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87–033 PDF 2015

S. HRG. 113–721 

PROMOTING COLLEGE ACCESS AND SUCCESS FOR 

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES 

HEARING 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, 

LABOR, AND PENSIONS 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

ON

EXAMINING PROMOTING COLLEGE ACCESS AND SUCCESS FOR 

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2014 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

( 

Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/ 
COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR, AND PENSIONS 

TOM HARKIN, Iowa, Chairman 

BARBARA A. MIKULSKI, Maryland 

PATTY MURRAY, Washington 

BERNARD SANDERS (I), Vermont 

ROBERT P. CASEY, JR., Pennsylvania 

KAY R. HAGAN, North Carolina 

AL FRANKEN, Minnesota 

MICHAEL F. BENNET, Colorado 

SHELDON WHITEHOUSE, Rhode Island 

TAMMY BALDWIN, Wisconsin 

CHRISTOPHER S. MURPHY, Connecticut 

ELIZABETH WARREN, Massachusetts 

LAMAR ALEXANDER, Tennessee 

MICHAEL B. ENZI, Wyoming 

RICHARD BURR, North Carolina 

JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia 

RAND PAUL, Kentucky 

ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah 

PAT ROBERTS, Kansas 

LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska 

MARK KIRK, Illinois 

TIM SCOTT, South Carolina 

DEREK MILLER, Staff Director 

LAUREN MCFERRAN, Deputy Staff Director and Chief Counsel 

DAVID P. CLEARY, Republican Staff Director 

(II) 
C O N T E N T S 

STATEMENTS 

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014 

Page 

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Harkin, Hon. Tom, Chairman, Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and 

Pensions, opening statement ............................................................................... 1 

Alexander, Hon. Lamar, a U.S. Senator from the State of Tennessee, opening 

statement .............................................................................................................. 2 

Scott, Hon. Tim, a U.S. Senator from the State of South Carolina ..................... 4 

Baldwin, Hon. Tammy, a U.S. Senator from the State of Wisconsin .................. 21 

Casey, Hon. Robert P., Jr., a U.S. Senator from the State of Pennsylvania ...... 27 

Murray, Hon. Patty, a U.S. Senator from the State of Washington ................... 32 

Warren, Hon. Elizabeth, a U.S. Senator from the State of Massachusetts ........ 36 

WITNESSES

Emery-Arras, Melissa, Director of Education, Workforce, and Income Security 

Issues, U.S. Accountability Office, Boston, MA ................................................. 5 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 6 

Ostrow, Laysha, MPP, Ph.D. Candidate, Student, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg 

School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD ............................................................ 7 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 8 

Fink, Dana, Assistant Project Coordinator, Institute for Educational Leadership, Washington, DC .......................................................................................... 9 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 10 

Farrior, Will, Student, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC ............................ 11 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 12 

Getzel, Elizabeth Evans, Project Director, ACE-IT in College, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA ............................................................... 14 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 15 

Myers, Katherine, Associate Director, Office of Disability Services, Wright 

State University, Dayton, OH ............................................................................. 16 

Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 17 

(III) 

(1) 

PROMOTING COLLEGE ACCESS AND SUCCESS 

FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES 

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2014 

U.S. SENATE, 

COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR, AND PENSIONS, 

Washington, DC. 

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:03 a.m. in room 

SH–216, Hart Senate Office Building, Hon. Tom Harkin, chairman 

of the committee, presiding. 

Present: Senators Harkin, Murray, Casey, Franken, Baldwin, 

Murphy, Warren, Alexander, and Scott. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR HARKIN

The CHAIRMAN. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions will come to order. 

Today’s roundtable discussion will focus on how students with 

disabilities are accessing and succeeding in post-secondary education. This roundtable marks our sixth in a series to examine 

issues we plan to address in the upcoming reauthorization of the 

Higher Education Act, and our review of this topic could not come 

at a better time. 

According to just released research by the Pew Research Center, 

the value of a college education has never been greater. No matter 

how you measure it, young college graduates do significantly better 

than their less-educated peers. College graduates earn higher salaries. They are more likely to work full-time, and they are less likely 

to be unemployed than their peers who do not attend college. 

Today, the income disparity between college graduates and those 

with a high school diploma is wider than at any time since this 

comparison was first tracked in 1965. 

So as this committee examines how to improve educational opportunities and outcomes for all Americans, we must remember to 

include our fellow citizens with disabilities to ensure they have access to post-secondary education and to succeed once enrolled in 

those programs. To provide those opportunities, we need to understand the barriers students with disabilities face, and the services 

and supports that facilitate their success. 

Post-Secondary education is a primary goal for more than 80 percent of high school students with disabilities. Sixty percent of 

young adults with disabilities enroll in post-secondary education, 

compared to 67 percent of young adults without a disability; so it 

is very close. Among those who enroll in college, 41 percent graduate compared with 52 percent of those without disabilities; so the 
2 

gap widens. We must better understand why students with disabilities are more likely to dropout and what will attract them to both 

enroll and to keep in school so that they are successful. 

There is a great deal of diversity in the population of college-age 

students with disabilities today, and the accommodations that are 

required to meet their needs are just as diverse. 

A blind student may need printed materials in different formats. 

A deaf student may need interpreters or captioning services. A student with physical disabilities must be able to navigate the campus. Students with psychiatric disabilities may need confidential 

counseling and flexible timelines for coursework completion to accommodate the often episodic nature of their disabilities. And students with intellectual disabilities need inclusive, on-campus college programs to facilitate their continued learning, and their successful transition from high school to post-secondary education. 

Once students with disabilities arrive on campus, we need to ensure they have the supports and services necessary. 

So what should be the Federal role in promoting success of college students with disabilities? Our panel of experts, who have 

joined us today, will shed some light on that question. We will hear 

from those closest to this question, program administrators and 

students themselves. The students will share some of the barriers 

they have faced, successes they have achieved, and the supports 

and services that may have helped them along the way. And, of 

course, I hope that all of you here will provide us with suggestions. 

I read your testimonies last night and I see that you do have some. 

The young people with disabilities who now are attending postsecondary programs are part of what I keep calling, ‘‘The ADA 

Generation.’’ They have grown up with the Americans with Disabilities Act, which promises them the kind of access and opportunity 

denied to people with disabilities in the past. They have been educated alongside their nondisabled peers. They know that post-secondary education can open doors for them, and they want their fair 

shot at the American dream. So I am eager to hear from each of 

you about your experiences and what we need to do in the Higher 

Education Act to support the success of students with disabilities. 

Our goal is to have an open discussion here; a roundtable discussion, rather than a formal, on-the-dais kind of thing. So we will 

have a good, open discussion on this. 

Now I invite Senator Alexander for his opening statement. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR ALEXANDER

Senator ALEXANDER. Thanks, Mr. Chairman. 

Senator Harkin has been, and is, the leading member of the U.S. 

Senate in his concern for Americans with disabilities, and so that 

makes this hearing especially important, not just to him, but to all 

of us who are here. 

We welcome you here. He and I were talking a little earlier. We 

looked at the format here and we were trying to figure out how we 

could get closer. We are not trying to separate ourselves from you. 

We would like to actually be closer, but we could not figure out a 

logical way to do it, but we would like to have more of an informal 

atmosphere to this. We do not want it to be a hearing; we want 

it to be more of a discussion. 
3 

About 10 percent of our college students have a disability. That 

is a lot of Americans; that would mean, maybe 40,000 students 

among Tennessee’s 400,000 college students. So we are talking 

about the concerns of lots of students. 

