Panel Presentation Summaries

Eric Trekell leads the panel of students with disabilities.

Interactive Panel with Postsecondary Support Services Professionals

Panelist Introductions and Opening Statements

Katie Abrams & Genna Kieper, Director and Employment Services Coordinator, respectively, WSU Roar (Length: 00:07:05)
Kim Thompson, Senior Director, Seattle University Disability Services
Shannon Garcia, Program Manager of Accessible Text & Technology, University of Washington Disability Resources for Students
Facilitator: Eric W. Trekell, Program Operations Specialist, University of Washington DO-IT Center

The Transition Cliff

Shannon talked about the challenging transition students face coming to a big university. That segued into a comment by Eric that, in his prior experience as Director of the Center for Disability Services at Everett Community College, he spent about 40% of his time at accommodations planning meetings educating parents and students on the significant differences between accommodations, modifications, and services, including the very different accommodations processes between K-12 and higher education. Katie shared what WSU’s Responsibility, Opportunity, Advocacy, and Respect (ROAR) program refers to as the “Transition Cliff'' that students with disabilities face in leaving high school and going into any postsecondary setting.

Success vs. Access

Kim raised the topic of “success vs. access.” She encouraged further thinking about the idea of success vs. access and noted that she is not arguing for modification of course outcomes. She notes that rigid schedules of institutions and postsecondary educators seem designed for the convenience of faculty and staff, while the K-12 system has more transparency in teaching. The gap between secondary education and higher education seems to be getting wider, which reduces both access and potential for success.

Activate Caring

Many individuals at the Institute care about disability for one reason or another. They may have a disability or have a child with a disability, or care about the topic for some unknown reason. But how about those faculty who are disconnected from the subject, other than receiving an accommodation notification from the campus disability services office? How do you help “activate” caring in others? How do you make it urgent and important? Some solutions involve looking at disability through a social justice, equity, and diversity lens.

Getting Others Onboard

Continuing the “activate caring” discussion, how do we reframe this message for the people in power, the people who can provide funding on our campuses? How are we meeting students from diverse backgrounds?

Trauma-Informed Lens

Considering the pandemic, how are disability services professionals approaching this work from a trauma-informed lens? Are disability services professionals partnering with other Student Affairs offices such as Counseling Centers?

Intersectionality

There’s evidence that non-white students with disabilities are the least likely students to seek services with the DS office. How do you address that issue? Solutions can include discussing “culturally relevant pedagogy,” seeing the student as a whole person. Recognize that many students may not find connections within disability services office staff. Such staff can create relationships with other groups on campus such as the Black Student Union, LGBTQIA+ centers, and Indigenous People centers. Be responsible for bringing students together.

Washington State University’s (WSU) Responsibility, Opportunity, Advocacy, and Respect (ROAR) Program

More information specifically on the WSU ROAR program and how it operates on the WSU campus. WSU ROAR connections with the Access Center and other WSU student support centers.

Documentation

This section of the panel included a conversation about medical documentation and inequities in the US healthcare system, the rise of the student self-report as documentation, and documentation as a gate-keeping mechanism.

Panel: A Conversation with Postsecondary Neurodiverse Students

A panel of University of Washington students shared their experiences and answered questions about access and inclusion. The panel was facilitated by Eric W. Trekell, Program Operations Specialist at the University of Washington DO-IT Center.

Student Introductions and Experiences

Students were asked to begin by introducing themselves, and then to spend eight to ten minutes sharing some of their experiences in academia. They were asked to reflect on barriers experienced because of their neurodivergence and to share thoughts on what post secondary staff members (e.g., faculty members, advisors, resident assistants) could do to reduce barriers and make those experiences better.

Senior in Biophysics

I am a senior in biophysics (he/him) who identifies as a Mexican man with ADHD. I was diagnosed at 14 or 15 and received pretty standard accommodations in high school. Going into my post‑secondary education, I didn't have many issues receiving additional accommodations, though I did sometimes feel isolated from the mainstream track for students. It was hard for me to create study groups with students if I struggled with a schedule or was tested differently; this then could make it harder to get the most out of my coursework.

I did find help from the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity, which has an instructional center. I spent a lot of time there with a tutor, which helped me stay engaged. I did well enough that I became a tutor and that engaged me further and gave me motivation in my own free time to really look at the material deeply and come to class more prepared, which helped me adhere to a schedule. Tutoring helped me become more invested in the UW and really feel like I was a part of something.

