HIDC: High Incidence Disabilities in Higher Education Conference

This is a session description.

This is a session description.

Young people today are facing enormous challenges. The environment, the economy, political polarization and global conflict are all weighing heavily on their minds. Parents are struggling over how to support their youth. Social media and online platforms are ubiquitous but may be causing more harm than good. What can educators do to help young adults cope with their many stressors and thrive?

Learn about Algonquin College’s Creative Collisions project, a partnership between the Centre for Accessible Learning with the DARE Makerspace. Students use art and technology tools to enable creative expression and skill development across abilities while promoting mental health and a sense of belonging. Activities include access to tools like 3D printers, vinyl cutters and laser cutters; student-led workshops on cultural ways of creating (e.g. henna); educational sessions e.g. discussing mental health strategies while engaging in art creation; and a multidisciplinary art show as a culmination of the project. Knowledge sharing in this session will include participation in creative activities.

The diagnosis of ADHD in post-secondary students has been increasingly identified over the past few years. This talk discussed the challenges ADHD students experience in the post-secondary setting and how the purpose of accommodations differ from earlier learning environments. Documentation guidelines for accommodations in a post-secondary setting are discussed and a documentation checklist shared for use by students seeking ADHD assessments and their health care providers. Accommodations for students with ADHD in the post-secondary setting including, undergraduate, graduate and professional studies will be discussed in light of the impacts individuals with ADHD experience in the academic setting. Tools and skill building as essential components of addressing the functional impacts of ADHD in post-secondary settings will be explored.

Students who have disabilities affecting their access to post-secondary education require reasonable accommodation. To determine functional impairment, accessibility support staff use documentation from professionals and information from students. However, there's a scarcity of research on effective accommodations, causing inconsistencies in recommendations by practitioners and in the accommodation and support decisions made by institutions. To address this, RARC has developed a practical accommodation decision-making tool. This session introduces attendees to the tool, demonstrates its use, and emphasizes its role in accommodation discussions. Attendees will also gain access to the tool for their daily practice.

Neurodiversity describes the diverse ways learners experience and engage with the world. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework focused on creating classroom environments that are accessible and inclusive of different cognitive styles. Landmark College, the first university to create a higher learning model for students with learning differences such as ADHD, autism, executive function challenges, dyslexia, and other language-based learning disabilities, has built a foundational experience based upon the UDL guidelines. Hear about this unique living-learning model from a Landmark College faculty member and staff, and from a remote panel of Landmark students, who will share their strategies in the classroom, work environments, and within social relationships.

The Ontario Human Rights Code requires students with disabilities be provided accommodations. A reasonable accommodation is one that serves to remove or ameliorate any barriers caused by a student’s functional impairment thereby allowing for equal opportunity to participate. Research into accommodations for students with MIs is in its infancy and offers limited direction as to effective and equitable accommodations for this heterogeneous group of students. This presentation will provide the results of an Ontario study that examined the instructional and test accommodations most frequently assigned to students with mental illnesses. The frequency of use of the accommodations will also be presented. These findings will then be evaluated for equity and effectiveness against the existing literature on academic accommodations for students with mental illnesses.

Discover EYES-ON-PSE, a customizable online post-secondary preparation course. Join us to learn about this program and hear success stories from Ontario institutions who have been using this course over the past 2 years. Additionally, we will delve into the Transition Resource Guide's wealth of content and showcase its built-in online modules: TRG Next. Gain hands-on access to ready-to-use courses, tailored to meet your school's unique needs, and hear insights from our successful EYES-ON-PSE school partners.

Despite low workforce representation, neurodiverse students are a growing population in Canadian post-secondary institutions (PSIs). While Canadian PSIs have identified Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) as a concerted focus for creating responsive, safe, and equitable learning environments, neurodiversity, is still poorly understood and represented in EDI policies and practices in PSE. Despite mandates for PSIs to be inclusive of all learners, neurodiverse students face extensive barriers to completing their post-secondary education (PSE) and are less likely to graduate than their neurotypical peers. Emerging research shows that neurodivergent students face intersecting systemic and institutional barriers to enrolling and completing PSE. Previous research has focused on specific neurodivergent diagnoses, such as ASD, ADHD, or mental health, in PSE, rather than neurodiversity broadly. Additionally, there has yet to be published research investigating how Canadian PSIs are responding to the needs of neurodiverse students, and engaging with questions, challenges, and the implementation of neurodiversity-inclusive practices and policies. The Conference Board of Canada is currently investigating neurodiversity-inclusive practices and policies at PSIs across Canada, and reporting on preliminary findings from a mixed methods study capturing data from student disability services and current students across Canada. This presentation will present data and preliminary findings on: o

A Google search of the phrase ‘what is mindfulness’ will likely return Jon Kabat-Zinn's classic definition which begins: mindfulness is the awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose. A Google search of the benefits of mindfulness will return a long list that includes, for example, better stress management, reduced anxiety, and a greater sense of well-being. Looking at the definition and the benefits, it is not immediately obvious how these are related.

Turning to the neuroscience is helpful. An understanding of the brain’s attentional mechanisms that are affected by specific mindfulness practices, as well as an understanding of the brain systems involved in mental wellness, clarify the relation between ‘paying attention, on purpose’ and the impact on one’s sense of well-being.