A great many of our higher education institutions are already 

distinguishing themselves as places that are attractive for students 

with one kind of disability or another. 

I know that when I was president of the University of Tennessee, 

I heard regularly from parents and students about the program at 

UT Chattanooga, which is called MoSAIC and it supports students 

with autism, and it includes credit bearing courses, academic life 

coaching, peer and faculty mentoring. 

But word travels among families and students who are dealing 

with a particular disability and they search out those campuses 

that are friendly and inviting, which is one of the great advantages 

of our system of higher education because of Government support. 

About half our students have a grant or a loan from the Federal 

Government to help them go to college that follows the student to 

the institution of their choice. So a student with a disability can 

select a college campus that is a friendly environment. 

Vanderbilt has a 2-year nonresidential certificate program for 

students with intellectual and developmental disabilities called 

Next Steps, and that includes individualized programs for social 

skills, physical fitness, and job skills. 

Senator Harkin has proposed some changes in the Vocational Rehabilitation Act to make the process of going from high school to 

college easier and that, we hope, finds its way into law through the 

Workforce Investment Act. So what we are doing here today are 

hearings about the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, 

and we want to make sure that as we do that, we are sensitive to 

the needs of students with disabilities. We look forward to hearing 

your advice about how best to do that. 

Thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Senator Alexander. 

Now, let me introduce our panelists who are here. I will go down 

the line and then we will ask each of you to give a brief statement. 

First we have Melissa Emrey-Arras, Director of Education issues 

in the Government Accountability Office, the GAO, Office of Education, Workforce, and Income Security team. She has led national 

studies on education issues ranging from student loans to veterans’ 

education benefits. Prior to coming to GAO in 2001, she worked at 

a private sector consulting company and led projects on Medicaid 

and child welfare issues for State and local clients. 

Our second witness is from the State of Maryland, and that 

would be Laysha Ostrow. Ms. Ostrow is a Ph.D. candidate at the 

Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and co-executive director of 

the Lived Experience Research Network. Ms. Ostrow’s research, 

advocacy, and writing are focused on improving mental health and 

social services particularly addressing innovative practices in financing models and promoting the voice of multiple stakeholders. 

She will share with us her experiences with both the psychiatric 

system and the Social Security disability system as they interact 

with higher education for someone with a psychiatric disability. 
4 

Then we will hear from Ms. Fink. Dana Fink is an assistant 

project coordinator at the Institute for Educational Leadership 

Center for Workforce Development. In this role, she supports the 

National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth and 

D.C. Advocacy Partners. A graduate of the University of Illinois 

and while there, I am told, she was a two-time wheelchair basketball national champion—well, all right—and an Academic AllAmerican. Ms. Fink also served as a summer intern on the HELP 

committee and we welcome you back here. Maybe you did not think 

you would come back as a witness, but nice to have you back. 

Our next person is from South Carolina, and I am going to turn 

to Senator Scott for the purpose of introduction. 

STATEMENT OF SENATOR SCOTT

Senator SCOTT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 

I am very pleased to introduce William Farrior as one of our witnesses today. Mr. Farrior is 26 years old from Ravenel, SC in the 

Low country, and he has worked very hard to now be a senior at 

the College of Charleston. I am looking forward to being your graduation speaker this year. I am sorry for you, by the way. 

[Laughter.] 

William is an inspiring example of the great things that can happen when each and every student is given the chance to realize his 

or her full potential. 

William was diagnosed with Asperger’s when he was in the 

eighth grade, which has created many challenges for him. After he 

graduated from high school in 2006, he had a tough time at a community college due to his disability and to death in his family. 

When school did not work out, William found himself drifting between entry level jobs. Thankfully, William was able to enroll into 

the REACH program at the College of Charleston which has now 

opened up a whole new world of possibilities and opportunities for 

an amazing future that you will have. 

William has now had the opportunity to intern at Blackbaud, 

which is a fantastic company in the Low country of South Carolina, 

at the YMCA, the YWCA, and in public relations at the Medical 

University of South Carolina, just to name a few, which has done 

amazing things in helping him to hone his skills to prepare him for 

a career in his chosen field of communications. 

Mr. Farrior, his testimony today, will show us all the importance 

of giving every student, every young person a chance to reach their 

full and highest potential, and to help us engage in a broader conversation about ensuring access as we move forward on a reauthorization of the Higher Education Act. William, thank you for being 

here, sir. 

Yes, sir. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much, Senator Scott, and we 

welcome Mr. Farrior. 

Next, we will hear from Ms. Elizabeth Getzel, the director of the 

‘‘ACE-IT in College’’ program at Virginia Commonwealth University, another one of the TPSID programs that we just heard about 

at the College of Charleston. TPSID stands for Transition and PostSecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities. It 

is much easier to say as TPSID. TPSID was part of the reauthor-
5 

ization of HEA in 2008. With my other hat, as the chair of the Appropriations subcommittee, we have been funding TPSID for the 

past 5 years. I am anxious to hear about both of the TPSID programs. 

Ms. Getzel’s research includes effective strategies for the inclusion of college students with disabilities, career planning, and preparation. She has authored or co-authored numerous journals articles and co-edited a book entitled ‘‘Going to College: Expanding Opportunities for People with Disabilities.’’ 

Our final witness is Katherine Myers, associate director of the 

Office of Disability Services at Wright State University. I read a lot 

about Wright State last evening. Wright State University has a 

long history of providing high quality services and supports to its 

students with disabilities. During her 19 years at Wright State, she 

has been responsible for running the technology center, which provides textbooks and course materials in alternative formats, as well 

as a variety of other computer-related adaptations. Ms. Myers has 

also worked closely with students who use communication devices. 

We have a great panel of experts and people who have experience with our topic. What I would like to do is ask you to make 

short statements. I have all your statements. They will be made a 

part of the record in their entirety. Can you give us a brief statement about what you think is the most important thing that you 

want us to know, and then we will just start discussing things. 

OK? 

Ms. Emrey-Arras, go ahead. 

STATEMENT OF MELISSA EMREY-ARRAS, DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION, WORKFORCE, AND INCOME SECURITY ISSUES, 

U.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE, BOSTON, MA 

Ms. EMREY-ARRAS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member 

Alexander, and members of the committee for inviting me to participate in today’s roundtable discussion. 

My remarks today will summarize GAO’s prior work on this important topic. 

As Senator Alexander mentioned, national data shows that just 

over 10 percent of post-secondary students have disabilities. Common disabilities include mental health conditions, attention deficit 

disorders, and mobility impairments. 

Based on our interviews with students, parents, and school officials, the transition from high school to college can be a challenging 

one for those with disabilities. Many students with disabilities are 

accustomed to certain accommodations while they are in high 

school. As Senator Harkin mentioned, there are various things that 

can be done to assist with the learning process. 

Oftentimes, students go to campus for the first time expecting 

those accommodations that they were used to, to already be in 

place because that is what they have had all along, and they are 

quite often surprised when those are not already there for them. 

While colleges are, in fact, responsible for providing reasonable accommodations for students, students really do need to initiate the 

process when it begins at the college level. And to do that, they 

need to first self-identify as having a disability, and then obtain 
6 

updated evaluations to support their request for a disability accommodation, and then officially make that request. 

