organized a 3 session conference focused on teaching providers and professionals more about the effects of grief and interventions to use when providing services to individuals with disabilities. During this session he will:
• Provide an overview of these 3 events;
• Look at how loss, in a wide variety of forms, impacts the lives and the
psychosocial well-being of people living with disabilities;
• Open discussion for thoughts and input for future topics as well as personal impact
stories.
12:00pm-1:15pm - Lunch & Information Exchange - Blackwell Hotel Ballrooms
1:30pm-2:45pm - Concurrent Sessions
Session A: Think College Track - Supporting Social Competence and Dignity of Risk with Adults with Intellectual Disability in Post-Secondary Education
Diane Clouse, Interim Director, Transition and Access Program, Advancement and Transition Services, CECH, Special Education, University of Cincinnati; Amy Shuman, OSU; Olivia Calderia, Doc Student; Select TOPS students, ed coaches and peer mentors
The goal of Ohio’s Statewide Consortia (OSC) is to build, enhance, and sustain a network of inclusive postsecondary programs for students with intellectual disabilities across Ohio to improve academic, employment and adult living outcomes for youth with intellectual disabilities (ID). Program Directors from five different urban and rural areas of Ohio will share how their college programs deliver options including inclusive college classes, internships, housing, and social experiences that result in improved employment and independent living outcomes.
Session B: Reconciling Civil Rights at the End of Life with Disability Rights
Kathryn L. Tucker, JD, Executive Director, Disability Rights Legal Center, Los Angeles, CA
The movement for disability rights in the US is grounded on concepts of empowering the individual with information/access/control/autonomy/choice. However, when it comes to autonomy of a mentally competent, terminally ill patient to choose a peaceful death through aid in dying, the disability community has, by and large, opposed it. The concern asserted is that the availability of this option could somehow imperil persons with disabilities. This presentation will explore this concern, the views on either side, what the great abundance of data now available show vis a vis this concern, how the issue has been influential in courts and legislatures, and explore whether it is time for the disability advocacy community to reconsider opposing this important civil right in light of the data.
Session C: The Intersection of Race and Disability: How Institutions of Higher Education Must Embrace Simultaneity in Student Life
Lloyd Shelton, Institutional Adjustments Coach, Student Life – Services for Students with Disabilities, University of Michigan
In an era where diversity in higher education is an ongoing struggle, institutions of higher learning are confronted with the need to provide services for students with varying identifications. No individual is only disabled, only a race or only a gender. We are all constructed of an amalgamation of various identities that become more or less salient depending upon the surrounding environment that we may be experiencing at any given moment. That being said, how universities present programming and support services for students from marginalized backgrounds must evolve given this deepening of our understanding of identity politics.
This presentation is designed to complicate how student life/student affairs departments examine how we can best serve our student populations. This particular presentation centers on the intersection of the social constructs of race and disability and how those social constructs impact the perspective of students on today’s campus by utilizing the formats of poetry, personal testimony, a brief lecture (with PowerPoint slides), and both small and large group discussions.
Session D: Portraits of Creative Careers
Morgan Green, Volunteer in the Art and Disability Community; Former Outreach Coordinator, VSA Ohio and AJ Vanderelli, Artist, Owner and Operator of the Vanderelli Room Coordinator, VSA Ohio.
Ohio is home to a thriving and ever-evolving creative sector. With the help and direction of organizations like VSA Ohio and The Vanderelli Room, professionals strive to support individuals with disabilities seeking professional development in the arts. These niche resources may not be available in traditional human services. In the form of workshops, one-on-one mentoring, and connection to resources statewide, artists with disabilities receive support in order to advance their careers in the arts.
In this presentation, Morgan and AJ will share their experiences working with individuals with disabilities seeking to further their creative careers in Ohio. The presenters will provide a personal look at five individual artists (or collective artist groups) which will be presented in the form of narrative portraits. These narratives will include a multimedia element: brief video portraits of each artist in first person, and images of the artist’s work, exhibiting the progress of their creative careers thus far. The presenters will also explain their roles in providing career development and transition support to these individuals and demonstrate the strong impact this kind of support can have on an individual seeking a creative career.
3:00pm-4:30pm - Ethel Louise Armstrong Lecture: "Autistext"
Presented by Melanie Yergeau, Assistant Professor, Department of English, University of Michigan
Blackwell Hotel Ballrooms. Free & Open to the Public
When autistic people disclose being autistic, we are often met with intrusive questions and hostile responses: Who diagnosed you? When were you toilet-trained? Well, you don't look autistic to me.
