Creating University Policies to Protect Disabled, Neurodivergent and/or Mad Health Trainees, Ensure Equal Opportunities, and Effectively Resolve Conflicts

Essay Seven of Ten in the “Mad at/in Public Health Education” Essay Collection

Note: This essay is composed mostly of writings from September 2022 to March 2024. This essay and the ones before and after describe some of the structural and policy changes that need to occur at the NIH / AHRQ levels (Essay Six), university (this essay), and PhD and fellowship program (Essay Eight) levels to prevent disabled, neurodivergent, and mad trainees from having the experiences I had as an AHRQ T32 fellow at the University of Washington School of Public Health.

Introduction

In addition to the policy changes at the federal level introduced in the previous essay, universities have a role to play in addressing structural and institutional ableism. This essay presents a series of policy changes that universities/colleges can adopt to support disabled, neurodivergent, and mad trainees. Before reading this essay, it is suggested that you read the introduction and recommendations from the previous essay.

6 Policy Changes to Address Structural and Institutional Ableism at the University Level

1. Provide Trainings to Program Leadership and Staff and Course Instructors About Their Responsibilities In Regards to Correctly Implementing Disability Accommodations

Course instructors and universities have a responsibility to effectively implement accommodations to create equal learning opportunities for disabled students, under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Universities typically have centralized offices for coordinating disability accommodations. Instructors, however, often have little training regarding how to effectively implement the accommodations that these offices grant for students. To address this need, universities should develop trainings for instructors (and training program leadership / staff) regarding effective implementation of the most common disability accommodations, how to get support when needed, and how to speak to students about their accommodations in an appropriate way. Such trainings will likely be well-received by instructors, who are often unsure how to handle these issues.

2. Provide Technological Trainings to All Teaching Instructors and Teaching Assistants Regarding Effective Hybrid Learning

As described in the previous essay at the federal level, universities should organize universal design trainings for instructors, with a particular focus on creating accessible hybrid learning environments. While video-conferencing presents an opportunity to increase educational access, without training and tech support, instructors are often not able to provide high-quality hybrid learning experiences or record their classes effectively. Universities should develop trainings offered to all instructors about hybrid learning, a training that will benefit all students, not just disabled students.

3. Develop and Implement School-Wide Anti-Ableism Training

To better understand the importance of disability accommodations and universal design, instructors should be required to complete anti-ableism training that provides an overview of the challenges that disabled students face in education and health training. Such training would ideally touch on intersectionality (how ableism and systems like racism operate together) and provide an introduction to universal design principles. Students could be involved or consulted in the development of these trainings to make it as relevant as possible to the institution / context.

4. Maintain a Centralized Website Explaining Formal and Informal Processes for Resolving Disability/Ableism-Related Conflicts

It is important that universities maintain a centralized resource page for resources for disabled students that is accessible and makes clear how disabled students should resolve conflicts. This could include advice on how to informally resolve conflicts along with a presentation of the various formal mechanisms disabled students can use to resolve concerns. This website would also ideally include point people (instructors and students) who are disabled and who students can reach out to if they need support.

5. Present Information to Students Prior to Arriving to the University About How to File for Disability Accommodations; Include Presentations About Accommodations in Orientations

Filing and receiving disability accommodations is typically a weeks or months-long process and often requires that students get paperwork from their health care providers. Universities should reach out to students well in advance of beginning their training to provide them with information about the process and the expected timeline. It is also important that universities provide content about disability accommodations in their orientations as students may miss an email / letter or not realize that they need / are eligible for accommodations without a longer explanation.

6. Collect Data on Disabled, Neurodivergent, and Mad Student Self-Identification and Monitor Retention of Students

One of the most important roles the university has in improving the training experiences of disabled, neurodivergent, and mad trainees is in collecting data and monitoring their experiences. For example, universities should monitor attrition of disabled students across programs. They should collect data with sufficient detail on self-identified disability that they can take meaningful responsive action. For example, attrition by students with low vision may point to very different problems with a school’s learning environments than attrition by students with physical disability. Ideally, universities would survey all trainees at least once a year on their experiences, including with accessibility, to monitor these issues.

Footnotes:

Short Link for Sharing This Essay

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The Next Essay

The eighth essay in this series is entitled “Building Public Health and Health Science PhD and Fellowship Programs that Effectively Support Disabled, Neurodivergent and/or Mad Health Trainees to Enter the Health Workforce.” There are 10 essays in this collection, covering distinct issues that are timely for exploration in public health education.

Essay Collection Goal

My purpose in launching this essay collection is to explore issues of access in public health and health care education for mad, disabled, and/or neurodivergent students and ideas to spur change in praxis and improve the experiences of students, staff, and faculty in these fields. I hope these essays will be generative, so I do hope folks will read, share, and discuss!

Essay Collection Disclaimer

All content expressed in this essay collection reflects my own views, perspectives and experiences and is not intended to reflect anyone else’s. Additionally, when discussing my own experiences, these essays solely reflect my own perceptions and memories of them.

About the Author

Read more about Dielle here.

“Creating University Policies to Protect Disabled, Neurodivergent and/or Mad Health Trainees, Ensure Equal Opportunities, and Effectively Resolve Conflicts”–Essay Seven of Ten in the Mad at/in Public Health Education Essay Collection