Some students may choose not to disclose their disabilities initially. They may do so perhaps later on in the semester after they 

have fallen behind, which can create issues for them. Others may 

have trouble obtaining updated evaluations. It can often be costly 

to obtain updated evaluations, and there can also be long waits for 

appointments. So those are additional barriers that students face 

in transitioning to college and receiving those really critical accommodations for their learning. 

In our work, we did find that schools were reaching out to students and their parents to help them learn about their rights and 

responsibilities regarding the accommodation process. And we also 

did find cases of schools actively helping students obtain lower cost 

evaluations. Some of them were using the resources on campus in 

terms of their mental health facilities, their departments of psychology and the like, to provide those kinds of evaluations on campus for students to assist them in obtaining the needed documentation to get their requests in order. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and Senator Alexander, and members 

of the committee. This concludes my formal remarks. I am looking 

forward to today’s discussion. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Emrey-Arras follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF MELISSA EMREY-ARRAS

Thank you Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Alexander, and members of the committee, for inviting me to participate in this roundtable discussion on promoting college access and success for students with disabilities. My remarks today will summarize GAO’s prior work on these students as they navigate the transition to postsecondary education. The work upon which this statement is based was conducted 

in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. To conduct 

this work, GAO analyzed Federal survey data from the National Post-Secondary 

Student Aid Study, and conducted interviews with agency officials, school officials, 

students, and parents. Further details about the scope and methodology can be 

found in each of these related products. 

• Our prior work has noted that the overall population of post-secondary students 

with disabilities appears to have increased, rising to 11 percent of students. About 

a quarter of students with disabilities have reported having a mental, emotional or 

psychiatric condition. Other common types of disabilities reported by post-secondary 

students include attention deficit disorder, mobility impairments, and learning disabilities. Demographically, we found that students with disabilities closely mirror 

students without disabilities, but are slightly more likely to attend college part-time. • Two Federal laws protect the rights of students with disabilities in post-secondary education—Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Rehabilitation Act) 

and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). The Rehabilitation Act prohibits discrimination by institutions of higher education that receive Federal financial assistance, such as Federal financial aid. The ADA covers a broader range of 

schools, including State and locally funded and private-sector schools. • Regarding enforcement of these laws, the Department of Justice can pursue any 

complaints it receives alleging discrimination under the ADA, regardless of the 

funding status of the respondent. The Department of Education can pursue complaints filed against schools receiving financial assistance from the agency at the 

time of the alleged discrimination. The Department of Education also provides 

grants and technical assistance to support students with disabilities in the transition to college. 

Our prior work has identified several key challenges faced by students with disabilities, as well as post-secondary schools: 

• The Transition to College Poses Challenges for Students and Schools. 

The transition from high school to post-secondary school presents challenges for students with disabilities because they must assume more responsibility for their education. In contrast to elementary and secondary school, they must identify them-
7 

selves as having a disability, provide documentation of their disability, and request 

accommodations and services from their post-secondary institution. According to our 

work, this transition can be overwhelming and difficult for students to understand. 

Schools also face challenges related to this. Many schools proactively conduct outreach to students with disabilities and their parents to inform them of their rights 

and responsibilities, but reaching all students is difficult. This can become problematic if students request accommodations after classes have begun, as they may have 

fallen behind academically, and accommodations can take time to put in place. 

• Students Also Reported Challenges Documenting their Disability to Obtain Accommodations. Many students with disabilities are accustomed to certain 

accommodations or adaptive technologies and begin college to find they are not automatically provided for them in college. In many cases, colleges require updated disability evaluations conducted by qualified professionals. These evaluations can be 

costly and there may be long wait lists for appointments, which can cause delays 

for students who must wait for accommodations. Some schools reported providing 

assistance to students in obtaining evaluations at lower cost. 

• Three Student Populations May Create Additional Challenges for 

Schools. 

(1) Veterans with Newly Acquired Disabilities: Many veterans returning from Iraq 

and Afghanistan suffer from conditions such as traumatic brain injury and posttraumatic stress disorder, which are difficult to diagnose. Symptoms may not surface immediately after such injuries, but may instead manifest themselves once 

these students have already begun classes. 

(2) Students with Intellectual Disabilities: Students with intellectual disabilities— 

such as developmental disabilities or autism—are a population that schools believe 

will increase in the coming years. These students often require more specialized 

services that schools typically lack experience in providing, and may also need additional classes to address life skills, financial skills, or employment training. 

(3) Students with Mental Illness: Students with mental illness usually require 

multiple supports, and colleges may have difficulty coordinating accommodations 

and other benefits to support them. These students, whose disabilities are less visible, may also be among a group that chooses not to disclose their disability or seek 

accommodations until classes have already begun, resulting in service gaps. 

• In recent years, GAO has made recommendations to several Federal agencies, 

including the Department of Education, and the Department of Justice, to address 

some of these challenges, for example, by improving coordination among Federal 

agencies providing services and strengthening enforcement efforts related to testing 

accommodations. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, this concludes my remarks. I am happy to take any questions. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you very much. 

Ms. Ostrow. 

STATEMENT OF LAYSHA OSTROW, MPP, Ph.D., CANDIDATE, 

STUDENT, JOHNS HOPKINS BLOOMBERG SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, BALTIMORE, MD 

Ms. OSTROW. Thank you so much for having me here today. 

I can briefly summarize my written testimony. I was first in an 

inpatient psychiatric unit when I was 14-years-old and labeled with 

bipolar disorder and had multiple psychiatric system involvements 

after that. 

My freshman year of high school, I was in public school and my 

parents were asked to take me out because of my disability. From 

there, I was in several different high schools, eventually ending up 

in a residential treatment facility for girls with emotional and behavioral problems. I was there for 21⁄2 years and technically graduated from my public school with very little actual education in 

high school. 

From there, I went to a private 4-year university in Massachusetts. I was integrated into a normal college setting. I am able to 

secure accommodations because I have had neuropsychiatric test-
8 

ing in high school having been a special education student. It is 

often, as Ms. Emrey-Arras said, more difficult for collage students 

to do that at that time if they have not had that testing in high 

school because of the resources that are required, or not wanting 

to disclose, or seek accommodations because of discrimination. 

In graduate school, I founded the first national support group for 

graduate students with psychiatric disabilities and from there created the Lived Experience Research Network, which is a student 

mental health service users survivor-run organization to support 

students of psychiatric disabilities. 

I found through my personal experience and my advocacy and research that despite the challenges I faced, there are many far more 

widespread and really disheartening experiences that people with 

psychiatric disabilities face in the education system, in the higher 

education system, and in high school, and as far as graduate school 

as well. 

These students often face discrimination, self-stigma, a public 

stigma, fear of stigma from faculty, and from administrators, and 

other students that prevent them from requesting accommodations. 

They may not even be familiar with their rights as people with disabilities. 

So based on my experiences, and advocacy work with other students, I would recommend three areas in need of attention in terms 

of policy. 

The first would be policies that facilitate grassroots organizing by 

students for independent, mutual support and self, and systems advocacy. 

The second would be institutional policy change including education about accommodations tailored to students with psychiatric 

disabilities. It can also be very different because they are, ‘‘invisible’’ disabilities. 

The third would be ensuring confidentiality and privacy in campus counseling centers, oversight of involuntary leave policies to 

prevent schools from dismissing students based on mental health 

problems, particularly suicidality. And critical investigations of consequences of stigmatizing policies that come from increasing student surveillance. 

