Digital Commons Network^™

Invisible Disability: A Review Of Hearing And Vision Impairment Challenges In The Workplace, Melissa Ann Aguinaldo

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the factors related to individuals with vision and hearing impairments in organizational contexts within the United States. It overviews the definitions, current state, and U.S. legislation pertaining to individuals with disabilities in the workplace. The thesis reviews disclosure practices, psychological theories, and recommendations for supporting and accommodating individuals with hearing and vision disabilities. In reviewing these factors, this research aims to enhance understanding of the challenges faced by individuals with hearing and vision impairments in organizations and contribute to fostering inclusive and supportive work environments. The thesis also identifies areas for further research in order to advance …

An “Other” Experience Of Videogames: Analyzing The Connections Between Videogames And The Lived Experience Of Chronic Pain, Gracie Straznickas

College of Computing and Digital Media Dissertations

In this dissertation I argue for the connections between the lived experience of chronic pain and videogames, exploring what interacts with and influences them. To answer this, I draw on cripistemology as I engage in autoethnography, close-reading and close-gameplay, restorying, mixed methods design, formal interviews, surveys, and inductive coding. I further argue for pushing back against the unhelpful binaries that define the “human” and a false idea of “universal” experience or ability, instead pointing to the intersectionality that better reflects the biopolitics of disability, including both debility and capacity. I engage with these methods in three specific projects that consider …

Applying The Social Model Of Disability: A Phenomenology Of Initiating Change In Higher Education, Olena M. Marshall

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

In the past decades, disability service professionals in higher education began adopting the social model of disability as a theoretical and practical framework for creating more inclusive campus environments for students with disabilities who attend colleges and universities in growing numbers. Specifically, in the early 2000s, an international organization of disability service professionals, the Association on Higher Education and Disability, took on a strategic effort to shift the paradigm of disability services toward systematically removing barriers to full participation and transforming disabling environments—away from the prevalent modes of service focusing on the medical model, legal and regulatory compliance, and ad …

Sky Cubacub Interview, Spencer Nieto

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Artist Bio: Rebirth Garments are designed and made by hand by Sky Cubacub. Sky is a non-binary queer and disabled Filipinx human from Chicago, IL with life long anxiety and panic disorders. Sky first dreamed of this collection while in high school and couldn’t find a place where they could buy a chest binder as a person who was under 18, and who didn't have access to a credit card to buy one online. Sky is especially interested in Rebirth Garments being accessible to queer and disabled youth and is working on creating a program for making free/reduced priced garments …

Raeleen Kao Interview, Beena Patel

Asian American Art Oral History Project

BIO: Raeleen Kao is a drawer, printmaker, and amateur competitive eater aka glutton residing in Chicago with a Charles Brand etching press, a red tabby, and forty plants.

Her prints and drawings have been exhibited in museums and galleries across the country most notably at the International Museum of Surgical Science, the Monmouth Museum of Art, Bert Green Fine Art, the Smith College Museum of Art, Tory Folliard Gallery, Firecat Projects, and Normal Editions Workshop. Her work has been represented at SELECT Fair New York, the Editions and Artist Books Fair in New York, the Cleveland Fine Print Fair, the …

Meaningful Access And Disability Discrimination: The Role Of Social Science And Other Empirical Evidence, Mark Weber

College of Law Faculty

In cases alleging disability discrimination in the provision of state and local government services, courts frequently hold that plaintiffs’ claims depend on the question whether, despite the disadvantage that government actions impose, the plaintiffs nevertheless receive meaningful access to the government services. Whether people with disabilities actually have meaningful access is in reality a factual question, one on which social science and other empirically supported facts should matter. But courts frequently ignore evidence about the nature and level of access that people with disabilities have to government programs when decisions regarding those programs are being challenged. This Article catalogues judicial …

Immigration And Disability In The United States And Canada, Mark Weber

College of Law Faculty

Disability arises from the dynamic between people’s physical and mental conditions andthe physical and attitudinal barriers in the environment. Applying this idea aboutdisability to United States and Canadian immigration law draws attention to barriers toentry and eventual citizenship for individuals who have disabilities. Historically, NorthAmerican law excluded many classes of immigrants, including those with intellectualdisabilities, mental illness, physical defects, and conditions likely to cause dependency.Though exclusions for individuals likely to draw excessive public resources and thosewith communicable diseases still exist in Canada and the United States, in recent yearsthe United States permitted legalization for severely disabled undocumented immigrantsalready in the …

