DO-IT News September 2016: All Articles

This summer, DO-IT Japan celebrated its 10th anniversary. Over 700 people attended the symposium in August 2016.

DO-IT Japan began the same year that Japan signed the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This year, ten years later, Japan enacted an anti-discrimination law, the Act on the Elimination of Disability Discrimination (AEDD). “In this decade so far, we have tried to make fair educational environments for students with disabilities along with the development of the human rights system. In the next decade ahead, based on the fair educational opportunities, DO-IT Japan plans on cultivating Scholars as leaders who can produce new values in Japanese and global society,” said Takeo Kondo, director of DO-IT Japan.

Similar to the DO-IT Scholars program in Washington State, DO-IT Japan conducts Summer Study sessions, provides mentoring, and otherwise supports students with disabilities as they pursue college and careers. To learn more about DO-IT Japan, visit their website at doit-japan.org/2016/.

DO-IT Director Sheryl Burgstahler congratulated the DO-IT Scholars in Japan by sending a video message, which can be viewed at www.youtube.com/watch?v=n60Im18300k&feature=youtu.be. In the video, she encouraged the Scholars to work hard, be flexible, and use resources. Finally, she challenged them to give back and apply what they have learned from DO-IT to help others along the way and make their society more inclusive of everyone—just like we expect of the DO-IT Scholars in the US.

Last month hundreds of thousands of people filled bookstores around the world to get their hands on a copy of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Cursed Child is a new play based on the beloved characters of the original Harry Potter series and their children, but set 19 years later. Due partly by the fact that so many fans are not able to travel to the UK to see the play live, the script was published so a wider audience could experience the story. Considering that over 400 million copies of the original series have already been sold worldwide, there has been a tremendous cultural impact on children and adults alike.

With no shortage of copies available, one wouldn’t suspect an issue with getting to enjoy the story. The truth is though, that there is an entire population that has been left out of the excitement and release of Cursed Child. For people with disabilities there are barriers to accessing the media that are often afterthoughts for content creators and publishers.

In my last article I wrote about the Netflix original series, “Daredevil” (www.uw.edu/doit/disability-media-daredevil-and-accessibility-issues) and the lack of captions and audio description available despite the main character having a disability. To continue this trend, I know of no plans at the moment to release an audiobook format of Cursed Child, which may be due to it being in script form. An audiobook would likely feature voice actors, and this could be a conflict with the live version and affect ticket sales.

There has been, however, some exciting news released in July. W. F. Howes, a major publisher of audiobooks in the UK, will be publishing Cursed Child as the first ever dyslexic readers’ edition. This edition is currently for preorder and will feature large print, sans-serif font, thicker paper, and wider margins. I hope this can lead the way for future accessible versions of books, new releases in particular, to include other forms of access to people with disabilities.

As someone who identifies as a nerd and lover of many forms of media, there is something special about being a part of the excitement of something new like a book or a movie. If someone has to wait for an accessible version, they are excluded from that. Watching the Super Bowl live feels better than watching it a week, month, or even years later. Being a spectator can take many forms and is a special experience. It’s the sense of community and inclusiveness that makes our culture a more welcoming place for people with disabilities. We all deserve the right to consume media and have fun, but sometimes groups of people can slip through the cracks.

In addition to Cursed Child, all seven of the previous Harry Potter titles are available from Royal National Institute of Blind People’s (RNIB) Library in braille, large print, and talking book. The talking books (which is read word for word by someone they hired) are provided exclusively to RNIB. This likely means they are only available to those in the UK. Other formats are available for purchase in their online store.

For more information and links to the accessible editions from RNIB, visit www.rnib.org.uk/harry-potter.

For more information on the dyslexic reader’s edition, see www.wfhowes.co.uk/news/announcements/w--f--howes-to-publish-eighth-harry-potter-story-as-first-ever-dyslexic-readers--edition.

As part of the AccessCSForAll project that aims to increase the participation of students with disabilities in K-12 computing projects, Andreas Stefik continues to improve the Quorum programming language. Quorum is an evidence-based programming language that is accessible to users with a wide variety of disabilities, including individuals who are blind or low vision.

In July 2016, Quorum 4.0 was released. Two significant new features include support for 3D gaming and mobile devices. In addition, improvements were made to the development environment and existing libraries.