The role of institutions of higher education is to facilitate intellectual growth of students, not punish them for their struggles. As 

we saw in a recent ‘‘Newsweek’’ article that the students are being 

penalized for suffering and not supported in pursuing education. I 

think the mental health problems should be somewhat separated 

from the education as education is a right for all of our citizens. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Ostrow follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF LAYSHA OSTROW, MPP, PH.D. CANDIDATE

My name is Laysha Ostrow. I am a Ph.D. candidate at the Johns Hopkins School 

of Public Health and the co-executive director of the Lived Experience Research Network. I was hospitalized in a psychiatric unit for the first time when I was 14 years 

old, and labeled with bipolar disorder. In high school I was in a residential treatment facility for girls with emotional and behavioral problems for 21⁄2 years. As an 

undergraduate I was able to secure accommodations primarily because of 

neuropsychiatric test results obtained as a secondary school student. This kind of 

testing is often unavailable to college students who first experience problems after 

high school. During my junior year of college I took a medical leave for depression. 

When I tried to return to school, I was discouraged from pursuing higher education 
9 

by university clinicians, leading me to drop out. Subsequently I was declared permanently disabled and was on SSDI. I finished my Bachelor’s degree when I was 26. 

Because of these experiences and experiences of colleagues, I co-founded the only 

national support group for graduate and doctoral students with psychiatric disabilities in 2011. Through participation in the group I became aware of even more widespread and often devastating discrimination and lack of support at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. My organization’s Discrimination in Higher Education 

research and advocacy project has further documented the degree of discrimination 

and marginalization that students all too often face, as has the recent Newsweek 

headline story How Colleges Flunk Mental Health. Research confirms these reports: 

in a national post-secondary survey, for example, over 50 percent of students reported discrimination or stigma in the process of requesting accommodations. Researchers working in higher education have noted that few universities have the expertise or experience to support students with psychiatric disabilities, even though 

this group is one of the largest disability groups in higher education. 

Based on my experiences and advocacy work with other students I recommend 

three major areas in need of attention: (1) policies that facilitate grassroots organizing by students for independent mutual support and self- and systems-advocacy; 

(2) institutional policy change, including education about accommodations tailored 

to students with psychiatric disabilities; (3) ensuring confidentiality and privacy in 

campus counseling settings, oversight of involuntary leave policies to prevent 

schools from dismissing students, and critical investigations of the consequences of 

stigmatizing policies to increase student surveillance. 

The role of institutions of higher education is to facilitate intellectual growth of 

students—not punish them for their struggles. Education policy should not be focused on us as sick members of society needing treatment, but individuals with disabilities with a right to education and employment. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you and it is very profound. Thank you 

very much. 

Dana Fink, please. 

STATEMENT OF DANA FINK, ASSISTANT PROJECT COORDINATOR, INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP, WASHINGTON, DC 

Ms. FINK. Good morning, Chairman Harkin, Ranking Member 

Alexander, and members of the committee. 

Thank you for the opportunity to speak about this critical topic 

with which I have personal and professional experiences. 

First to note about me is I am a person with multiple disabilities. 

I have had my physical disability since birth, as well as an anxiety 

disability acquired during college. 

Since graduation, I have worked to support transition paths for 

youth with disabilities into post-secondary education and the world 

of work. My current role, as you mentioned, at the Institute for 

Educational Leadership, I support a technical assistance center 

aiming to better serve all youth, including youth with disabilities, 

and a program training families and self-advocates to influence policy for people with disabilities throughout the District of Columbia. 

It is through these experiences that I have seen young people 

with disabilities be unable to obtain necessary services and supports throughout transition. It is with these supports that we know 

they can and will become contributing members of their communities, but without them, prospects are grim. 

I am also very proud to be a 2010 graduate of the University of 

Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. There was always an expectation in 

my family that I would graduate and go on to college, just as my 

two older sisters had before me. But in looking at some of the universities that they attended, it became clear that they could not 

provide the supports that I would need to be successful. 
10 

A recent National Longitudinal Study by the Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs, OSEP, showed completion rates for students with disabilities at 34 percent compared 

with 51 percent in the general population. Of those who lacked, 

reasons were varied, but included cost, poor grades, changing 

schools, and not getting needed services. I know that it is only due 

to the supports and services I received at my university that I was 

a part of that 34 percent. 

I was fortunate to be accepted into the University of Illinois, receiving a scholarship to play on the school’s wheelchair basketball 

team, one of four such opportunities for women in the U.S. Illinois 

has been a leader in accommodations for students with disabilities 

since Dr. Nugent founded the university’s disability student service 

center in 1948 ushering numerous firsts for students with disabilities since. 

I look forward to having an opportunity to share with you many 

of these best practices with the committee today, as well as some 

of the barriers that I have, unfortunately, seen faced by many of 

our Nation’s brightest and most hardworking individuals with disabilities that have been unable to see success in post-secondary 

education and on into the world of work. 

Thank you. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Fink follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF DANA FINK

Good Morning Senator Harkin, Senator Alexander, and committee members. 

Thank you for the opportunity to speak about this critical topic with which I have 

personal and professional experiences. First to note about me is that I am a person 

with multiple disabilities. I’ve had my physical disability since birth as well as an 

anxiety disability acquired during college. Since graduation I have worked to support transition paths for youth with disabilities into post-secondary education and 

the world of work. In my current role at the Institute for Educational Leadership, 

I support a national technical assistance center aiming to better serve all youth, including youth with disabilities and a program training families and self-advocates 

to influence policy for people with disabilities throughout the District of Columbia. 

It’s through these experiences, that I’ve seen young people with disabilities be unable to obtain necessary services and supports throughout transition. It is with 

these supports we know they can and will become contributing members of their 

communities, but without them, prospects are grim. 

I am very proud to be a 2010 graduate of University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. There was always an expectation in my family I would graduate and go on 

to college, as had my older sisters prior, but in looking at universities they attended, 

it became clear they could not provide supports I would need to be successful. A recent National Longitudinal Study by Department of Education’s Office of Special 

Education Programs showed completion rates for people with disabilities at 34 percent compared with 51 percent in the general population. Of those who left, reasons 

were varied but included, cost, poor grades, changing schools, and not getting needed services. 

In high school, I researched schools to fit my needs and enrolled immediately in 

Georgia vocational rehabilitation (VR) services. I was told by my assigned VR counselor I was not a candidate for services because my disability did not have direct 

impact on my desired career choice, which at that time, was journalism. When my 

mother asked what would happen if I wanted to be a tap dancer, I was told instantly that would qualify me for services. This obviously did not sit right with us 

and through research we discovered the Client Assistance Program through which 

I was able to seek a more qualified VR counselor. I repeated this process again 

when my counselor was unable to support me going to an out-of-state school. Unfortunately, this lack of awareness from VR is a story that I’ve heard too many times 

and most students and families are not aware that they can appeal the process so 

they miss out on what allowed me to be successful in college. 
11 

I was fortunate enough to be accepted into the University of Illinois, receiving a 

scholarship to play on the school’s wheelchair basketball team (one of four such opportunities for women in the United States). Illinois has been a leader in accommodations for students with disabilities since Dr. Tim Nugent founded the university’s disability student service center in 1948, ushering in numerous firsts for students with disabilities. This scholarship was a financial burden lifted for my family; 

but I had other costs, specifically related to my healthcare needs, so I established 

eligibility for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid which provided me 

with necessary healthcare coverage, while simultaneously limiting my asset limit to 

$2,000. Without my scholarship, attending an out-of-state university would have 

been an impossibility, even with programs like Ticket to Work and the Plan to 

Achieve Self Sufficiency plans aimed at alleviating this issue. Additional issues 

cropped up with SSI limitations when I tried to participate in learning experiences 

such as study abroad and out-of-state internships. For me, SSI played a strong role 

in helping me achieve my educational goals; however, for too many young people 

it becomes a life-long parking lot. 