Autism disclosure can be taken by others as an opportunity to tally our symptoms, to compare our disclosures against autism stereotypes or misinformed ideas about diagnostic criteria. In this talk, Melanie examines the ways in which disability disclosures are often read as invitations to refute diagnosis. The ability to say, “I have autism,” for example, is often viewed as evidence that one does not have autism — or, at least, not “real” or “severe” autism. As a means of speaking back to these stereotypes, Melanie examines the ways in which autistic bloggers redefine what diagnosis can mean for autistic people.
4:30pm-6:00pm - Ethel Louise Armstrong Student Perspectives Poster Session
Blackwell Hotel Ballrooms
Free & Open to the Public
Thursday, April 14, 2016
9:00am-10:30am - Concurrent Sessions
Session A: Two 45-Minute Sessions
9:00am-9:45am - The Refraction of Wellbeing by Young People with Vision Impairment
Mr. Ross Anderson, Social and Political Sciences Graduate Research Program, School of Social Science, Monash University, Australia
This presentation will consider and contribute to extant discourse regarding living with vision impairment as a young person and the optimization of vision rehabilitation services: services provided to promote the functioning and wellbeing of a person despite their vision impairment (Binns et al., 2012). It has recently been acknowledged that the evaluation and development of these services will benefit from a clearer conceptualization of wellbeing for them to target (Rees, Ponczek, Hassell, Keeffe, & Lamoureux, 2010). To ensure their relevance and sensitivity, young people with vision impairment themselves must be significant contributors in the ongoing refinement of this concept (Llewellyn & Leonard, 2010).
Therefore, this paper will present and examine the findings from an Australian study that explored the conceptualizations of wellbeing of young people with vision impairment and their perceptions of its associations with their vision impairment. In 2014-15, 21 young people with vision impairment (12-25 years of age) participated in interviews/focus groups exploring data they collected through a complementary audio-recording task (i.e. sound environments and personal reflections). The content of the participants’ discussions and audio-recordings was thematically analysed resulting in the production of a hierarchy of themes arising across their experiences.
The presentation will report and discuss both the findings of the current study in the specific context of young people with vision impairment, but also larger themes arising from their discussions that are applicable to work in the area of disability more generally. Thus, it is intended for a broad audience of individuals, including educators, service providers and researchers, who are not required to have a high level of familiarity with the specific context of the project. First, it will briefly present the four broad areas of wellbeing depicted by the participants in the current study: progress and accomplishment; independence and freedom; social connection; and, physical health.
Second, it will then engage in detail with several overarching themes that framed the participants’ discussions of these areas of wellbeing. It will examine their considerations of their sameness and difference as compared to the general population, and their construction of a conceptual space of “situated sameness” in which they placed their conception of wellbeing. They depicted the four areas of their wellbeing as resembling those valued by the general population, but uniquely shaped by their vision impairment and other factors in their life. The role of their underlying sense of identity as a major source of difference in this construction will be discussed, as well as the need and value of actively maintaining a balanced pursuit of the four areas due to their interconnection and capacity to support each other’s maintenance.
Finally, the implications from the raised themes for those who work around young people with vision impairment and disability more generally will be expounded. The need to engage with the individual's sameness by ensuring that one does not lose sight of each area of importance to their wellbeing in the effort to address specific impacts of their disability will be explicated. To achieve this, it will be suggested that people working in the area of disability should consider each person’s sense of identity in their practise and target the promotion of balance in their life through multi-faceted and holistic service delivery. In doing so, they will be supporting the person’s sustenance of the same valued areas to which all people should have access, but to their personally-valued and different levels through their personally-preferred and different means.
9:45am-10:30am - Visitable Housing: Policies and Possibilities
Julia R. Elmer, PhD Candidate, & Jack L. Nasar, Professor Emeritus, City & Regional Planning, The Ohio State University.
“Visitability” is a policy that calls for making homes visitable, that is, to enable individuals with ambulatory difficulties to visit and socialize with friends and family. A house becomes visitable by having:
- no-step or low-slope entrance
- doorways at least 32 inches wide, and
- a usable half- or full bathroom on the main floor.
