Page 76 - Fall2021

DISABILITY INVISIBILITY IN ACADEMIA
Here are some of the questions that each person needs to ask. Do you know how to get accommodations at your university or workplace? Do you know who to contact, and what you would have to do? Do you know what accommodations are offered? Is your course, lab, and/or building accessible to those with disabilities already and if not, can it be made accessible?
Types of Accommodations
Accommodations for people with disabilities can look drastically different depending on the person and their needs. These are just a handful of potential accommoda- tions for disabled people: (1) flexible work hours; (2) later start times for a sleep disorder; (3) physical lab accessibil- ity for sitting down/mobility aids; (4) a standing desk for back pain; (5) ergonomic lab equipment for fine motor disabilities; (6) captions in Zoom meetings and recorded lectures; (7) providing screen reader accessible material and alt-text in images; (8) moving a desk to a differ- ent part of the room due to light sensitivity; (9) adding dampers to the side of a door that slams for hyperacusis; and (10) installing flashing alarms for people who are deaf or hard of hearing (Adler et al., 2019) (for more examples, see askjan.org/a-to-z.cfm). Many people in academia may have multiple disabilities, and sometimes, even conflicting accommodation needs exist within the same person, leading to changing accommodations based on fluctuating needs for dynamic disabilities.
Most disability services do not focus on making research accessible but rather on classrooms. And even this can be hard for disabled students to acquire without confusion or judgment from professors. The issues mentioned may contribute to disabled students, faculty, and staff getting left behind, dropping out, or deciding once they graduate to leave academia completely (Marks and Bayer, 2019). There are systemic barriers to being a disabled person in academia, and these often go unacknowledged. However, by becoming aware of accessibility issues and including disabled people in these conversations, everyone can be part of a large positive change and foster better inclusion within the scientific community.
How to Implement Accessibility
What Does Physical Disability “Look” Like?
People who have physical disabilities may use a wheel- chair, crutches, a cane, braces, or orthotics or not use
any mobility aids at all. Some people may use some mobility aids or none depending on the day, as most disabled people have dynamic disabilities.
IK: “I am a relatively ‘young’ looking person who often does not use mobility aids but still needs to take the elevator due to my physical/pain disabilities and cannot walk long distances. People almost never assume I have a physical disability unless I use a mobility aid, which they then assume is a temporary injury, and people stop me to ask me invasive questions such as ‘What happened?’ while I just want to go about my day.”
ERK: “Most people are surprised to learn that I receive disability accommodations because I have a doctorate in audiology. This could suggest that those who have dis- abilities are not able to successfully achieve such pursuits, which is inaccurate and why I think it is important to advocate for those who have disabilities.”
The point of the first quote is that some people use the elevator instead of taking the stairs because they have physical disabilities that cause fatigue, pain, or limited motion without using mobility aids, and many people will not disclose this need to others. Taking the elevator may be seen as “lazy” to people who are not aware of that person’s disability. It is important not to assume that everyone you meet does not have a disability. Assump- tions of ability often occur based on biases such as age, race, and gender. Think about the times you have made a judgment about someone else. Could those judgments be related to a person’s disability?
Physical Accessibility
Unfortunately, most labs even today are not created with accessibility in mind. Accessibility in research specifically has rarely been explored, especially in regard to diversity efforts. It is important, especially for people in leadership in academia, to consider that a student, staff, or faculty member may have a disability and to plan accordingly, regardless of whether someone has disclosed or not.
It’s important for nondisabled administrators, faculty, and even students to understand that there are many barriers for disabled people in the academic environ- ment. Often, these barriers begin with not being able to physically enter and maneuver a space, whether it is a
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