1. Being a Progressive Disability Services Professional
Identifying Ways to Lead Your Campus Toward Proactive & Sustainable Access
Dr. Amanda Kraus

2. What is “progressive” practice in Disability Services?
Values-driven
Proactive versus reactive
Sustainable versus consumable
Collaborative versus siloh-ed

3. Operationalizing our values - Where and how do we situate the work?
Disability Studies
Universal Design
Social Justice
Operationalizing our values - Where and how do we situate the work?

4. Disability Studies Prevalent Re-framed
Due to a physiological difference, diagnosis, injury or impairment, individual is at a deficit, must be cured or pitied.
The environment disables people with impairments by its design.
The individual is the problem.
The environment is the problem.
Disabled by impairment.
Disabled by design.
Fear, separate, less-than.
Access is a right, not a special need.
What is disability

5. Make the shift!
The environment disables people with impairments by it’s design.
Your office serves the designers - faculty, administrators, policymakers, not students or disabled individuals.

6. A Social Justice Approach
Access and equity are not special needs.
Include disability when talking about other minority or subordinated groups – committees, events, programming…
Be aware of power and privilege dynamics when building relationships with the disability community and constituents.

7. Universal Design Anticipate difference Identify and remove barriers
Reduce or eliminate accommodations
More welcoming and inclusive
The design of products or environments to be usable by the most people to the greatest extend possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design.

8. Accessible ≠ Equitable
How do you dialogue about accessibility versus equity?

9. How to talk about Universal Design
Good design is a process
Welcoming environment
Works better for everyone
Reduces the need to “disclose,” or “request”
More sustainable
Shared, equitable experiences
More efficient

10. How do we apply these ideas in practice?

11. We should lead our colleagues to understand a progressive concept of disability and campus access.
We represent disabled students as qualified and valuable, not needy and burdensome.
We set the tone.

12. What do you hear on your campuses with respect to disabled students?

13. Ways to show leadership in (or redirect) conversation
Where do we locate the “problem”?
What is an institutional responsibility and what is an individual, or student, responsibility?
How do we ensure that disabled students have a similar, if not identical, experience to that of their disabled peers?

14. Reflect on your process for accommodations… who bears the responsibility

15. Professional Language
Use language that reflects our values in conversation, on websites, in s, in passing…
Job titles
Website
Administrative processes
Formal and informal communication

16. Talking about the Inaccessible Exam
Disempowering
Progressive
The student needs more time…
Because of her disability, she...
We must accommodate the student...
Impact:
Student is needy...
Accommodations are a nice thing to do...
Student should develop better strategies...
The exam is inaccessible…
Because of the design of the exam...
We must accommodate design of exam...
Impact:
Design of the exam is problematic...
Creating an equitable experience is the right thing to do...
More students will benefit if we redesign...

17. Make strategic connections
How an we address access systemically?
Intentionally connect with colleagues:
Campus Master Plan
General Counsel
RFP
Senior Diversity Officer
Diversity Committees
Faculty-Senate
University Service
Dean of Students

18. Who do you collaborate with on campus to achieve accessibility?
Any surprise connections? How did you develop this relationship? How do you cultivate?

19. Be a leader and a resource
Offer trainings
Volunteer for committees and service
Speak with authority and fluency
The disability perspective is valuable and good access impacts everyone!

20. Finally, commit to ongoing reflection
Ask for feedback
Check yourselves and your colleagues
Re-read accommodations letter, s, websites, etc.
Seek professional development

21. Share What are some barriers to progressive practice?
What are some examples of progressive practice?

22. Elevator Speech
You are in an elevator with a University administrator and they ask what you do. How would a progressive professional respond?

23. Action Items *With limited people power
Short Term
Long(er) Term
Review website for language
Assess job titles
Identify 1 connection to make on campus
Take 1 colleague to lunch
Identify a committee on which to serve
Reflect on fluency
Changes systems or processes to emphasize accessibility and UD
Develop trainings or educational resources