These features cost roughly 4.5 times less when they are incorporated into the construction of a new home ($1385 to $6290) than when they are added to a home during remodeling ($5,000 to $7581). Visitable house features have obvious benefits for veterans, aging baby boomers, and others with ambulatory difficulty, but they can benefit many others as well. Even so, many developers and builders oppose these features because they believe homebuyers do not want them.
The present cross-sectional study sought to test the accuracy of developer and builder perceived barriers to including visitable features in new houses. Specifically, we surveyed 96 Ohio homeowners (31 men, 65 women) and 107 Ohio homebuyers 25 men, 80 women, 2 no response) to test the desirability of houses with and without such features to homeowners and homebuyers. For photos of nine matched pairs of visitable and non-visitable features, respondents assessed which home would sell more quickly, which they preferred to buy, and which had an older inhabitant. They also rated effects of each visitable feature on qualities that might affect the marketability of the home, such as good design, aesthetics, appeal to young, appeal to old, ease of hosting visitors, and resale value.
We hypothesized that homeowners and homebuyers would prefer to buy homes with visitable features even if they believed such homes would cost more. We found that both homeowners and homebuyers preferred to buy houses with each visitable feature than houses lacking the feature. Respondents believed that such homes would sell more quickly than homes that lacked visitable features, and they rated each visitable feature as having favorable effects on the qualities of the house even though they expected houses with visitable features to cost more and to house an older person or a person with difficulty walking. Responses did not differ with the age of the respondent. Contrary to developer and builder beliefs, the findings suggest that Ohio homeowners and homebuyers want houses with visitable features.
This research culminated in a report entitled “Perceived Value of Visitable Housing in Ohio,” which was released by the Ohio Developmental Disabilities Council in June 2015. A journal article about this research was published in the January 2016 issue of the Disability and Health Journal. Furthermore, this research played a role in the introduction of a bill at the Ohio Statehouse that would offer $5,000 grants to builders who incorporate the three features of visitability.
Session B: Community Integration for People with Developmental or Intellectual Disabilities
Kevin Truitt, Attorney, & Adonna Wilson, Senior Advocate, Disability Rights Ohio
Nearly 17 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court held, in its landmark decision in Olmstead v. L.C., that it is discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act to unduly segregate people with disabilities in institutions and that those individuals have a right to receive services in the most integrated, least restrictive settings in the community. Nevertheless, the service system for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities in Ohio is still overly segregated, not only in the places where people live, but also where they work and how they spend their days. Thousands of people are needlessly and unwillingly living in facilities, working in facility-based sheltered workshops (performing manual, repetitive work, often for less than minimum wages), and spending their leisure time in congregate, facility-based day programs.
Although home and community-based services programs serve many, there are long, slow-moving waiting lists in each county in Ohio for those not enrolled in these programs. Consequently, thousands of people with intellectual or developmental disabilities across Ohio have little or no opportunity to be integrated in their communities with their families and friends.
This presentation, which will be in lecture & discussion format, will cover the importance and benefits of integration in the lives of people with disabilities and the work of Disability Rights Ohio to reform the system. It will also cover a number of other changes happening in the system, including:
New federal regulations from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services defining home and community-based settings for waiver programs;
New federal regulations from the U.S. Department of Labor under the Fair Labor Standards Act providing minimum wage, overtime, and other labor protections to home care workers who support people with disabilities in the community.
Session C: How to Recognize and How to Help Students with Executive Function Challenges
Julieann Ash, M.S., BCET, Midwest Educational Therapists & Assoc.; Virginia H. Cope, Associate Dean, Newark campus, Associate Professor, English, The Ohio State University
This presentation seeks to educate parents, teachers and others in the community about the major areas affected by executive dysfunction, the behavior that typically results, and how to help. Such knowledge can dramatically change the lives of children and adolescents struggling with an executive function disability. Executive function is an ability based in the frontal lobes that serves as the mind manager. The importance of EF cannot be overstated. EF guides, directs and manages cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functions. It is crucial to success in school, because it enables us to set goals and create plans; organize time and materials; control our impulses; and stay attentive. Students with executive function challenges cannot easily manage the straightforward requirements of the school day: doing homework, handing it in, planning their studies and presenting that knowledge in a paper or test.