This workshop will explore:
i) how mindfulness, or paying attention, has a positive impact on the brain’s attentional systems;
ii) how distraction, or the lack of attention, negatively impacts on mental health;
and, iii) how simple mindfulness and meditation practices can be taught to clients as ‘mental training exercises’ to increase mental wellness.

Healed Enough is Susan’s story, she writes, sings and talks candidly about recovering (enough) from her own abuse, about stumbling into her
celebrity, about re-connecting with her Inuit heritage and the choices to use all of this to become Healed Enough.

In this introductory workshop, participants will examine cultural issues in a clinical and service-based context and will understand the concepts of cultural competence and cultural humility. Further, attendees will engage self-reflective processes and experiential exercises.

This session delves into the intricate interplay between disability, accessibility, and colonialism within the context of Indigenous experiences. With a focus on the cultural constructions of disability, we aim to illuminate the complex web of factors that influence the lives of Indigenous individuals with disabilities. Drawing from Indigenous perspectives and narratives, this presentation navigates the historical and contemporary implications of colonialism on disability experiences. It critically examines how colonial legacies continue to shape perceptions of disability, hinder access to resources and support, and create unique challenges for Indigenous communities.

This session offers a scholarly exploration of these vital themes, encouraging participants to question conventional narratives, engage in meaningful dialogue, and discover new pathways for supporting Indigenous students with disabilities. Ultimately, it contributes to a deeper understanding of Indigenous experiences within the ever-evolving landscape of disability supports and higher education.

Consulting students with disabilities about the barriers they face in post-secondary settings is a necessary step towards making these institutions fully accessible. As stated in the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s Policy on accessible education for students with disabilities, “to make sure that education environments are free from social phenomena widely recognized as discriminatory… education providers should collect statistical information to monitor, identify, prevent and ameliorate systemic and adverse discrimination”. As such, education providers must take steps towards collecting this data in order to meet their obligations under the Ontario Human Rights Code. One way to collect this data is through surveying students who are registered with Disability Services Offices (DSOs). These surveys could provide institutions with rich data on the experiences of students with disabilities as they transition into, through, and out of educational programs. These surveys have the potential to identify barriers that educator providers themselves may not be able to detect and may also provide creative solutions to meet the diverse needs of students. This presentation will share results from surveys conducted by Accessibility Services at the University of Toronto, St. George between 2019-2022. Examples of different topics that education providers could focus on through similar surveys will be provided. These topics may include demographic data, experiences registering with DSOs, use of academic accommodations, community and sense of belonging, satisfaction with supports, engaging with resources, and more. This presentation will also provide examples of how the data gathered from these surveys has been used to reduce barriers and provide more student-centred supports through creating of new support roles, developing of new programs, changing the physical office space, and forming new partnerships. The goal of this presentation is to provide educational institutions a framework on how to conduct these surveys and translate the resulting data into systemic changes. By the end of this presentation, audience members will better understand their obligations around gathering student experience data and how these student experience surveys are integral for removing barriers for students with disabilities

This session is designed to educate about potential barriers and gaps in transition support, while facilitating conversations about moving forward. As conversations around ASD student support become more prevalent, our hope is that this presentation may increase awareness and confidence in participating in the discussion. Through the breakout session we will highlight the programs and structures we have at place at Algonquin College to provide these supports, while giving space to hear from other individuals and institutions. We want to extend a purposeful invitation to any neurodiverse attendees- your presence, knowledge and participation always enriches these conversations.

Moderated by Human Rights Lawyer, Sari Springer, the panel will explore disability from a legal lens, an Indigenous lens, a medical/traditional model, and a social justice/critical disability lens. The panel will also highlight the impact of each perspective on providing accommodations and supports in post-secondary education with a view to learning from each perspective to develop a better way forward.

Chronic concussions symptoms are becoming an increasingly prevalent condition. These symptoms have a huge impact on peoples quality of life and ability to function. Supporting these patients during their recovery and helping them recover can be very challenging. This presentation will first identify the major determinants of concussion recovery and present a theoretical model that explains "Persistent Post Concussion Symptoms." This model can be used to explain the increase in many chronic conditions we are now seeing in our younger generations. Finally provide a systematic management approach to dealing with both acute and chronic concussions.

Students with mental illnesses are attending postsecondary institutions in increasing numbers but experiencing less success than students without disabilities and students with high-incidence disabilities, such as LD and ADHD. A vast body of research across diverse student populations has concluded that a key component of successful academic performance is the utilization of learning strategies. The Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI) is a self-report measure of learning strategies widely used within postsecondary settings. Studies have shown LASSI subtests to be useful in predicting aspects of academic performance and distinguishing between academically successful and unsuccessful postsecondary students. Such studies have focused primarily on students with LDs while very few have examined the learning strategy profiles of students with a MI. This presentation will present findings from a recent study which compared LASSI (3rd Ed.) profiles of postsecondary students with formal diagnoses of MIs to that of the LASSI normative sample and to groups of students formally diagnosed with LD-only and ADHD-only. Implications for supporting the academic progress of students with MI will be discussed.

Are you smarter than the average teen when it comes to electronics? The fact that many of us said "no" means that we have one generation immersed in a digital world and another unaware of the dangers and the impact. This is not a good thing. The Internet may be the most important tool that allows a person to access all the world's existing knowledge and yet, it may be the most dangerous place that young people can access without guidance. So, without boundaries, and given the seductiveness of the medium, we have a generation whose rate of electronic addiction may be the most important public health concern that we have today. This session exposes some of the more common myths and the changes to the brain that we see emerging.