UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – As part of Penn State's efforts to make education accessible and enjoyable for all individuals, teams across the University are working to implement new programming for students with disabilities.
The Disability Access Initiative is currently co-chaired by Leah Zimmerman, Student Disability Resources (SDR) executive director, alongside Michael Bérubé, Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Literature. The Disability Access Initiative is charged with creating evidence-informed recommendations crafted in consideration of benchmarking, best practices, research and impact data, to address organizational or structural barriers to inclusion and promoting a welcoming climate.
Zimmerman said that her office currently serves 5.1% of students at University Park and 5.6% of students at the Commonwealth Campuses. Of University Park students being helped, 33% have attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), 29% have psychological disorders, 14% have learning disorders, 12% have physical health disorders, 5% have neurological disorders and 3% have an autism spectrum disorder.
Deaf and hard of hearing disabilities, blind and low-vision impairments, auditory processing disorders, traumatic brain injuries and mobility impairments each make up 1% of the University Park student disability demographics.
Moving forward in 2022, the Disability Access Initiative and SDR at Penn State are working together to expand peer programming and grow collaboration across units for students with disabilities in an effort to increase engagement and participation with the University community. Research has shown that students who remain involved and feel part of a community are more likely to graduate from college and feel satisfied with their experience.
Student Disability Resources
SDR at Penn State works to help students explore individualized reasonable accommodations for equal access and full participation in academic pursuits; seek interactions with peers or find study spaces; connect with on- and off-campus resources; and promote disability as an important aspect of diversity.
As part of its efforts, Student Disability Resources at Penn State began offering affinity groups and support groups for students to meet similarly situated individuals across campus.
"The traditional configuration of SDR didn't offer these things and focused more on physical access needs," said Zimmerman. "While that is still one of our primary focuses, we are also trying to get the word out that we are here to assist and help students socialize across their campus. However, we ask people to be potentially vulnerable by coming forward with their disability– that's hard. Part of the equation is 'does it feel genuine for our students,' and ultimately, we want to build a supportive and inclusive environment."
Project Spoonies, founded by Maya Eicher, an alumna of biobehavioral health, supports Penn State students who face chronic illnesses. 'Spoonies' is a term embraced by the chronic illness community to help others understand what daily life looks like for them. The idea, conceived by blogger Christine Miserandino in her blog the “Spoon Theory,” uses spoons to represent finite units of energy.
Often, those with chronic illness have limited energy that depends on many factors including stress levels, their sleep quality and daily level of pain. Each day, they may have a different number of spoons. For example, someone may have ten spoons to start their day. Each task, such as brushing their teeth, getting dressed or bringing in their mail, takes away a spoon. At times, someone may have no spoons to continue with their daily tasks, which is a daily struggle for many individuals living with chronic illnesses.
Project Spoonies is dedicated to educating the Penn State community about living with chronic illnesses and disabilities to create a supportive environment and provide students with peer connection opportunities. Olivia Filandro, a fourth-year student studying biobehavioral health, runs the group.
“Chronic illness is often not talked about, so we are putting light on this community and providing support while educating others who surround us,” Filandro said. “It is helpful to have other people with a chronic illness that you can talk to, because having someone who is going through the same struggles makes you feel less alone.”
Similar to Project Spoonies, another effort supported by SDR includes “Finding Community,” a collaboration with the ACRES Project (Adults Creating Residential and Employment Solutions).
The Finding Community support group provides neurodiverse students and students on the autism spectrum a way to feel more integrated with the Penn State community and connect with their peers as they transition to college life.
The student group is designed to be a safe, welcoming, casual peer group where neurodiverse students can come and meet other people, share advice, talk about shared interests and gain a sense of community on campus.
Mary Krupa, a staff member at the ACRES Project and 2016 Penn State alumna, explained that the transition from high school to college and beyond is often highly challenging for neurodiverse students.
"Unlike most other disabilities, any support that students may have received in high school ends, and they're on their own for the first time," Krupa said. "We don't want students to 'fall through the cracks.' I am on the autism spectrum myself and facilitate Finding Community along with a current student on the autism spectrum. We are trying to make it the group that we would like to attend.”
Krupa explained that the group currently has students attending who are on the autism spectrum, those who suspect that they are but do not have a formal diagnosis and those who identify as neurodiverse in other ways.
Attendees come from a wide variety of backgrounds and gender identities, which Krupa expressed adds to the group's value. She noted that female students, in particular, have found the group extremely valuable, as many girls and women on the autism spectrum are undiagnosed or have less support or understanding of the challenges they face.
Moving forward, the group aims to expand its reach to new students, either through word of mouth or promotion by SDR.
"We know that there are potentially hundreds of students at University Park who could benefit from Finding Community, and hope that it can become an integral part of the Penn State experience for neurodiverse students far into the future," Krupa said.
Looking ahead, Zimmerman expressed that the various groups and programs being offered through SDR will continue to grow as campus-wide and local collaborations increase. More information on SDR and its programming is available via the Office of Educational Equity.