Advancing Equity and Inclusion for Deaf Students in Higher Education A Lore Kinast, Director of Strategic Support Kate Lewandowski, Accessibility Resources Coordinator
“ “Host a social gathering for Deaf people and signers. ASL club is hearing-populated and does not center their club on deaf culture or language. I feel isolated as a Deaf person of color on campus despite knowing Deaf people are on campus but unable to contact or reach out to them.”
Deaf Student Feedback Understand that auto captioning is not accessibility. Be more accountable for professors who do not adhere to accommodations. They complicate the accommodations process for deaf students who have additional disabilities. Disability resource office needs major education and training for Deaf students. Their empathy & understanding are severely lacking.
“Lack of ASL interpreter and captions at events or anything outside of the classroom. I cannot just do things. I cannot at the spur of the moment decide to go to an event. I always have to set up access beforehand and often people are hostile or annoyed or have no idea how to set up access. It is isolating.” Participate in Campus Activities
Learn. Connect. Transform. Our mission is to share information, networks, and strategies to improve continuing education and training for deaf people. nationaldeafcenter.org
Matriculation and retention of deaf students on campus improve when they can participate in: networking opportunities, campus resources, and extracurricular activities.
Centering Students in Systems Transformation STRUCTURES Systems Coherence RELATIONSHIPS Relational Capacity ATTITUDES Equity Mindset Kania et al., 2018
Common Barriers STRUCTURES ● Inconsistent service delivery ● Absence of clear policies regarding service use RELATIONSHIPS ● Lack of awareness & training ATTITUDES ● Inaccessible interactive process ● Lack of clear leadership and dismissal of proactive accessible policies & practices ** LACK OF CENTRALIZED SYSTEMS ● Budget
Systemic Change: Systems Coherence 1. Explore centralized systems for accessibility 2. Provide campus-wide training and awareness of accommodations practices 3. Be consistent and transparent with communications about policies/practices 4. Implement person-centered and evidence- based practices (academic, service, and extracurricular settings)
Meeting institutional legal responsibilities for ensuring accessibility across programs and activities should not be the floor - it should be the ceiling.
Systemic Change: Relational Capacity 1. Provide space for engagement (trainings, feedback collection) 2. Increase cross-agency collaborations 3. Include and defer to deaf people in decision making (committees, programs, policies)
Support accessibility on campus by establishing interdepartmental relationships with faculty, staff, and students. Actively include deaf people on campus committees.
Improving outcomes for deaf students (including students of color, deafdisabled, deafblind, and LGBTQIA+) starts with leadership and campus personnel who believe that systems need to be changed, not deaf people.
Thank You! nationaldeafcenter.org Disability Services Professionals Portal: nationaldeafcenter.org/dss/ Contact Us at: [email protected] NDC is a technical assistance and dissemination center funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs #H326D210002.
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