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Diagnosing Education Access and Accommodations.

Francis Routledge, graduate of the University of Toronto’s Rehabilitation Sciences Institute.

Dr. Yani Hamdani, University of Toronto.

Desiring Autism and Neurodivergence Symposium 2024.

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Presentation overview.

4. Discussion (10 minutes).

3. Where we are going.

2. What we learned.

1. Where we started.

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Where we started.

Book chapter.

Chapter Title: Diagnosing education access and accommodations.

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Chapter Objective: This chapter will examine how ableism is (re)produced through post-secondary education accessibility practices and the consequences for Autistic students.

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Background

    • Underpinned by biomedical thinking and the social model of disability.
    • Medical documentation and clinical diagnoses required for formal accommodations made by specific clinicians (examples: medical doctor or nurse practitioners).
    • Diagnostic consequences on citizenship and gender affirming care, and potential impact on future life events (parenthood, divorce).

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Approach

    • Scan of Canadian post-secondary education accommodations and accessibility services websites.

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Examples of how disability, accommodations, and access are discussed and represented in texts of Canadian post-secondary institutions’ accommodations and accessibility services.

“The Centre for Accessibility facilitates disability-related accommodations and programming initiatives designed to remove barriers for students with disabilities and ongoing medical conditions in all aspects of university life.”

University of British Columbia: “Centre for Accesssibility”

“Reasonable accommodations for students who experience barriers to their education on the basis of a prohibited ground(s), including disability, religion, family status and gender identity.”

University of Saskatchewan: “Access and Equity Services”

Where we started.

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Thoughts and questions from our discussions:

    • Key insights:
      • Students must fit into the way post-secondary education ‘works’
      • Emphasis on medical and social models of disability

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    • Redirection in chapter focus:
      • The current chapter direction doesn’t focus on Autistic students who receive a clinical diagnosis before entering post-secondary education
      • Why focus on diagnosis-as-entry into accommodations and accessibility services?

What we learned.

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Turning to critical education.

What we learned.

    • Change in our approach from unpacking why people don’t “fit into” the academy through accommodations
    • Shift from foregrounding disability to foregrounding ableism
    • How is ableism reflected, produced, and reproduced by accommodations and accessibility services in Canadian post-secondary institutions?

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Where we are going.

    • Reconceptualizing academic practice: Rethinking accommodations services as ableist practice.
    • How do we (re)imagine accommodations in a way that desires Autism?
    • How is access (re)imagined in different learning contexts?
    • What would neuro-inclusive or neuro-affirming education practices look like?

Chapter development.

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Discussion.

How do we (re)imagine accommodations in a way that desires Autism?

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How is access (re)imagined in different learning contexts?

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Thank you.

Francis: francis.routledge@mail.utoronto.ca

Yani: y.hamdani@utoronto.ca

Contact us

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References.

Kamperman, S. (2020). Academic ableism and students with intellectual/developmental disabilities: Rethinking self-advocacy as an anti-ableist practice. Critical Education, 11(17), 21- 38. Retrieved from: http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/criticaled/article/view/186501

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Singer, S., & Bacon, J. (2020). Ableism in the academy: A series about disability oppression and resistance in higher education. Critical Education, 11(14), 1-13. Retrieved from: http://ojs.library.ubc.ca/index.php/criticaled/article/view/186616

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University of British Columbia. (n.d.). Centre for Accessibility. Retrieved June 8, 2024, from https://students.ubc.ca/about-student-services/centre-for-accessibility

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University of Saskatchewan. (n.d.). Access and Equity Services. Retrieved June 8, 2024, from https://students.usask.ca/health/centres/access-equity-services.php

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