Despite the barriers illustrated, more and more students with disabilities are enrolling in post-secondary education and discovering a higher education system not 

ready to accommodate them. We’re seeing students who don’t know their rights 

when they are no longer getting IEP services and understaffed, underfunded disability student service centers are more focused on legal compliance than supporting 

students in college and future employment. 

Again, I was fortunate to attend my university where the disability student center 

had so many of the supports I and my peers needed to be successful including: assistive technology, note taking, priority registration, testing accommodations, interpreters, tutoring, and onsite clinical psychologists. The academic accommodations at 

Illinois do not stop on campus. All their online and distance learning classes are 

automatically captioned. Their comprehensive commitment to inclusion also applies 

to career transitions services. Staff saw higher education as a stepping stone toward 

gainful employment, hosting workshops on disability disclosure and employment 

issues, providing career assessments, and bringing in organizations seeking employees and interns with disabilities. Unfortunately, this level of commitment to serving 

students with disabilities is not the case in far too many of our Nation’s colleges 

and universities. 

Access at Illinois also included access to the other components that make up a 

true college experience, including recreation, study abroad, integrated housing accommodations, transportation, and healthcare. I got a top-notch education and, because of these supports, I left college prepared for work and independent living. 

If I could sum up a few recommendations for the committee to consider, I would 

encourage: 

• Working with existing Federal and State programs to provide students with disabilities an even playing field to afford college including creating clarity with asset 

limitations and opening minority and diversity scholarships up to students with disabilities, arguably the most underrepresented minority in higher education. 

• Starting transition programming earlier so students are knowledgeable of how 

their rights and responsibilities will change in higher education and what services 

are available to them. 

• Improving disability student services with increased staff and better integration 

into other areas of universities such as career center, tutoring services, and study 

abroad offices. 

Thank you for your time and for allowing me to share my story today. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thanks, Dana. Thank you very much. Welcome 

back. 

Mr. Farrior, welcome. Please proceed. 

STATEMENT OF WILL FARRIOR, STUDENT, COLLEGE OF 

CHARLESTON, CHARLESTON, SC 

Mr. FARRIOR. Good morning, Chairman Harkin, Senator Alexander, and other committee members. 

I must say what an honor it is here to be talking to you this 

morning. My name is Will Farrior. I am a 26-year-old College of 

Charleston senior at the College of Charleston’s REACH program. 

I major at the College of Communication. 
12 

A disability that refers to my uniqueness is called Asperger syndrome. In elementary school, I was able to function like everyone 

else. In fifth and sixth grade, my parents started to see red flags 

that included, excuse me, 7 hours of homework as well as observing 

my interaction with peers and adults. In eighth grade, I was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome. 

My experience at the REACH program has been an amazing one 

for several different reasons including my professors, job opportunities, and social activities. I was fortunate to have the opportunity 

to learn more about my uniqueness by being able to take Introduction to Psychology and Interpersonal Communications which has 

given me a better understanding to grasp and explain to others. 

The part I enjoy most about being in the program is that I have 

been able to take a variety of courses that have led me to my passion and field of choice. These classes include Introduction to Education, personal finance, public speaking, women and gender studies, strategic communications, business ethics, event planning, and 

many others. These courses eventually helped me to enhance my 

strengths and understand my weaknesses. 

For example when I was younger, I would ramble on and on, I 

would never pick up on body language, or be more concise when 

talking to others. 

The two things that are the second most marvelous part of being 

in the program is the job opportunities and social activities that 

come along with it. In order to graduate from the program, I must 

do some internships. The internships include the admissions office, 

Blackbaud, YMCA, Metanoia, Communities In Schools, and Medical University of South Carolina’s public relations office. While 

having the chance to work with a variety of jobs, I was able to discover what direction I want to steer my career, which is youth. 

My social experience at the College has been an amazing one, as 

have my job opportunities. I have been able to change and grow by 

being more aware of how to interact with people along with participating in multiple organizations and jobs that are part of the campus. These include summer orientation intern, Alpha Kappa Psi 

Business Fraternity, mascot, Ambassador, resident hall assistant, 

and member of the Charleston 40 Tour Guide Association. 

Overall, my years at the College of Charleston’s REACH program 

have been the best years of my life. The simple fact is that I have 

been able to grasp my uniqueness while teaching and learning from 

others around me. Also by being part of this program, I am able 

to be more confident knowing that I can find a career that I love 

and can make a difference. 

Thank you and it is a privilege. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Farrior follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF WILL FARRIOR

Good morning Chairman Harkin and Senator Alexander and other members of 

the committee. I must say what an honor it is to be here talking to you this morning. My name is Will Farrior and I am a 26-year-old senior at the College of 

Charleston’s REACH program. My major at the college is communications. I am 

originally from Brooklyn, NY but was raised in a small town called Ravenel, SC 

about 45 minutes outside Charleston. My disability that I refer as to my uniqueness 

is called Asperger Syndrome. Between the age of 6 and 10 I was just like your average child and student making A’s and B’s while participating in extra-curricular activities. These include Cub Scouts and sports. During the transition stages of me 
13 

going to different schools my parents started to recognize certain signs of me struggling in 5th and 6th grade. The red flags that brought this attention toward them 

included doing homework from 5 p.m. to maybe 12 a.m. or 1 a.m. as well as observing my interactions with peers and adults. 

Eventually, I went to numerous doctors who tried to figure out what my actual 

situation was. It was not until my 8th grade year that I was diagnosed with 

Asperger Syndrome. The Doctor told my parents that I do not have ADD or ADHD. 

Now, I always knew there was something different about me, but I never could figure it out until I got into my late teens. 

I graduated high school in 2006. The following spring semester of my first year 

in college at Trident Tech, was the most dramatic year of my life because my father 

died a month later after my birthday. During that semester I could not seem to concentrate on academics or anything else. While going through a lot I eventually got 

a full-time job which turned out to be the night shift at Charleston Air Force Base 

as a custodian. Then after working with them for about 21⁄2 years, I switched over 

to Super Wal-Mart as a stocker in dairy just for about 7 months. My life then 

changed when I learned about the REACH program. 

My experience at the REACH program has been an amazing one for several different reasons, including the professors, job opportunities, and social activities. During freshmen year I was so fortunate to have the opportunity to learn more about 

my uniqueness by being able to take introduction to psychology and interpersonal 

communications. The professors Dr. May and Dr. McGee were able to give me a better understanding of my uniqueness to grasp it and explain it to others who never 

met me before. The part I enjoyed most about being in the program is that I have 

been able to take a variety of courses that have led me to my passion and field of 

choice. These classes include introduction to education, personal finance, advanced 

personal finance, introduction to business, public speaking, women and gender studies, graphic novel, strategic communication, business ethics, event planning, and 

many others. These courses eventually helped me to enhance my strengths and understand my weaknesses. For example when I was younger I would ramble on and 

on and I would never pick up on body language, or be more concise when talking 

to other individuals. 