Learn more about Quorum at www.quorumlanguage.com/. Try your hand at programming with the Quorum Hour of Code tutorial at www.quorumlanguage.com/documents/hourofcode/part1.php.

Z: Maya Angelou once said, “I learned a long time ago the wisest thing I can do is be on my own side, be an advocate for myself and others like me.” Self-advocacy is such an important skill to have, especially in college. During my high school freshman year, I wasn’t as prepared as I had thought. I had difficulties speaking up for myself, because I felt personally embarrassed being dependent on other people. It was difficult to ask people for what I needed. Being at the DO-IT program changed my mindset. I felt more comfortable advocating for myself because I was not alone. It became clear that I needed to stop depending on my one-on-one aid at school and instead advocate for me. I now know that I have rights that I shouldn’t be ashamed about. It has taken me a lot of time and practice to become a skilled advocate for myself.

Jon: Self-advocacy is used in everyday life, no matter if the person is disabled or not. Self-advocacy allows people to be more independent with their lives. During my time with DO-IT, I’ve seen more people with disabilities do almost anything. I even use self-advocacy in my life. Self-advocacy leads to independence.

Phase II Scholars return to the UW Seattle campus for their second Summer Study. They meet the Phase I Scholars, learn about college life and career preparation, and participate in a one-week workshop with postsecondary instructors.

This summer, I was a member of the Center for Neurotechnology (CNT) Young Scholars Program (YSP). The program offers research experience in neural engineering as well as education in scientific skills. Topics such as neural ethics and scientific communication are also covered. I was lucky enough to be one of nine high school students selected to participate in this program. I worked in Dr. Chet Moritz’s lab at the University of Washington Medical Center along with two other high school students and two undergraduate students.

Every Tuesday morning, all of the summer interns had a weekly communication class lead by Dr. Lise Johnson. The classes focused on the skills needed to be successful in a scientific field. I found the classes to be very valuable because even though in my high school science classes we would write plenty of lab reports, I was never shown how those skills would translate into a real-world application. All of the work in this class was geared towards preparing for the research talk I would have to present at the end of the program.

We also attended study sessions led by our coordinator, Nona Clifton, where all of the high school students could meet, talk about what we learned, and clear up any questions that we had for class that morning. I was thankful for the support I was given in the study session, because a number of my classmates and fellows interns were students from prestigious schools, such as MIT. Working with Nona and my fellow YSP’s helped me keep up with the rigor of the classes and my research work within in the lab.

On Thursday mornings, we attended seminars on a variety of topics in the field of neural engineering such as industry, neuroethics, human and animal research, and impostor syndrome. Most of the topics I knew a little bit about from school, but it was extremely interesting to learn from experts in the neural engineering field. On top of these seminars, the CNT held a number of round table discussions, the highlight of which was the end-user round table. I was able to meet users of neural technology and learn how technology impacted their lives. From these discussions I could see how important the field of research is, as I was exposed to how much potential neural engineering holds in improving the lives of people with disabilities.

Prior to this summer I had minimal experience with neural engineering and engineering in general, which caused me to have a very steep learning curve. Luckily, my mentor, Ivana, was very supportive and urged me to learn AutoCAD. After watching YouTube tutorials for a week, I learned how to use AutoCAD and made two products that I am now very proud of. Working with Ivana showed me how beneficial it can be to work as a team. Both of us had different skills sets, but when we worked together we were able to accomplish more than we expected in less than nine weeks. In the short time that we had together, we were able to make two devices with AutoCAD, test what we made on nine people, and get significant data. I am very happy to have had such an amazing experience at the CNT this summer and I look forward to using all that I have learned in the future.

About a year ago, I attended a seminar in Tokyo and heard about DO-IT Japan and the original DO-IT Center in the United States. DO-IT, as a project that provides various opportunities for students with disabilities and promotes independence, education, and technology use, was a great place for me to visit to further my research on the topic of disability.

I first interviewed Sheryl, DO-IT founder, who was originally interested in how assistive technology could support people with disabilities to expand their abilities in education, workplace, and daily life. She wanted to reduce the gap between people with and without disabilities by utilizing her knowledge, experience as a teacher, and IT. In her work as a K-12 teacher and later at the university level, Sheryl saw the differences between the levels of education and support given—from IEP and 504 plans where students were given all of their accommodations to a college-level environment where students had to advocate for themselves.