As an Educational Therapist, Julieann Ash has helped children and teens who have struggled in school for many years. Co-presenter Virginia Cope is the parent of children with ADHD who struggled, like many others, with the problems arising from executive function impairments. The presentation will also explain the relatively new field of educational therapy. Educational therapy provides a holistic response to educational challenges, considering cognitive, behavioral, and environmental factors, and is one particularly effective at responding to EF challenges. Understanding their own brain and developing learning strategies prepare children and teens to advocate for themselves, cope with challenges, and finesse their way around obstacles.
Session D: Beyond Point A to B - Transportation Access in 2016
Derek Mortland, ADA and Community Outreach Coordinator, The Center for Disability Empowerment
Our inclusive workshop will enable participants, whether expert or novice, to gain experiential knowledge of the barriers a person with a disability may face on a daily basis from traveling to work or planning their next destination vacation. Regardless of an attendee having a pre-existing disability, some workshop attendees will be assigned an imaginary disability along with a destination location. It will be their goal to arrange their transportation accommodations through other attendees who will be transportation coordinators and providers. It will then be in the hands of the two parties to cooperatively or not resolve any accessibility issues that may need to be addressed.
Following our quest for transportation, we will discuss our personal mock experiences in small groups. Then, as a large group, we will discuss and review the ADA Transportation Regulations in 49 CFR Part 37 and Part 38 via PowerPoint. We will review best practices in regard to accessible transportation and application of Federal Regulations. Q and A will wrap up our presentation.
"Where we live, work, and play impacts our health. How we move within and between our communities is critical to improving our quality of life and access to opportunity." - American Public Health Association
"Good transportation systems connect people to the jobs, education, and community supports that enable them to prosper and advance economically.“ - CLASP
10:45am-12:15pm - Concurrent Sessions
Session A: Can Tax and Economic Incentives Work to Nudge Dwelling Design toward Inclusion?
Satoshi Kose, Dr., Professor Emeritus, Shizuoka University of Art and Culture
This presentation proposes possible policy measures to promote the universal/transgenerational design of dwellings to prepare for the highly aged society, from Japanese experiences. The key idea is to introduce a tax rebate or some subsidies to persuade people toward that direction since the benefit of preparing for one’s own later years is difficult to imagine compared to energy saving, which one can easily learn from monthly energy bill.
In Japan, the future population estimate published in 1986 sounded an alarm because the ratio of people aged 65 and over would amount to a quarter of all the population in 2030. Many Ministries have raised their hands to get budgets to rectify the problems that would inevitably happen, and the Ministry of Construction was not the exception. Research and development projects on built environment design toward the aged society was initiated, and “Design guidelines of dwellings for the aged society” was finally proposed in 1991 and 1992, for multifamily housing and detached houses, respectively.
The guidelines were intended to upgrade the standard level of design and construction of practically all dwellings, so that they are livable by frail seniors, with minor modifications if necessary. The design requirements are not so much different from those proposed in many countries (such as FHAA Design Guidelines or visitability concepts), with minor variations depending on the Japanese way of living.
Simply proposing design guidelines does not change the people’s attitudes. There existed a good leverage to use. The semi-governmental Housing Loan Corporation of Japan (HLC) has been the powerful provider of housing mortgages to those who wished to acquire their dwellings, with lower interest rates than the private sector banks. The difference in interest rate was subsidized by tax money. HLC had been under attack for some time, and in 1996, the government decided that the dwellings must meet one of three government policy requirements, i.e., energy efficiency, design for ageing, or more durable structures. The third requirement was soon eliminated, but the other two continued, and worked fairly effectively. The design for ageing requirements was summarized as: Elimination of level differences inside dwellings, grab/handrails installment, and wider corridors and doors. It started as guidelines, but because of better mortgage conditions, both housing providers and clients were inclined to adopt the terms. It was further reinforced with the introduction of a Housing Quality Assurance system that started in 2000 and the Securing Housing for Seniors Act in 2001. The former utilized the basic concept of the guidelines (with five grade ratings), and the latter adopted the guidelines as requirements to qualify for dwellings suitable for seniors to live in (this unfortunately belittled the application of requirements to limit just for frail seniors, excluding other family members – the original intention was to require all dwellings to be prepared for future residents, not just present seniors).
Unfortunately, the HLC was forced to diminish its role gradually, and finally ended in March 2007 to be changed to a new less powerful organization. Toward the end of its existence, more than half of the HLC clients chose to abide by the requirements on the design for ageing since it was fairly easy to meet for new construction (but more difficult for modification).