Junior in Atmospheric Science and Chemistry

I am a junior in atmospheric science and chemistry (she/her), who identifies as African American, with dyslexia and autism spectrum disorder. I also love the Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity tutoring center! I would also like to highlight the fact that I am one person—I don’t represent all people within my communities and identities. There is no one accommodation that makes everything better.

One thing I want my professors and teaching assistants to do is ask their students to be respectful of the conditions their peers might be going through. I have experienced negative language in the classroom. I can't tell you how many Autism jokes and ADHD jokes or comments I hear, and it makes me feel afraid of my peers. It’s hard to focus in a classroom when you feel like that.

Another thing is accessible visuals: People don’t seem to know how dyslexia actually works. I see things in my head from different angles, which causes paragraphs to swap around, and words to flip in sentences. I've gotten good at reading due to a lot of practice. However, this three-dimensional thinking makes me good at physics, chemistry, and math.

My advice for educators and students: Try to make visuals dynamic in a classroom, use dynamic colors and large fonts and separate paragraphs so it is easier to distinguish the sentences. Furthermore, do not just come up and pet my service dog. I cannot tell you how often people come up to me and just start petting her without asking.

Ph.D. Student in Computer Science

I am a Ph.D. student (they/them) majoring in computer science, and studying sociology and social work, who identifies as having self-diagnosed autism spectrum disorder. For the majority of my life I presented as a white, cis, neurotypical boy and I fit the gendered, racial, and educational profile of a middle class family; all of the stereotypes of who is expected in higher ed spaces. I've come out about seven times at this point in my life, and at some point I just stopped. Many people don’t understand how hard it is to make friends when you are just a little bit different from others. You can only bend so much into fitting societal expectations, and masking constantly is draining and unhealthy.

In my undergraduate, I felt like I fit in computer science, but it was hard working within a community that conveys “If you can't follow directions perfectly without making any mistakes, then you shouldn't be a computer scientist or engineer.” In my Phd program, I had the privilege of sharing a lab with someone who was out and proud and autistic, which really let me come out as queer and autistic.

Now I am out in many ways, and I get all of the harmful nonsense; I speak at conferences and get responses like “Is it hard being here and autistic? You don't look autistic! Trans people can't be autistic! Oh, you talk way too well to be autistic!” But still, there's a beautiful community that I have with other folks and I have made strong connections due to my identity.

Master’s Student in Computer Science

I’m a master’s student in computer science (she/her) who identifies with child onset fluency disorder (formerly diagnosed as stutter). I have always stuttered, and it didn’t bother me until elementary school when other kids started commenting. In fourth grade, someone made the comment like “It is so annoying that you talk like that, and I don't want to be friends with you!” From that moment on I realized it wasn't normal and I tried to hide it as much as possible.

I went to speech therapy in middle school. My therapist tried to teach me strategies to get rid of my stutter; they didn't work at all and honestly made it worse. At the time I blamed myself; I thought I wasn't working hard enough to be normal. I didn't meet anyone else who stuttered until I went to college. I got really good at hiding my stutter by switching words and running everything through in my head before I said it; this may sound like a good solution, but it’s exhausting when you have to do it while you are talking. I ended up staying quiet most of the time.

In college, I took a presentation and networking class where you could meet other students. There were all of these presentation assignments and graded discussions where you have to say something insightful a certain number of times to get full points. This class was such a nightmare for me. I would stutter through my name and my presentations, and other students would quickly stop talking to me. I finally disclosed to my teacher; that was a big deal, because I had never told anyone before. She was really nice about it and gave me the option to do a different assignment besides presentations and considered my stutter when evaluating my assignments.

I started to disclose more to people after that. It didn't always go as smoothly. Some people thought I was stupid, or if I didn’t stutter a lot in the moment, then people wouldn’t believe me. My sophomore year, I joined the group Students Who Stutter; we talked about ways to request accommodations. That was helpful for all of us in the club. I also started a club called ABILITY. We now have over 100 members and 3 events per quarter.

Senior in Communications and International Studies

I am a senior (she/her) in communications and international studies who identifies as a white woman with dyslexia and processing disorder. For me, the best definition of dyslexia is to imagine you see or read something, but when you look again, it is a completely different word or image. That happens to me all the time. It makes me feel like I am constantly deficient in the English language.