Sheryl was often told “Students with disabilities are not prepared enough to come and study in college.” This usually has less to do with their actual academic ability than their advocacy skills, inadequate accommodations, and inaccessible environments. In seeing this gap in these issues, Sheryl started DO‑IT to support students with disabilities to transition smoothly from high school to postsecondary education and careers.

The DO-IT Scholars program allows high school students with disabilities to get a real college experience on campus for two years. The students managing their meal card budgets, practice communicating with faculty, learn about accessible technology, and gain a plethora of other skills necessary for postsecondary education. “What DO‑IT does is facilitating and trying to create an environment where these positive things happen. Leadership skills don’t just develop suddenly. Through these various experiences, people learn how to advocate and feel confident. I want to raise future leaders from DO-IT,” Sheryl said.

One of my favorite activities during the DO-IT Scholars program was a dance party. Although this may not be a crucial skill for attending college, DO-IT wants to provide more opportunities to students who may have avoided dances at their own schools. DO-IT understands that the opportunity to develop these social skills and experiences is also very important to growing up and furthering one’s education and career.

While in Seattle, I also attended a DO-IT pizza party, where DO-IT participants get together, catch up, and network about their schools and careers. DO-IT also invited parents to come to discuss and share their worries and gain information on how to best help their children. Many of the participants and parents have helped the students get into career fields or further explore their interests.

“We want to give college-bound students with disabilities the resources and skills they need to succeed at the college and career of their choice,” Sheryl said. This has inspired me even more to fight for people with disabilities. No matter what kind of disability, each person has abilities and can develop those abilities. However, it really depends on the community—if people with disabilities have opportunities to challenge themselves, they can grow.

All the students and parents I have met at DO-IT were very happy because they can see a bright future. I would love to create a society where many people with disabilities can live actively and utilize their ability for what they love, like students who joined the DO-IT Scholars program.

To read Mizuki’s article in full, visit her blog at moonrider7.com/en/.

In DO-IT’s online publication, Universal Design in Higher Education: Promising Practices, practitioners share promising practices related to the application of universal design in postsecondary education settings. This collection of promising practices complements the more general content in the printed book, Universal Design in Higher Education: From Principles to Practice, which recently published a second edition under Harvard Education Press (hepg.org/hep-home/books/universal-design-in-higher-education).

This complementary publication is available freely online at www.washington.edu/doit/resources/books/universal-design-higher-education-promising-practices. It can be freely copied and distributed as a book or in part for noncommercial, educational purposes. The collection will continue to grow as more articles are submitted.

Articles may be submitted at any time to udhecop@uw.edu. Submitted articles should include specific ways practitioners and researchers have applied universal design in postsecondary settings along with evidence of success. They are peer-reviewed by members of the Universal Design in Higher Education Community of Practice (udhecop@uw.edu), and if accepted, edited by DO‑IT. Articles selected for the online resource are freely available on our website. Authors must agree to these conditions while retaining copyrights to their individual contributions. For author guidelines, consult the preface of the book at www.uw.edu/doit/universal-design-higher-education-promising-practices.

In the Phase II Neurobiology lab, the Scholars focused on how drugs affected a mouse heart and the reaction cockroach leg spines had to different forms of stimulation. The Scholars involved in this lab were Jonah, Brookelyn, Aspen, Grady, and Chana. They gave embryonic mouse hearts caffeine and Sudafed. Both of these substances were meant to increase heart rate. The goal was to see which substance excited the heart more. The Scholars also bent the cockroach leg spines in different directions and even played music in an effort to see how the musical vibrations would affect the nerve reactions.

The Scholars learned a great deal in a week. Katelyn said she “learned about how electricity flows in the neurons.” Jonah learned that “each neuron has a different amplitude, which is the height of the wave that represented the reaction of the nerves.” Chana thought that she “learned a lot about axons and how they work.” The Scholars enjoyed the lab. According to Jonah, “[They] had great teachers.” The names of these teachers were Marti, Lauren, Comron, Kelly, Josh, Chris, and Curtis. The interns involved assisted by asking questions and moving the Scholars’ thoughts along.