Talking Stick - July/August 2017 - 60

Talking Stick: This topic has always
been important, but why is it important
in today's world?
For two primary reasons attention on
the part of higher education to students
with disabilities has become more important in today's world. The first is that
our understandings of access and inclusion - and our acceptance of a social
justice approach - have increased, and,
with that, our collective willingness to
begin to address these issues. While
we still have far to go, higher education
institutions increasingly recognize the
value of diversity within their student

An attendee gets into the spirit of the event at Syracuse
University's "Cripping" the Comic Con which is their
symposium on disability and popular culture with a
focus on comics.

ability rights legislation, better health
care, and community built via social
media have led to more, and more empowered, students with disabilities entering higher education, aware of their
right to be there and better equipped to
advocate for the ability to learn in environments that support their success.
Students with disabilities are pushing
us as higher education professionals
and institutions to work more effectively for all students, in all the ways they
learn, communicate, think, feel, move,
and function on our campuses.
Talking Stick: Why are earlier ways
inadequate?
Earlier ways primarily viewed disability as a problem or limitation and the
person as a charity cause or individual
to be pitied. Historically, prejudice and
discrimination against people with disabilities was not viewed as problematic.
In many respects, people with disabilities were excluded from education and
dehumanized. With the advent of the
civil rights and disability rights movements, mainstream American culture
often perceived disability to be a legal
issue. Although an improvement, simply conforming to the letter of the law
does not address issues of inclusion,
diversity, or social justice.
Talking Stick: How has assisting
students with disabilities on campus
grown over the years?

PHOtO By DisaBility CultuRal CenteR at syRaCuse uniVeRsity

body (and to some extent, in their staff
and faculty), recognize that existing
campus climates are less than supportive of the success of nontraditional
students, and are beginning to identify
and address barriers on campus.
The second reason that disability has
heightened attention today is that dis60

talking stiCk

The first students with disabilities to
enroll in college were graduates of
K-12 schools established in the early
1800s to educate d/Deaf and blind
children. While few of these graduates went on to attend college, the few
who did had to negotiate the college
environment without specialized assistance from the institutions. The difficulty of succeeding in these settings
led the d/Deaf community in the U.S.
to advocate for the establishment of a
college designed specifically for d/Deaf
students. Their efforts led to the establishment of Gallaudet College in 1864.
Blind individuals also lobbied for a
similar college but were unsuccessful.

As a result, the number of blind college graduates remained low. Because
of societal perceptions of physically
disabled people as weak, helpless, and
unintelligent, very few were provided
any type of education, let alone higher
education.
The first significant numbers of
individuals with disabilities entered
college after World War II. Most were
war veterans who were eligible for
educational benefits through the Vocational Rehabilitation Amendments
of 1943 and the G.I. Bill of 1944.
Since many veterans who came back
from the war with serious physical
disabilities wished to take advantage
of these educational opportunities,
they pushed colleges and universities
to make their campuses accessible.
Early leaders in this initiative - both of
them disabled veterans - included Tim
Nugent at the University of Illinois
and, later, Ed Roberts at the University
of California, Berkeley. In the 1950s
and 1960s, other universities followed
by altering their physical plants and
establishing offices to serve students
with disabilities. These students were
mostly mobility impaired: war veterans
and polio survivors. Campus modifications were therefore mostly physical in nature: curb cuts, ramps, and
modified housing units. Many colleges
continued to exclude students with
disabilities, however, since faculty and
administrators failed to see the merits
of educating severely disabled students
who were unlikely to succeed academically or find employment after college.
The disability rights movement
of the 1970s, and the legal initiatives
that followed, expanded opportunities
for students with all types of disabilities to attend college. The disability
rights movement raised awareness of
the rights of all people to equity and
fairness and encouraged people with
disabilities to fight for full citizenship
and self-determination. The parents'
movement for integrated education
that would enable their children to
attend college resulted in passage of
the Education for All Handicapped

Talking Stick - July/August 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Talking Stick - July/August 2017