Having a disability, I was segregated from my classmates a lot. Kids notice when you disappear for two hours a day going to speech therapy or the “special room.” My mother had to pick which classes I would miss to go to speech therapy. That disadvantaged me because then I had to spend extra time catching up.

Even in college there are affects. For example, the classmate who asks “Where were you? There was a test today.” I have to decide if I want to disclose my disability or not each time. Or if a professor sets me up to differentiate me by saying “No laptops allowed in the class,” but I have an accommodation for a laptop, which results in “Why does she get a laptop but I don't?” I feel like professors can try to force students to focus in a specific way, which then affects other students who need other ways to learn or focus.

I also have a lot of internalized ableism. Mentors often tell me to introduce myself and disclose to professors. I don't follow that. I encourage students I mentor to do that when I help them, and it is a great thing. But I am still fighting the stigma I feel, and I’m so used to masking or pretending to be normal. I am lucky to have attended a high school where a teacher recommended me to the DO-IT Scholars program, which offered me free support and technology to help with my disability and supported my transition to college.

Audience Questions

The floor was then opened up for audience members to ask questions and all participants were given the opportunity to answer.

Would you rather work with a disability service provider who then coordinates with faculty, or would you rather work directly with faculty to get your accommodations met?

As a student, I am going to talk to whomever I am most comfortable talking to.
If faculty seem friendly, I’m going to talk to them.
Sometimes faculty are more understanding than the disability office staff.
I’m weary about always having to disclose my autism; I don’t know how many stereotypes I’ll trigger by disclosing.
Whoever folks feel comfortable with. If that’s the disability office? Phenomenal. Faculty? Even better.
I had a great TA once who said “I received this letter; do you want to come to the office to talk about it?” Usually I’m the one who has to reach out and it’s exhausting.
I had a professor reach out and offer to discuss accommodations over email. That was great; I didn’t have to do the work.
I think for the faculty being proactive and reaching out to students is great. It makes me feel like I won’t waste a whole hour going to their office hours on my own initiative to talk about my accommodations.

Somebody mentioned it feels like a full‑time job having to talk to professors. What can you suggest to access advisors and disability service providers to make your lives easier?

Don’t be stingy with accommodations! There are a lot of things I’ve asked for that fit “reasonable” that I had a hard time receiving.
It’s important for access advisors to understand that a lot of students transferring from high school with IEPs are not taught how to advocate for themselves.
Provide resources that will help students prepare for their appointments with you. Especially initial appointments. Make information about your office and your services easy to find.
I would encourage you to develop a tool that students can take to their first classes, to help them talk to their faculty.
I used extended time on exams every time. But I have to submit the request to use the extended time, every time, too! Rework the system so there’s less maintenance the student has to do.
Avoid giving your new students “the starter pack”. The set of accommodations that students always get for Anxiety such as extra time on exams, copies of materials, approval to record. Do a deeper dive and listen carefully to each student. Check in with them and ask if they felt listened to.

How have you come to feel comfortable disclosing and talking about your disabilities? What else would you recommend to students and faculty to help students come to this same point?

I love who I am. I love all the pieces of me and I wouldn’t change anything about who I am. That’s a privilege for me and my experience; not everyone has my experience.
I’m fortunate to run into more people who care than people who don’t. But I can’t say I’m entirely comfortable being up here.
My advice would be to focus on the people who care and want to know. This is a safe room, full of people who care, so it’s easier.
I think students with intersecting identities have more practice at this. Students for whom disability is only one aspect of identity - we deal with others - racism, sexism, homophobia, classism. We get tired of it and start pushing back and speaking out.
Look at us - every one of us has several intersecting identities.

Is it helpful if faculty disclose their disabilities to their students?

If faculty talk about who they are at the start of class, that’s all they can do. It’s up to students to then decide when they will start advocating and fighting for themselves.
Faculty can give students comfort and even a sense of community when they disclose.

Some of you have mentioned struggling to get some of your accommodations. Do you feel like you might face a threat of retaliation if you speak out for yourself or other students?

One thing I’ve found helpful is knowing my rights. There is legislation that protects us. I had to fight a lot for many accommodations and I was willing to be audacious in pushing. I was willing to scare them and talk about lawsuits. So teach other students their rights.
I appreciate you asking this question - looking at the audience in this room, a lot of people seem surprised, even horrified that there are students who have to fight so hard to get some accommodations and still don’t get what they need.
If the official channel isn’t working, we have other options, if we’re willing to be activists.