The two things that are the second most marvelous part of being in the program 

to me is the job opportunities and social activities that come along with it. In order 

to graduate from the program I have to do seven internships which don’t start until 

your second semester. The internships that I have been able to enjoy are in the Admission office, Black Baud, YMCA, YWCA, Metanoia, Communities In Schools, and 

the Medical University of South Carolina’s Public Relations office. While having the 

chance to work with a variety of jobs, I was able to discover what direction to steer 

my major and career toward in the near future. The career path I have chosen is 

to work with youth from ages 11 and up by helping them make a smooth transition 

from middle school to high school then to college or whatever direction he or she 

may choose to take. 

My social experience at the College of Charleston has been just as amazing as my 

job opportunities. For example being here I have been able to change and grow by 

being more aware of how to interact with other people along with participating in 

multiple organizations and jobs that are part of the campus. These include being 

the first REACH student to be a Summer Orientation Intern, Alpha Kappa Psi 

Business Fraternity member, College of Charleston Mascot, College of Charleston 

Student Ambassador, REACH Ambassador, Residence Hall Assistant, Nominee for 

Homecoming King and member of the Charleston 40 Tour Guide Association. 

Overall, my years here at the College of Charleston’s REACH program have been 

the best years of my life. The simple fact is that I have been able to grasp my 

uniqueness while teaching and learning from others around me. Also having been 

part of this program I am more confident knowing that I can find a career that I 

love and can make a difference. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Mr. Farrior. Are you graduating this 

spring? 

Mr. FARRIOR. Yes, sir. I graduate May 10, 2014. 

The CHAIRMAN. Good for you. OK. 

Senator ALEXANDER. Senator Scott is his graduation speaker. 

The CHAIRMAN. Oh, he is? 

Senator ALEXANDER. Yes. 

The CHAIRMAN. So you are giving the commencement address 

there, eh? 
14 

Senator SCOTT. Unfortunately for him, yes, sir, I am. 

[Laughter.] 

Congratulations. 

Mr. FARRIOR. Thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. Well, make sure you single him out. 

Senator SCOTT. I will do that. 

The CHAIRMAN. Ms. Getzel, welcome. Please proceed. 

STATEMENT OF ELIZABETH EVANS GETZEL, PROJECT DIRECTOR, ACE-IT IN COLLEGE, VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY, RICHMOND, VA 

Ms. GETZEL. Thank you. 

It is a privilege to be here today to discuss the access to postsecondary education for students with disabilities. I have been in 

the field of higher education and disability since 1979, and have 

worked to research and demonstrate effective strategies and supports for college students with disabilities. 

I am the project director of ACE-IT in College, which is an academic and employment preparation program for individuals with 

intellectual disabilities. Our university is 1 of 27 Transition and 

Post-Secondary Education Programs for Students with Intellectual 

Disabilities, or as Senator Harkin said, TPSID. These are model 

demonstration programs that were authorized through the Higher 

Education Act. 

Colleges and universities are seeking models of support for all 

students entering their campuses. Peer mentoring or mentors who 

provide academic support are not uncommon. Internships, cooperative education, or other work experience-based programs are an integral part of all college students’ experiences preparing them to 

compete in the global economy. 

These same types of supports are being used throughout the 

TPSID programs to provide opportunities for students with intellectual disabilities whose access to higher education is extremely limited. 

Model demonstrations pure to TPSID’s are creating opportunities 

for students to develop interests and skills for lifelong learning, 

build a successful resume ́ through internships and paid employment while on campus, and enter integrated competitive employment settings as a result of these experiences. The combination of 

knowledge and skills students gain through these demonstrations 

can serve to enhance their future employment options and lifelong 

earnings. 

For me, a young woman named Susan, one of our most recent 

graduates, comes to mind. Susan earned a special diploma and had 

limited work experience while in high school. She was very clear 

when she entered ACE-IT in College that her career goal was to 

work with children. She took courses in early childhood education, 

worked part-time at our University’s child development center, and 

worked as an intern at a local elementary school. 

The coursework and experiences she gained helped her to develop a strong resume ́, making her more competitive in the workforce. Susan’s experiences echoes the experiences of many other 

students with intellectual disabilities attending college programs 

across the country. 
15 

I look forward to talking further about some of the recommendations that we would like to discuss with you in terms of the continuation of these particular programs because we see them as 

vital for this particular population that typically has limited access 

to many experiences that other individuals are able to have. 

Thank you very much. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Getzel follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF ELIZABETH EVANS GETZEL

Employment rates for all individuals with disabilities can range from 34 percent 

to 39 percent in comparison to the employment rate of 76 percent to 79 percent for 

individuals without disabilities. For individuals with intellectual disabilities, the 

rate of employment has declined over the past 5 years. In 2008, the rate of employment was reported at 28 percent, while recent numbers show it is anywhere from 

18 percent to 23 percent. The downward employment trend in this population will 

not improve until new ways are found to meaningfully integrate these individuals 

into the labor force. 

We know that higher education can lead to a variety of personal and financial 

benefits for all individuals seeking to learn new knowledge and skills. Advanced 

learning can lead to improved outcomes for all individuals; but the impact of higher 

education on individuals with disabilities is particularly evident. Individuals with 

intellectual disabilities who participate in any post-secondary education experience 

(not necessarily earning a degree or certificate) are employed at double the rate of 

those with just a high school diploma. Based on national data gathered by the Rehabilitation Services Administration, young adults with intellectual disabilities who 

participated in post-secondary education were 26 percent more likely to exit their 

vocational rehabilitation program with employment and earned a 73 percent higher 

weekly income. 

In 2008, Congress created a new model demonstration program, the Transition 

and Post-Secondary Education Programs for Students with Intellectual Disability 

(TPSIDs) and an accompanying National Coordinating Center. These programs 

began in 2010 and were awarded to institutes of higher education that sought to 

demonstrate and validate this emerging pathway to increased integrated competitive employment and lifelong learning. Prior to 2008, there was no guidance provided to the field of higher education and disability on programs for individuals with 

intellectual disabilities. The data collected from the 27 Transition and Post-Secondary Education Programs for Students with Intellectual Disability (TPSID) by the 

National Coordinating Center provide the first national picture of how students with 

intellectual disabilities can attend college and derive the same benefits sought and 

achieved by other college students. Since its inception in 2010, the percentage of 

paid jobs held by TPSID participants while in college increased steadily from 30 percent to 36 percent, with the majority of these individuals earning minimum wage 

or higher. Close to half of these students with paid jobs had never worked prior to 

attending their TPSID program. When compared to the previously stated low employment rates, students with intellectual disabilities who attend college far exceed 

these rates, clearly demonstrating that post-secondary education is a viable pathway 

to employment. 

We know that all students with disabilities can benefit from participating in college with the right supports and accommodations, and students with intellectual 

disabilities are no different. We are at a critical juncture for the continuation of the 

Transition and Post-Secondary Education Programs for Students with Intellectual 

Disability. These programs are about increasing the employment and the long-term 

earnings of students with intellectual disabilities. In the past 3 years, data from the 

27 programs are showing increased access to paid employment, internships, and college coursework that can lead to better employment opportunities for individuals 

with intellectual disabilities. Continued funding is necessary to expand and sustain 

access to inclusive higher education in 2- and 4-year colleges, universities and technical schools. It is important that research is conducted to discern both the longterm fiscal impact on higher education institutions, as well as the potential reduction in Federal assistance program dependency as a result of these opportunities. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Ms. Getzel. 