The Real Social Security Disability Fraud(S), Steve Berenson

DePaul Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Social Identity And Wellness Of People Who Have Acquired Physical Disability: What Is The Role Of Social Support?, Katherine S. Ong

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

The degree to which individual members of social minority groups identify with their stigmatized ingroup vary—some closely identify whereas others distance themselves from it as a byproduct of stigmatization. Research findings are mixed in regard to whether group identity influences well-being. One reason is that the relationship may be obscured by other factors. This study sought to clarify the mechanism by which group minority identity relates to health through social support. To assess the linkages among the three variables, individuals with acquired physical disabilities were surveyed. The study of disability identity is of import because, first, it may predict health …

In Defense Of Idea Due Process, Mark Weber

College of Law Faculty

Due Process hearing rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act are under attack. A major professional group and several academic commentators charge that the hearings system advantages middle class parents, that it is expensive, that it is futile, and that it is unmanageable. Some critics would abandon individual rights to a hearing and review in favor of bureaucratic enforcement or administrative mechanisms that do not include the right to an individual hearing before a neutral decision maker. This Article defends the right to a due process hearing. It contends that some criticisms of hearing rights are simply erroneous, and …

In Defense Of Idea Due Process, Mark C. Weber

Mark C. Weber

Due Process hearing rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act are under attack. A major professional group and several academic commentators charge that the hearings system advantages middle class parents, that it is expensive, that it is futile, and that it is unmanageable. Some critics would abandon individual rights to a hearing and review in favor of bureaucratic enforcement or administrative mechanisms that do not include the right to an individual hearing before a neutral decision maker. This Article defends the right to a due process hearing. It contends that some criticisms of hearing rights are simply erroneous, and …

Idea Class Actions After Wal-Mart V. Dukes, Mark C. Weber

Mark C. Weber

Wal-Mart v. Dukes overturned the certification of a class of a million and a half female employees alleging sex discrimination in Wal-Mart’s salary and promotion decisions. The Supreme Court ruled that the case did not satisfy the requirement that a class have a common question of law or fact, and said that the remedy sought was not the type of relief available under the portion of the class action rule permitting mandatory class actions. Over the last two years, courts have struggled with how to apply the ruling, especially how to apply it beyond its immediate context of employment discrimination …

"All Areas Of Suspected Disability", Mark Weber

College of Law Faculty

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires school districts to assess children “in all areas of suspected disability.” It further provides that each child’s individualized education program (IEP) must contain measurable annual goals designed to “meet each of the child’s . . . educational needs that result from the child’s disability,” and a statement of special education and related services that will be provided for the child “to advance appropriately toward attaining annual goals.” Courts have strictly enforced these requirements in the last several years, remedying violations of IDEA when school districts fail to assess in all areas of …

"All Areas Of Suspected Disability", Mark Weber

College of Law Faculty

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires school districts to assess children “in all areas of suspected disability.” It further provides that each child’s individualized education program (IEP) must contain measurable annual goals designed to “meet each of the child’s . . . educational needs that result from the child’s disability,” and a statement of special education and related services that will be provided for the child “to advance appropriately toward attaining annual goals.” Courts have strictly enforced these requirements in the last several years, remedying violations of IDEA when school districts fail to assess in all areas of …

"All Areas Of Suspected Disability", Mark C. Weber

Mark C. Weber

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires school districts to assess children “in all areas of suspected disability.” It further provides that each child’s individualized education program (IEP) must contain measurable annual goals designed to “meet each of the child’s . . . educational needs that result from the child’s disability,” and a statement of special education and related services that will be provided for the child “to advance appropriately toward attaining annual goals.” Courts have strictly enforced these requirements in the last several years, remedying violations of IDEA when school districts fail to assess in all areas of …

Procedures And Remedies Under Section 504 And The Ada For Public School Children With Disabilities, Mark Weber