The original reason of HLC’s establishment in 1950 was to assist people to acquire their own dwellings, and it also helped boost the economy. Assuming that such ideas are quite common in every country including the US, I would like to suggest that some form of economic incentives be introduced. It could be a tax rebate, some form of subsidies, or whatever. When the introduction of regulation is impractical, it seems to be the only way out.
Session B: Culture Clash: An Integrated System Theoretical Model of Police and Community Interaction Based upon Cultural Criminological and Modern Policing Practices
Aviva Twersky Glasner, Ph.D. Associate Professor and Director of Criminal Justice Program, Seton Hall University
Interactions between D/deaf and hard of hearing citizens and the police have often been fraught with difficulties. The difficulties are most often exemplified by allegations of police use of force in situations arising out of a misunderstanding and lack of experience of dealing with D/deaf individuals. These can be exemplified by police not understanding the need of D/deaf people to approach them, in order to better understand what the officer wants which the officer regards as an aggressive move. Further examination of the facts surrounding the individual events show that these are simple, yet oft times tragic interactions which could have been avoided if the police had training in dealing with D/deaf culture and with D/deaf people understanding “Police Culture” and expected behaviors from them when dealing with police officers. This paper explores these incidents from a cultural perspective-meaning that people from different cultures often clash, without an innate or learned understanding of the “other’s” culture, resulting in deadly shootings.
Cultural models thus derive from, as they describe, the world in which we live, and at the same time provide a basis for the organization of activities, responses, perceptions, and experiences by the conscious self. (Rosaldo, 1984).
Session C: Potty Privileges: Applying Universal Design Concepts to Develop an Inclusive Restroom Design
Dianne Bouvier, Ph.D., Director, Equal Opportunity and Accessibility, ADA/504 Coordinator; Lynnette Clouse, Director for Interior Layout & Design, Architecture, Design and Construction; Marty Dagostino, Ergonomist, Environmental Health and Safety and Equal Opportunity and Accessibility; & Kerri Griffin, Assistant Director, Equal Opportunity and Accessibility. Ohio University
Ohio University brought together various constituents to form a restroom committee, with the goal of defining a solution for all members of the community to “pee in peace.” During this session, the presenters will use power points and discuss their process for applying universal design concepts to identify specifications that address the distinct and intersecting needs for persons within the disability community, LGBT community, families, ageing community members, and others. The presenters will talk about:
Civil rights and social justice issues around bathroom access;
Universal design concepts;
Research partnerships with faculty and students;
The process in extending ADA guidelines to include multiple perspectives to develop design and construction and signage specifications;
The outcomes.
Session D: When Rights Are Not Enough: ‘Compassion’ and the ‘Politicised’ Educator
Dr. Suanne Gibson, Associate Professor of Education, Plymouth University, U.K.
‘Widening participation,’ ‘inclusive pedagogy,’ ‘access,’ ‘diversity,’ ‘raising aspirations,’ are widely-occurring policy terms and academic discourses within the international education community. They are drawn on when referring to, or engaging with, questions of social justice and equality within and across international university institutions. What translates into practise is known to be problematic, in many cases unsuccessful, and can reflect mis-interpreted notions of inclusion.
In the past 20 years the world of higher education (HE) in the UK has experienced many changes, not least those linked to the ubiquitous term: ‘inclusion’. Dr. Gibson will historically locate this expression, reflecting on why it became such a popular reference in the world of education. Its growth in use, as partly linked to policy’s misuse, its colonisation and various revisioned forms will be articulated. Stemming from the critical disability studies field, a critique of ‘inclusive’ teaching toolboxes or ‘almanacs’ will be made alongside an invitation to re-consider previously held views that the connected discourse of wider access to university is steeped in socially just values.
Dr. Gibson suggests a more contemporary definition of inclusion is needed: ‘a community of diversity becoming a community of equals’. She will also argue educators, as learners and with learners, need to become politicised. Universities and education institutions, need to reflect on what they see as their core, their rationale, who it is they are working for. It is in relation to such matters that the question of ‘compassion’ - for both students and faculty – needs to be addressed.
We are living in changing and challenging times, even more so if we openly connect ourselves and our work to that of ‘social justice’. If that is your stance then your journey is and will be a political one, a difficult one of conflicts and divisions yet also rich in connections and relationships. Giroux (2003, 11) argues any form of education intent on addressing social justice is both ‘a moral and political practice’. The work of Ahmed (2012) moves this on, suggesting such practices involve pushing against the flow of institutionalised, top down misinterpreted forms of inclusive thinking and/or practice.
