WEBVTT 00:00:00.490 --> 00:00:03.664 Hi, Im Evelyn Peña and I'm an associate 00:00:03.742 --> 00:00:05.842 professor at Cal Lutheran University. NOTE Paragraph 00:00:05.930 --> 00:00:08.710 I am also the director of the Autism 00:00:08.860 --> 00:00:11.138 in Communications Center, which is a 00:00:11.138 --> 00:00:15.018 university center that focuses on 00:00:15.324 --> 00:00:17.814 inclusion, communication, access, and 00:00:19.105 --> 00:00:21.181 higher education for people with autism or 00:00:21.181 --> 00:00:22.181 autistic individuals 00:00:22.181 --> 00:00:25.511 This is my son, Diego Peña, he is doing a 00:00:25.766 --> 00:00:29.516 camio today and Diego would like to 00:00:29.723 --> 00:00:31.943 introduce himself using the letter board 00:00:32.097 --> 00:00:33.727 since he is non speaking. 00:00:34.991 --> 00:00:37.161 So he has his communication partner with 00:00:37.368 --> 00:00:38.958 him and they are going to spell out 00:00:39.115 --> 00:00:41.225 something. 00:00:42.558 --> 00:00:58.348 (Communication Partner) H.E.L.L.O. A.L.L. 00:00:58.463 --> 00:01:02.463 Hello all. Ok, back straight. 00:01:02.573 --> 00:01:43.013 M.Y. N.A M.E. I.S. D.I E.G.O. 00:01:43.135 --> 00:01:45.005 Hello all, my name is Diego. 00:01:45.153 --> 00:01:47.333 Evelyn: Awesome, so just a little bit 00:01:47.522 --> 00:01:49.992 about Deigo, he is going into 7th grade. 00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:52.699 He is fully included in general education 00:01:52.866 --> 00:01:57.016 and he is a presenter at conferences and a 00:01:57.187 --> 00:02:00.917 best selling book author of the book, 00:02:01.048 --> 00:02:04.718 Anatomy of Autism, so that is us and 00:02:04.905 --> 00:02:07.305 we're excited to be here. 00:02:08.463 --> 00:02:14.273 So, Diego is really excited to talk about 00:02:14.461 --> 00:02:16.971 inclusion, not only in his book but also 00:02:16.971 --> 00:02:18.045 share his thoughts. 00:02:18.188 --> 00:02:21.218 I think that is so important in relation 00:02:21.375 --> 00:02:23.265 to the Americans with Disability Act 00:02:23.343 --> 00:02:25.453 because it provided an avenue for 00:02:25.520 --> 00:02:28.090 inclusion in the community, higher 00:02:28.187 --> 00:02:29.867 education, and employment. 00:02:29.941 --> 00:02:33.811 As a young activist, Diego has experienced 00:02:33.996 --> 00:02:36.416 inclusion in school so he wanted to share 00:02:36.596 --> 00:02:38.486 some words that he typed out. 00:02:38.630 --> 00:02:40.850 He is going to share them through his iPad 00:02:40.980 --> 00:02:42.560 , which he calls his talker. 00:02:46.648 --> 00:02:48.858 (iPad): I think the culture of inclusion 00:02:49.184 --> 00:02:51.314 is important to have in order to implement 00:02:51.314 --> 00:02:53.414 strategies be successful for autistic 00:02:53.617 --> 00:02:56.247 students in a general education classroom. 00:02:58.024 --> 00:03:00.394 Without inclusion, I wouldn't be able to 00:03:00.625 --> 00:03:02.575 be in general education setting. 00:03:04.132 --> 00:03:06.762 Having autism has limited me both verbally 00:03:06.927 --> 00:03:08.167 and physically. 00:03:08.657 --> 00:03:11.107 I thankfully have access to communication 00:03:11.320 --> 00:03:13.620 by typing and this form of communicaion 00:03:13.943 --> 00:03:15.943 has given me opportunity to be 00:03:16.292 --> 00:03:18.762 included in general education classes and 00:03:18.762 --> 00:03:20.482 activities in the community. 00:03:23.243 --> 00:03:27.243 Evelyn: Thanks, Diego. So the first time I 00:03:27.391 --> 00:03:30.221 really learned about the Amrican Disabilities Act 00:03:30.482 --> 00:03:34.202 was when I was researching what it would 00:03:34.383 --> 00:03:37.033 take to support my son, Diego, 00:03:37.292 --> 00:03:42.272 He's autistic, you just met him, to go to 00:03:42.471 --> 00:03:43.801 college essentially. 