College of Law Faculty

Much has been written about procedures and remedies under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, but few scholars have explored procedural rights and corresponding mechanisms of administrative and judicial relief for victims of public schools’ violations of children’s rights under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This paper will discuss the administrative procedures that must be followed in hearings regarding complaints of violations of those laws by public school districts and the relief that hearing officers and courts may provide. It will begin with an update on developments regarding …

Procedures And Remedies Under Section 504 And The Ada For Public School Children With Disabilities, Mark C. Weber

Mark C. Weber

Much has been written about procedures and remedies under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, but few scholars have explored procedural rights and corresponding mechanisms of administrative and judicial relief for victims of public schools’ violations of children’s rights under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This paper will discuss the administrative procedures that must be followed in hearings regarding complaints of violations of those laws by public school districts and the relief that hearing officers and courts may provide. It will begin with an update on developments regarding …

Disability Rights, Welfare Law, Mark Weber

College of Law Faculty

This article asks how disability rights ideas can be reconciled with—and might transform—the law of public assistance. The social model of disability forms the basis of most disability rights thinking. This model recognizes that impairments do not by themselves disable, but disability instead arises from a dynamic between a person’s physical and mental conditions and society’s environmental and attitudinal barriers: Paraplegia does not cause disability but for stairs, curbs, and human attitudes that limit accessibility. The social model focuses on changing the environment; its close corollary, the civil rights approach to disability, looks to anti-discrimination law to remove limits on …

Disability Rights, Welfare Law, Mark C. Weber

Mark C. Weber

This article asks how disability rights ideas can be reconciled with—and might transform—the law of public assistance. The social model of disability forms the basis of most disability rights thinking. This model recognizes that impairments do not by themselves disable, but disability instead arises from a dynamic between a person’s physical and mental conditions and society’s environmental and attitudinal barriers: Paraplegia does not cause disability but for stairs, curbs, and human attitudes that limit accessibility. The social model focuses on changing the environment; its close corollary, the civil rights approach to disability, looks to anti-discrimination law to remove limits on …

A Framework Of Language Use In Reference To People With Disabilities: People-First, Disability-Implicit, And Disability-First Language In A School Setting, Lindsey Therese Back

College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Scientists have often overlooked the language used to refer to people with disabilities as a method for excluding them, as language reflects attitudes and potential actions (Blaska, 1993; Froschl et al, 1984; Zola, 1993) . Recent legislation illustrates efforts to prevent use of derogatory terms in state laws and regulations (New Jersey Legislature, 2010), but little research to date has explored actual linguistic references to people with disabilities. This study uses qualitative interviews with students, parents, teachers, and administrators to explore the language used to reference students with disabilities. Results offer the first framework of language used to refer to …

“They Got A Spot For Us In This School”: Sense Of Community Among Students Of Color With Disabilities In Urban Schools, Ronald D. Crouch

College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Theses and Dissertations

School inclusion is the process of educating students with disabilities in general education settings with appropriate support. It is also an attempt to develop schools into supportive learning communities where all students feel they belong. The nationalization of school inclusion (i.e. IDEA) represents a sweeping, second-order change altering how students are taught, how teachers are trained, and the policies and priorities of schools. Prior research indicates that while students and teachers approve of inclusion, both groups face a variety of obstacles when it is put into practice. Additionally, research suggests that the transitions that often take place as a part …

Whom Do We Study: An Analysis Of Diversity In The Community Psychology Literature From 1973 To 2007, Robert E. Gutierrez

College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to assess the historical inclusion of diversity within community psychology. While community psychology has long held greater inclusion of diversity and the promotion of marginalized and disenfranchised peoples as goals of the field, many have questioned its ability live up to this aspiration. This study examines the extent to which community psychology has included diversity in terms of race and ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation and identity, and disability in its primary academic journals, the American Journal of Community Psychology (AJCP) and the Journal of Community Psychology (JCP). The sample size of this study was designed to capture …

A New Look At Section 504 And The Ada In Special Education Cases, Mark Weber

College of Law Faculty

School districts are finding fewer children eligible for services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). At the same time Congress has expanded the number of children who are protected by section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). These developments present the largely unexplored question of what obligations school districts owe children who have disabilities and are protected under section 504 and the ADA, but who are not eligible for services under IDEA. This article concludes that these children must be provided an education that meets their needs as adequately …