In her view, a fresh political discourse for inclusion is needed, one that enables HE stakeholders to reflect on and re-consider how ‘other’ is constructed, the problematics of a ‘diverse’ and ‘normal’ binary and the way in which these terms become manifest in our work alongside the impact they have. Published research will be drawn on throughout and the paper will end asserting ‘Inclusion’ is about ‘a community of diversity becoming a community of equals’ as opposed to the current scenario- ‘a community of diversity which reinforces a community of division, of haves and have nots, in the name of ‘wider access’- a ‘just imaginary’ for social inclusion’ (Gale and Hodge 2014).
The presentation will entail some group activity and reflective exercises as well as the traditional lecture. Delegates will be encouraged to critically consider their own work and to reflect on their experiences and insights as they emerge in response to the presentation, specifically what they think the outcomes of diversity practices or inclusion policy has been in their work place. We will explore what needs to change along with giving input on the issue of what voices will be valued in this process. We will also spend time thinking about ‘power' and ‘identity' and how these become manifest and impact on our work as educators with the aim that those attending will have something of substance to take back to their centres of learning and places of work.
12:30pm-1:45pm - Lunch and Information Exchange - Blackwell Hotel Ballrooms
2:00pm-3:30pm - Concurrent Sessions
Session A: PLISSIT: A Model for Addressing Sexuality Concerns of Persons with Disabilities
Katrina R. Miller, Ed.D., CRC, NCC, LPC Professor of Rehabilitation Counselor Education, Emporia State University
Human sexuality is an important aspect of quality of life, often overlooked by service providers when working with consumers who have disabilities. Screening for and addressing sexuality concerns of consumers are as critical to the rehabilitation process as is substance abuse screening. The PLISSIT Model (Annon, 1976) presents an easy to use healthcare-based approach to initiating conversations about sex and sexuality with consumers with disabilities. The acronym, PLISSIT, stands for the steps providers take: Permission, Limited Information, Specific Suggestions, and Intensive Therapy. Participants will be introduced to the PLISSIT model and engage in role play to encourage topic comfort levels and skill building.
Session B: Positioning Theory as a Lens to Understand Korean Immigrant Parents’ Views of Physical Education Programming in the United States
Seo Hee Lee, The Ohio State University
The purpose of the study is to explore the positioning of Korean immigrant parents of children with ASD in the educational landscape in the United States, specifically focusing on adapted and general physical education. Positioning theory enables the researcher to understand how Korean immigrant parents of children with ASD position themselves and others including their children with ASD, and in particular adapted and general physical education teachers within educational contexts.
Lang and colleagues (2010) summarized studies about children with ASD in physical activity contexts, especially how physical exercise programs had influence on participants with ASD. They reported that most researchers commonly found that exercise and fitness programs can impact children with ASD in positive ways. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a continuum of disabilities that is rapidly increasing in the United States and elsewhere, yet the etiologies of ASD are still largely unknown (Lerman, Vorndran, Addison, & Kuhn, 2004). Children with ASD often exhibit stereotypic autistic behavioral tendencies that can be delineated into three categories, which are: (a) lack of social interaction, (b) poor communicative skills, and © repetitive and restricted behavior.
Physical activity has been described as any action whereupon an individual is moving (Ortiz-Castillo, 2011) and defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as “any bodily movement produced by the contraction of skeletal muscle that increases energy expenditure above a basal level. In these guidelines, physical activity generally refers to the subset of physical activity that enhances health” (CDC, 2010, Letter P, para. 1). Researchers have analyzed variables associated with physical activity participation of children with ASD.
Among various factors, parental influence can be the most important factor to determine whether children with ASD are physically active. Accordingly, the roles of parents become important since they encourage their children with ASD to be involved in physical activities and sports. However, parents may not establish meaningful relationships with adapted and general physical education teachers because these teachers are unlikely to participate in IEP meetings and barely communicate with parents about services and students’ progress (An & Hodge, 2013; Chaapel et al., 2013).
In fact, the number of students with ASD coming from immigrant families has been increasing. Consequently, the challenges parents of children with ASD face, such as language differences and cultural dissonance, are reported in several studies (Cho, Singer, & Brenner, 2001; Lai & Vadeboncoeur, 2013; Wang & Casillas, 2013). Similar to parents of typically developing children in the United States, immigrant parents of children with ASD value education including physical education programming. Nevertheless, educational studies regarding the views of immigrant parents of children with disabilities focusing on physical education programming are very limited despite the number of children with disabilities coming from immigrant families has been increasing.