00:03:44.346 --> 00:03:46.906 When I learned he had autism I didn't know 00:03:47.158 --> 00:03:49.958 anything about whether or not people had 00:03:51.140 --> 00:03:53.580 access to college if they had a diagnosis 00:03:54.106 --> 00:03:57.396 of autism or what the precedent was for that 00:03:57.465 --> 00:03:59.505 So, I really started looking into it and I 00:03:59.623 --> 00:04:02.433 did learn that, yes, autistic students do 00:04:02.723 --> 00:04:04.823 go to college. Which is wonderful. 00:04:05.301 --> 00:04:07.411 At that time this was, you know, when 00:04:07.612 --> 00:04:09.442 Diego was diagnosed. 00:04:09.818 --> 00:04:12.618 It was 8 years ago or 10 years ago and 00:04:12.996 --> 00:04:14.936 there wasn't a lot of research out there 00:04:15.278 --> 00:04:17.778 on autistic students going to college. 00:04:18.256 --> 00:04:20.666 So, that was one area where I'm excited 00:04:21.102 --> 00:04:22.792 that I've been able to do research and 00:04:22.967 --> 00:04:25.401 publish some work on how we can support 00:04:25.463 --> 00:04:27.959 autistic studetns to go to college and 00:04:28.052 --> 00:04:30.261 become successful. But, really the ADA 00:04:30.349 --> 00:04:30.909 (Americans with Disabilities Act) 00:04:31.009 --> 00:04:33.889 is so important for autistic students and 00:04:34.127 --> 00:04:36.617 students with disabilites in general, just 00:04:36.683 --> 00:04:39.063 to make sure that they have access to 00:04:39.143 --> 00:04:42.773 academic curriculums, that they are 00:04:42.985 --> 00:04:44.935 getting accommidations that they need to 00:04:45.153 --> 00:04:47.593 be successful in academic settings. 00:04:48.349 --> 00:04:50.599 So, I really feel that the ADA has been a 00:04:50.830 --> 00:04:54.830 key factor in making sure that students 00:04:55.001 --> 00:04:57.181 with disabilities are included in college 00:04:57.276 --> 00:04:59.040 and university settings. 00:05:00.497 --> 00:05:03.499 Certainly the ADA has provided a lot of 00:05:03.681 --> 00:05:05.531 opportunities for students with 00:05:05.800 --> 00:05:08.240 disabilities. So, I'm grateful for that. 00:05:08.591 --> 00:05:10.861 I think there are some areas that we need 00:05:11.107 --> 00:05:14.137 to think about, that the ADA does have 00:05:14.490 --> 00:05:15.530 some limitations. 00:05:15.772 --> 00:05:18.752 One of them is that, many disablility 00:05:18.801 --> 00:05:22.151 service offices on campuses at higher 00:05:22.222 --> 00:05:25.922 education institutions require diagnosis 00:05:26.056 --> 00:05:30.726 or documentation of neuropsychological 00:05:30.876 --> 00:05:35.556 evaluation and this can cost upwards of 00:05:35.719 --> 00:05:38.879 several thousand dollars for individuals 00:05:39.093 --> 00:05:40.193 to get this diagnosis. 00:05:40.398 --> 00:05:41.758 So I think there has been a lot of 00:05:41.890 --> 00:05:44.100 progress lately where those offices are 00:05:44.179 --> 00:05:47.009 saying, "Ok well, we will consider the IEP 00:05:47.009 --> 00:05:49.569 document and your individual education 00:05:49.692 --> 00:05:53.692 plan from high school as a form to 00:05:53.810 --> 00:05:56.360 validate that you do need services". 00:05:56.412 --> 00:05:58.442 But one thing we do need to work on a 00:05:58.506 --> 00:06:00.746 little more is making sure that higher 00:06:00.856 --> 00:06:03.022 education institutions, specifically the 00:06:03.070 --> 00:06:04.753 disabiblity offices, are a bit more 00:06:04.783 --> 00:06:08.396 flexible in making sure that students can 00:06:08.532 --> 00:06:10.726 receive accomodations without dropping 00:06:10.784 --> 00:06:13.754 3 or 4 thousand dollars, in order to do that 00:06:13.927 --> 00:06:16.697 The other thing that I think about a lot 00:06:16.850 --> 00:06:20.850 is, while the ADA does provide important 00:06:20.991 --> 00:06:24.051 accomodations that are reasonable and 00:06:24.203 --> 00:06:25.793 appropriate, to students. 