Settling Idea Cases: Making Up Is Hard To Do, Mark Weber

College of Law Faculty

Like most other legal disputes, most cases brought under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) settle. But although IDEA, the federal law governing special education, was enacted a generation ago, litigants still lack guidance how the mechanisms of settlement should work, what the settlement agreement should look like, and what to do if one side of the dispute fails to live up to its agreement. Settling an IDEA case entails unique issues—and unique pitfalls—that make the topic even more challenging than the settlement of other cases. IDEA has a mediation provision with extensive requirements and a one-of-a-kind prehearing settlement …

Special Education From The (Damp) Ground Up: Children With Disabilities In A Charter School-Dependent Educational System, Mark Weber

College of Law Faculty

Hurricane Katrina created the need and the opportunity to reconstitute the New Orleans public school system. Educational reformers took advantage of the destruction of existing institutions to build a new system based on educational choice and dependent on charter schools to provide the choices. The disaster also created the need and opportunity to rebuild the system of special education in the city, but education for children with disabilities appears to have been an afterthought. Reports have surfaced of children being steered away from charter schools or inadequately served there. This paper asks what principles should guide reformers in establishing education …

Unreasonable Accommodation And Due Hardship, Mark Weber

College of Law Faculty

This Article analyzes authoritative sources concerning the Americans with Disabilities Act accommodation requirement and concludes: (1) Reasonable accommodation and undue hardship are two sides of the same coin. The statutory duty is accommodation up to the limit of hardship, and reasonable accommodation should not be a separate hurdle for claimants to surmount apart from the undue hardship defense. There is no such thing as “unreasonable accommodation” or “due hardship.” (2) The duty to accommodate is a substantial obligation, one that may be expensive to satisfy, and one that is not subject to a cost-benefits balance, but rather a cost-resources balance; …

Settling Idea Cases: Making Up Is Hard To Do, Mark C. Weber

Mark C. Weber

Like most other legal disputes, most cases brought under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) settle. But although IDEA, the federal law governing special education, was enacted a generation ago, litigants still lack guidance how the mechanisms of settlement should work, what the settlement agreement should look like, and what to do if one side of the dispute fails to live up to its agreement. Settling an IDEA case entails unique issues—and unique pitfalls—that make the topic even more challenging than the settlement of other cases. IDEA has a mediation provision with extensive requirements and a one-of-a-kind prehearing settlement …

A New Look At Section 504 And The Ada In Special Education Cases, Mark C. Weber

Mark C. Weber

School districts are finding fewer children eligible for services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). At the same time Congress has expanded the number of children who are protected by section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). These developments present the largely unexplored question of what obligations school districts owe children who have disabilities and are protected under section 504 and the ADA, but who are not eligible for services under IDEA. This article concludes that these children must be provided an education that meets their needs as adequately …

Special Education From The (Damp) Ground Up: Children With Disabilities In A Charter School-Dependent Educational System, Mark C. Weber

Mark C. Weber

Hurricane Katrina created the need and the opportunity to reconstitute the New Orleans public school system. Educational reformers took advantage of the destruction of existing institutions to build a new system based on educational choice and dependent on charter schools to provide the choices. The disaster also created the need and opportunity to rebuild the system of special education in the city, but education for children with disabilities appears to have been an afterthought. Reports have surfaced of children being steered away from charter schools or inadequately served there. This paper asks what principles should guide reformers in establishing education …

Unreasonable Accommodation And Due Hardship, Mark C. Weber

Mark C. Weber

This Article analyzes authoritative sources concerning the Americans with Disabilities Act accommodation requirement and concludes: (1) Reasonable accommodation and undue hardship are two sides of the same coin. The statutory duty is accommodation up to the limit of hardship, and reasonable accommodation should not be a separate hurdle for claimants to surmount apart from the undue hardship defense. There is no such thing as “unreasonable accommodation” or “due hardship.” (2) The duty to accommodate is a substantial obligation, one that may be expensive to satisfy, and one that is not subject to a cost-benefits balance, but rather a cost-resources balance; …