In the design of this study, the researcher will employ positioning theory to understand how Korean immigrant parents of children with ASD position themselves and others toward quality of educational services focusing on adapted and general physical education during discursive practices. The research design is phenomenology, which is a qualitative research approach. The central question in studies grounded in phenomenology is: What meaning is ascribed to this phenomenon by these individuals? The intent of this research paradigm is to determine what an experience means for those individuals who have had the experience and for those who are able to provide a full description of their experience (Moustakas, 1994). Phenomenology is quite useful for the purpose of the proposed study, which is to explore the meaning (using in-depth interviews) ascribed by Korean immigrant parents of children with ASD of their and others’ positioning in the educational landscape, particularly in relation to adapted and general physical education services. The sampling design will be purposeful using criterion sampling. The logic of criterion sampling is to select and investigate cases that met some predetermined criterion of importance or interest (Patton, 2002). In this study, Korean immigrant parents of children with ASD will be asked to participate in this study. Specifically, five to seven family units comprised of Korean immigrant parents of children with ASD will be invited to participate in this inquiry. A family unit will be operationally defined as two biological parents of children with autism spectrum disorder. The researcher will interview each parent on two separate occasions using a semi-structured face-to-face interview protocol. Next, each copy of interview transcripts and audiotaped transcripts of interviews as well as field notes will be reviewed and coded independently.
Trustworthiness will be established through member checking and peer-debriefing. The intent is to judge the relative accuracy of the data (Merriam, 1998). Member checking will be used to reduce the impact of subjective bias. The researcher will email copies of the interview transcripts to the respective participants. They will be asked to confirm the accuracy of the transcripts (Merriam, 1998). Peer debriefing is a process of exposing oneself to a knowledgeable peer in a way paralleling an analytic session with the purpose of exploring aspects of inquiry that might remain only implicit in the inquirer’s mind (Patton, 2002). For this study, faculty with expertise in qualitative research will be asked to determine the degree to which the interpretations of the data are accurate and representative of the participants’ statements.
Constant comparative data analysis method (Boeije, 2010) will be used to interpret the data. The basic strategy of this analytical process is to do what its name implied by constantly comparing pieces of data. In this study, each piece of data from the data sets (interview transcripts) from each participant will be compared and contrasted by the researcher to identify thematic categories, which will then be refined into recurring themes (Boeije, 2010).
Session C: Around the World in 80 Plans: Work/Study Abroad from Disability Perspectives
Elizabeth L. Sammons, Program Administrator, Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities; Kelsey Anderson, American Field Services Sponsored Programs Hosting Coordinator; and Alitza Livensparger, Medical Volunteer Abroad
This presentation will involve three to four panelists with significant experience working and/or studying abroad, including both Americans and those from other countries. Diversity of disability as well as national and educational background will be represented as questions from Elizabeth Sammons addresses the following:
What role does a native culture play in motivating or discouraging going abroad, and particularly when a disability is involved?
What resources can the audience use in planning work/study abroad? (These will include Mobility International USA.)
Session D: Update from the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights
3:45pm–5:00pm - Ken Campbell Memorial Lecture: “Inclusive Cities”
Presented by Victor Pineda, member of The Access Board (also known as the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Access Board), President of World ENABLED, and Senior Fellow at The Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society
Room 140 Pfahl Hall - Free & Open to the Public
Victor Santiago Pineda will present the 2016 Ken Campbell Lecture on Disability Policy at the Ohio State University’s Multiple Perspectives Conference on April 13 & 14. Based on his international research, travels and upcoming book Inclusive Cities: Governance and the Transformation of Disability Rights.
Victor's research projects explore disability in the built environment through history, medical anthropology, policy, planning and regional development. On the Access Board, Victor has been nominated as the Chair of a committee developing regulations on passenger vehicles. In the next few years the board will be addressing access regulations in a variety of areas including medical diagnostic equipment, trains, and smart homes/smart appliances.
*Funding for the Ethel Louise Armstrong Student Poster Competition, Ethel Louise Armstrong Memorial Lecture, and various other portions of the conference is generously provided by the Ethel Louise Armstrong Foundation Endowment Fund.