00:06:26.109 --> 00:06:28.069 I think that what I have learned is 00:06:28.239 --> 00:06:32.258 universities and disabilities offices specifically 00:06:32.415 --> 00:06:35.655 do a much better job when they go about 00:06:35.807 --> 00:06:37.287 and beyond their ADA 00:06:37.448 --> 00:06:40.047 So what's required by the ADA 00:06:40.201 --> 00:06:42.558 usually I see proper team member 00:06:42.580 --> 00:06:45.140 the staff on campus 00:06:45.307 --> 00:06:46.547 going above and beyond 00:06:46.633 --> 00:06:48.843 to make sure that students feel included 00:06:48.953 --> 00:06:51.855 that they feel like they belong in campus 00:06:51.991 --> 00:06:54.671 and it is really important 00:06:54.856 --> 00:06:57.216 i think i learned that we have this brief lossgreat laws 00:06:57.483 --> 00:06:59.942 but it is also important to us to have 00:07:00.104 --> 00:07:03.167 compassion, flexibility, to accomodate 00:07:03.248 --> 00:07:06.945 individuals like my son Diego, who 00:07:07.020 --> 00:07:10.100 uses, you know, must have a communication partner 00:07:10.177 --> 00:07:12.747 with him uses iPad in order to communicate 00:07:13.509 --> 00:07:16.279 and we find that many colleges are providing 00:07:16.535 --> 00:07:18.775 accomodation and some are not 00:07:18.855 --> 00:07:20.615 because it is so new to them 00:07:20.832 --> 00:07:23.352 So i think that... al those things 00:07:23.532 --> 00:07:25.492 are important and especially 00:07:25.717 --> 00:07:27.957 for students of color and/or margin 00:07:28.015 --> 00:07:29.565 or historically marginalized students 00:07:29.652 --> 00:07:31.862 who has intersectional identity 00:07:32.058 --> 00:07:34.278 with disability, we need to make sure 00:07:34.429 --> 00:07:36.602 that we are providing a welcoming 00:07:36.790 --> 00:07:39.880 and accesible environment in higher education 00:07:40.524 --> 00:07:42.734 So i think that one of the important things 00:07:43.013 --> 00:07:44.920 I've learned in my work so 00:07:45.013 --> 00:07:47.558 this scholarship and the advocacy work 00:07:47.856 --> 00:07:49.446 that I do everyday 00:07:49.630 --> 00:07:51.455 in essence by half with faculty 00:07:51.578 --> 00:07:53.308 and staff in higher education 00:07:53.580 --> 00:07:54.920 setting in particular 00:07:55.025 --> 00:07:57.625 is that we know that disability 00:07:57.719 --> 00:08:00.181 support offices are mandated 00:08:00.370 --> 00:08:02.640 to provide accomodation according to 00:08:03.004 --> 00:08:05.311 the ADA but what I see a lot 00:08:05.590 --> 00:08:07.630 is that faculty and staff 00:08:07.902 --> 00:08:10.332 are not required to receive 00:08:10.402 --> 00:08:12.902 training or professional development 00:08:12.983 --> 00:08:16.103 in order to serve children with disability 00:08:16.197 --> 00:08:18.027 And we think about this 00:08:18.027 --> 00:08:20.187 one in ten students in college 00:08:20.286 --> 00:08:23.036 or campus having disability 00:08:23.281 --> 00:08:25.002 of some sort and there's 00:08:25.069 --> 00:08:26.329 only the ones who are documented 00:08:26.430 --> 00:08:28.460 So imagine who don't report 00:08:28.614 --> 00:08:29.994 and having disability 00:08:29.994 --> 00:08:32.184 But we do need our faculty 00:08:32.194 --> 00:08:35.624 instructor, staff, to have more 00:08:35.706 --> 00:08:38.306 knowledge, experience, tools 00:08:38.561 --> 00:08:40.799 and their toolkit to serve students 00:08:40.909 --> 00:08:42.079 with disability, so that we 00:08:42.177 --> 00:08:43.828 can fully include them 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:45.750 make sure they're succesful and 00:08:45.948 --> 00:08:46.898 empower them to graduate 00:08:47.080 --> 00:08:48.978 with college degree, so that they can 00:08:49.107 --> 00:08:51.430 move on to employment opportunity 00:08:51.632 --> 00:08:53.312 in the future