And now we will finish up, Ms. Myers. Welcome. Please proceed. 
16 

STATEMENT OF KATHERINE MYERS, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, 

OFFICE OF DISABILITY SERVICES, WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY, DAYTON, OH 

Ms. MYERS. Good morning, Chairman Harkin, and Ranking 

Member Alexander, and members of the committee. 

Thank you very much for this opportunity to be here this morning to talk about higher education. 

To understand Wright State University and what we do now, it 

is important to have a little bit of our history. The University is 

quite young. We were established in 1967. The Office of Disability 

Services was established in 1970 as a result of the receipt of a 

TRIO Grant to start the program. 

It started out in a dorm room in the only dorm that we had on 

campus. This was before anything was mandated by law. We already had students with physical disabilities on campus because 

the first building that we had was actually built with a flush entrance. So that actually helped to get the first student with a physical disability on the campus. 

As a result of that, a commitment started to provide services to 

students with disabilities. Over the years, as our population has 

changed, we have increased the services and increased our staff. 

We are very fortunate that our commitment is from our top level 

support. We have very strong support and have had since the inception of the department, support from our president, our provost, 

and we are with student affairs, and under our vice president of 

student affairs. So we have very strong support within the University. 

As a young University, the faculty that we had at that time also 

as they were growing with us, they grew with the Department of 

Disability Services. So they were also very much for what we were 

doing and helped us with providing our accommodations. 

We have adjusted our accommodations based on our population. 

When we got our first students with learning disabilities and our 

first students with blindness is when we established our tape center to tape record textbooks into audio formats for our students. 

When I arrived about 20 years ago—it will be 20 years in May— 

I was in charge of the tape center and also in charge of the adaptive technology on the campus. We were reading textbooks at the 

time, but it did not take very long for us to get our first request 

for a scanned book by a student with a physical disability who 

could not manipulate his textbooks. He needed to be able to access 

them on his computer, so we started doing scanned books for him. 

Then we had—I will never forget the day—we had a student 

named Brock, who came into the office who was using our tape recorded books. We also used a service from Recording for the Blind 

and Dyslexic. If they had the books, we did not actually produce 

them ourselves; we ordered them from them. And he came in asking if we had read the book for psychology. He had a physical disability. What was preventing him from succeeding in his classes 

was his attention deficit disorder. It was so significant for him that 

he had a very hard time flipping the tapes over constantly for the 

4-track tapes from Recordings for the Blind. Unfortunately, we had 

not read the book. We had gotten it from them. However, we had 
17 

scanned the book and it was a very rough scan. It was not cleaned 

up. It had not been edited yet and I offered that to him. 

A few days later he came back in and he said, ‘‘For the first time, 

I have been able to study for more than 15 minutes at a time.’’ The 

student went from a very marginal C student to an A/B student 

who graduated with honors from Wright State, went on to get his 

master’s degree, and then complete his Ph.D. That told me we were 

on the right track. 

One of the things as part of our history, too, is the establishment 

of the AHEAD organization. In 1977, the first conference on disabled students on American campuses was held at Wright State 

University. The attendees of that conference formed the Association 

on Handicapped Student Service Programs in Post-Secondary Education. In 1992, the organization was renamed to the Association 

of Higher Education and Disability, also known as AHEAD. This 

is the organization that we use to help us with our guidelines as 

to what kinds of services that we do and the documentation that 

we need. They have done an excellent job of assisting in that realm 

for us, so that we actually have guidelines to follow. 

The program has gone from, in 1970, being in a dorm room with 

one person, to an office suite in our student union with seven professional staff, three support staff. Our professional staff includes 

a psychologist who works on assessing students if needed. She also 

has three School of Professional Psychology practicum students 

that are under her, and help with testing students, and provide 

some mental health counseling. We also have one graduate student 

for the technology center. 

So our growth is great. We have gone from providing just test 

proctoring for students to providing test proctoring that includes 

extra times when needed, computers with both adaptive hardware 

and software. And then we also have note-taking programs for students within the classroom, interpreters in C-Print when needed 

for our students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Our technology 

center provides textbooks in alternative formats that include CD’s 

for them to listen to, text files that they can put on their computers 

to listen to, or a PDF file so they can just look at the materials, 

and Braille. And we do all the formats of Braille, which include the 

regular Grade 2 contracted Braille, computer Braille, foreign language, math, and music. 

It is a great privilege to be here and to share our recommendations on the things that we would like to see happen. Thank you 

very much. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Myers follows:] 

PREPARED STATEMENT OF KATHERINE MYERS

At Wright State University, we provide services to approximately 650 students 

with disabilities. Nationally, roughly 11 percent of college students have disabilities 

and 6 percent request services. Much like other college or university campuses, the 

fastest growing group of students with disabilities is those students on the Autism 

spectrum and those with mental health-related diagnoses. For our students on the 

Autism spectrum, we have developed an academic coaching program. We hire upperlevel undergraduate and graduate students to be mentors; we train them how to 

work with a student on the spectrum, and assign them to new incoming students 

who need improvement in key skill areas. The students can meet with their assigned mentor up to 10 hours per week, working on ‘‘soft skills,’’ such as time management and organization. They might also work on establishing relationships with 
18 

professors and roommates, as well as forging new friendships. We are planning to 

expand this program in the future to include students with mental health-related 

disabilities. 

Other services we have available to eligible Wright State University students registered with our office include: test proctoring (which includes extended time), private testing rooms, computers, speech-to-text software, screen reading software, 

screen enlargement software, document cameras (for enlarging paper exams or 

handwritten notes), scribes, readers, four-function calculators, in-class assistance, 

and copies of notes from peers in the classrooms. We have a comprehensive Technology Center for the production of textbooks and other printed class materials in 

alternative formats. These formats include audio CDs or MP3 files, text files for the 

students to use with their screen reading software, enlargeable PDF files for students with physical disabilities or those with visual impairments, Braille (including 

math Braille [Nemeth code], computer Braille, contracted Braille, foreign language 

Braille, and music Braille), and raised line image enhancement. 

The Office of Disability Services is not the only location on campus providing services to students with disabilities. The Biology Department has an adaptive biology 

lab for students who need extra assistance completing their labs. Campus Recreation is in charge of the adapted recreation program, which includes adapted skiing 

and bowling, and wheelchair basketball. There is a National Science Foundation 

grant directed by a research professor; the program is designed to encourage students with disabilities to go into the STEM fields. This program includes an Ability 

Advisor, who works one-on-one with the students in STEM majors, professional 

mentoring, as well as its own Choose Ohio First Scholarship. 

RECOMMENDATIONS

First, when it comes to working with students on the Autism spectrum and those 

with mental health disabilities, we do not have all of the answers. We need technical assistance in what accommodations and supports are appropriate, both academically and socially. With that kind of assistance, we would be better prepared 

to help these students to be successful in obtaining their college degrees. 

Additionally, although our Technology Center utilizes a textbook clearinghouse 

called AccessText for the majority of our books needing an alternative format, this 

service only provides titles for approximately 60 percent of our textbooks. Students 

who purchase electronic books from publishers or the bookstore usually cannot get 

them to work with their text-to-speech or screen reading software because of the 

graphic nature of the books. Disability Service providers really need the publishers 

to be pushed to provide accessible electronic books. I would encourage the committee 

to review the Department of Education’s AIM (Accessible Instructional Materials) 

Commission’s report and print access issues in Higher Education. 

