Q&A: Why discuss disability in the geosciences? – Stanford University News – Stanford University News

Dealing with disability and figuring out how to best manage it played a big part in my time at Stanford, said Roy Perkins, Earth systems BS 20, who wears prosthetics on both legs. I am very independent, and I knew going to college is a big transition for everybody, so I didnt really connect the dots between the extra time and energy I spent on certain things like showering with the struggle of being a student and full-time athlete. I gradually made more accommodation requests to the Office of Accessible Education which eliminated a lot of my mobility issues and helped me to become a better student as well.

What is disability?

More than 26% of adults in the United States, or 61 million people, have some kind of documented disability. In the world, its estimated that one-fifth of the global population, or between 110 million and 190 million people, experience significant disabilities.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which passed in July 1990, defines disability as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. While the ADA does not specifically name all of the conditions that are covered, many covered disabilities can affect a persons vision, movement, bodily function, thinking, remembering, learning, communicating, hearing, and/or mental health. Some of these conditions may be more visible, while others may be less apparent.

People can experience disability in many ways they may show neurodivergent traits like autism or ADHD; use an assistive device like a wheelchair, cane, or a hearing aid; have experienced an injury; have a chronic illness or condition; or have a mental health condition. Disability may grow progressively worse, remain static, or affect an individual intermittently throughout their life. As a result, people with disabilities have widely varied experiences and potential needs for accommodation.

Disability in academia

Compared to the 26% of the U.S. adult population with a disability, only 11% of undergraduate and 7% of graduate students with a documented disability are pursuing STEM majors in the U.S. This may mean that students with disabilities are less likely to enroll in STEM fields or are underreporting their disabilities to avoid stigmatization.

When going into the workforce, only 4.8% of graduating students entering STEM careers self-disclose their disabilities. Concerns about stigma extend to the professoriate as well. Some U.S. faculty members say stigma prevents them from being open about their conditions, and that the pathway to academia may not encourage retention for those with disabilities.

For students who exhibit neurodiversity, including traits like ADHD, autism, or dyslexia, having customized learning opportunities in the classroom can be critical to a successful educational experience. For example, approximately 25% of college students who receive disabilities services are diagnosed with ADHD, making that the most common type of disability supported by college disability offices. In this 2021 study, researchers found that college students with ADHD frequently received grades half a grade below their peers across all four years, and that college students with ADHD were significantly less likely to stay enrolled across semesters. Among the top indicators that might predict academic success for students with ADHD was having received academic support and accommodations throughout high school and college.

Disability in the field

Physical barriers to geoscience learning can exist in the field from remote field excursions with uneven terrain, unusually long or strenuous travel expectations, inflexible transport options, lack of restrooms, or lack of accessible learning tools or connectivity. These roadblocks are also found on campuses through inaccessible labs, hidden ramps, broken elevators, poorly designed displays, or weak color contrast.

However, many of the barriers in place are a result of the perceptions that some geoscientists have about disability. Commonly held stereotypes about who a geoscientist is, as well as biases about what those with disabilities can or cannot do, give the impression that certain physical abilities are a prerequisite to being a geoscientist. Biased employers or advisors may opt not to select persons with a disability for roles or invite them to field excursions because of perceived barriers.

Other barriers to inclusive fieldwork may be institutional. Inflexible policies on transportation or accommodations, lack of funding for learning tools like interpreters, failure to provide medical professionals, reluctance to complete additional paperwork, or lab restrictions related to disability are all examples of institutional obstacles and discrimination that may be in place.

As fieldwork is considered integral to a geoscience education, disability rights advocates have long pushed for improved accommodations in field and other physical learning opportunities. In 2020, the global pandemic highlighted the issue of field accessibility, driving a shift toward virtual field learning and extended use of visualization tools like Google Earth, remote sensing resources, drone imagery, and ultrahigh-resolution photography. At Stanford Earth, faculty and staff have developed a collection of Stanford Earth Virtual Field Trips that will serve as a tool to make some field learning more accessible to all students.

Shifting the narrative

The stereotype of the able-bodied geoscientist works to exclude students with visible disabilities, and it may also show students with less noticeable disabilities that they arent welcome either.

Nearly one in five Americans will experience a mental illness in a given year, and some of these individuals may classify as disabled. Adults with disabilities report mental health distress nearly five times more often than non-disabled people do. In 2018, an estimated 17.4 million adults with disabilities experienced frequent mental distress associated with limitations in daily life, increased use of health services, poor health behaviors, and chronic illness.

Individuals with less visible disabilities may experience increased fatigue and pain that impacts their performance and that causes them to feel the pressure to prove the validity of their disability to their supervisors and colleagues who dont recognize their disability. Conversely, individuals with less visible disabilities may also choose not to disclose their conditions because of the stigma associated with disability that can be detrimental to their careers.

Looking beyond what is legally required by the ADA, institutions can use the Universal Design for Learning guidelines to optimize teaching and learning based on scientific insights into how people learn, whether they have more or or less obviousdisabilities.

For Stanford community members hoping to learn more, good places to begin are the Stanford Office of Accessible Education, the Stanford Office of Digital Accessibility, the Stanford Disability Initiative, andStanford Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS).

Stanford Earth transitioned the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA) into its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiative in 2020. As part of an effort to celebrate and discuss identity, four Stanford Earth community members talk about how disability, neurodivergence, and chronic illness have informed and impacted their careers.Stanford Earths Assistant Director of DEI Isabel Carrera Zamanillo; MS student Sabrina Tecklenburg; and alumni Roy Perkins, BS 20, and Bliss Temple, BA 04, BS 04, discuss their hopes for the future of diversity and inclusion in the geosciences.

Follow this link:
Q&A: Why discuss disability in the geosciences? - Stanford University News - Stanford University News