There also needs to be a greater push for Universal Design for Instruction that 

would include funding to train faculty on different teaching methods that would create accessible course content for all students. If courses are planned & designed to 

be accessible, it would reduce the amount of work needed to provide our students 

with the basic necessities for their courses. Instructors are increasingly utilizing, if 

not completely relying on web-based communications. The Department of Justice is 

currently engaged in rulemaking focused on accessible web design and I encourage 

that those regulations be given a priority. Last, there is a dearth of data on college 

students with disabilities. I would recommend that tracking the number of students 

with disabilities being served be included in the IPEDS Census. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you all very much. Again, we are going 

to try to make this as a general discussion. If people want to just 

break in, kind of break in; I will not do recognitions, just kind of 

jump in. 

I am just going to kick this off. Ms. Myers, I just said that I read 

about Wright State last night. I never heard of this school before. 

So I was reading about all of this last night. 

How big is Wright State now? Tell us. 

Ms. MYERS. It is about 17,000 students. 

The CHAIRMAN. Seventeen thousand. 

Ms. MYERS. Yes, sir. 

The CHAIRMAN. Now, what you are doing there is phenomenal. 

I do not know that it is being done anywhere else. You have this 

Office of Disability Services. 
19 

Ms. MYERS. Yes, sir. 

The CHAIRMAN. You are doing all this stuff. Does that not cost 

a lot of money? 

Ms. MYERS. Yes, sir, it does. 

The CHAIRMAN. Now, how did you get your board or whoever 

runs your school, the college president, how did you convince them 

to provide for this? 

Ms. MYERS. We started out funded for the first 21 years through 

TRIO Grants. 

The CHAIRMAN. What? 

Ms. MYERS. Through TRIO Grants. 

The CHAIRMAN. Oh, TRIO Grants. Yes. 

Ms. MYERS. And at that time, when we lost our TRIO Grants in 

1994, our director at that time went to the administration and to 

the State. The first one was to the administration to make sure 

that we were a line item in the University’s budget. When we had 

the TRIO Grants, we only had two of our staff members who were 

funded through the University, so the entire, all of our salaries 

then became funded through the University. 

We also went to the State and worked with some of the other 

schools within the State to get a line item in the State budget for 

disability services for the other schools. So there is actually a formula based on the types of services, the amount of services that 

you provide, and some of the services that are above and beyond 

what most schools would do. 

The CHAIRMAN. Yes, you do more than I have ever seen, anywhere. 

Ms. MYERS. Those extra services include an adaptive lab for our 

biology program. We also have National Science Foundation 

Grants. One is for a STEM program to encourage students with 

disabilities to go into STEM fields. So we seek out grants. 

We also, the University has a philosophy that whatever we have 

spent over our budget, they will support. 

The CHAIRMAN. Now, all the rest of you, you have heard about 

Wright State? Is that your experience with the schools you went to 

also? Am I missing something? I mean, did they have that kind of 

support services for all the students with disabilities? I do not 

think so, but I do not know. 

What was your experience? It seems like there are all kinds of 

support systems built-in to Wright State. Everything from recruiting to accommodations for textbooks, accommodations even, I understand, for living arrangements. 

Ms. MYERS. Yes, sir. 

The CHAIRMAN. You even have people there to help students with 

disabilities in terms of personal assistance during the day. Is this 

true at your schools too, Ms. Ostrow? 

Ms. OSTROW. Obviously, I am speaking on behalf of students 

with psychiatric disabilities. I think the issues are a bit different 

and although resources are often associated with more success in 

many domains of life, there are some things that money cannot buy 

like compassion. 

I would say in my experience and in the experience of other students that I know through our networks, sometimes it is the informal accommodations as in talking to a professor or an advisor or 
20 

administrator that are more helpful for students than the formal 

ones, obviously in terms of psychiatric disabilities. 

So while I have gotten extended test taking time or a separate 

room, and those things do take resources, sometimes it is the ability to work from home, or to make my own schedule, or take out 

extensions that I negotiate with a professor directly that make 

more of a difference in my life than a separate room to take a test. 

The CHAIRMAN. What we have done in the past in these kinds 

of roundtables, if you want to jump in and say something, take 

your name like that, that way I know if you want to jump in and 

say something. Well, there you go. That is what I mean. OK. Ms. 

Getzel. 

Ms. GETZEL. I think you raise an important question. Support 

services for college students with disabilities do vary a great deal, 

even within a State they can vary a great deal. 

And so it is, I think, that most accommodations that universities 

and colleges provide are sort of some of the standard accommodations: extended time, taking tests in areas where there is no distraction and things like that. 

So there are universities and colleges in all States that, I mean, 

Wright State has had a long history, and I have known about 

Wright State for many, many years and they definitely are a leader 

in this area. There are other schools that are leaders as well, and 

we need to learn more from these leaders because there is such a 

variety. 

What we tell students and which is so critical during the transition process to college, is that they really need to look at what services and supports are provided to find the right match, to really 

look at what is available, not only in coursework, but also in terms 

of supports. And to talk to students with disabilities who have attended various colleges to really get a very, very good idea of that. 

So with all students going, you want to find the college that has 

the programs or courses that you want. With students with disabilities, they have the extra responsibility of looking at what kinds of 

services and supports that they will need to be successful. 

The CHAIRMAN. Ms. Fink. 

Ms. FINK. I have been fortunate to have visited Wright State and 

it definitely is a rare gem among universities. I can say the same 

for my alma mater, the University of Illinois, which had so many 

of the supports that I needed to be successful. Things like assistive 

technology, note-taking, priority registration for your classes so you 

can put them around what might be a challenging schedule with 

healthcare concerns, testing accommodations, tutoring, onsite psychologists, those sorts of things. 

Those accommodations did not stop on the campus either. All of 

their online and distance learning classes were captioned and audio 

described immediately, so anyone who wanted to do remote classes 

could do that equally well. 

And then I think something that is common both for Wright 

State and for the University of Illinois is that comprehensive commitment to inclusion that applies to clear transition services, seeing post-secondary education as that step onto the world of work. 

Things like workshops, having workshops on disability disclosure 

in the workforce. Having career assessments through your dis-
21 

ability service center or working with some of the career transition 

services to work collaboratively with disability student services; it 

is something that I know Wright State does and I know Illinois 

does as well. Bringing in organizations that are looking to recruit 

interns or employees with disabilities, so that is really going that 

next step beyond accommodations in school to accommodations in 

school that will then help you to be successful further in life. 

The CHAIRMAN. Later on. 

Senator Baldwin, did you have something you wanted to interject, before I call on Mr. Farrior? 

STATEMENT OF SENATOR BALDWIN

Senator BALDWIN. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Perhaps just 

broadening the question, this is very much on point with the question you raised, to talk about the transition between high school to 

college, and what institutions of higher learning can provide at 

that moment. 

I was reviewing what is happening in my home State of Wisconsin, and there are two campuses of the University of Wisconsin 

system, Whitewater and Oshkosh, that have looked at this transition from high school to college by deciding to host a targeted summer transition program. At the UW Whitewater campus, it is open 

to any student with any type of disability, and the program enrolls 

about 65 students annually and consists of two college courses for 

six credits, peer mentors, social activities, access and training to 

adaptive technology, and intensive case management. 

As I understand it, the National Longitudinal Transitional Study 

notes that students with disabilities are graduating college at a national rate of about 34 percent from 4-year degree programs. This 

UW Whitewater program is lifting that up to about 48 percent in 

6 years. 

But I am wondering what your thoughts are from your variety 

of experiences about transitional models to help increase the success at the higher educational institution. 

The CHAIRMAN. Anybody? Mr. Farrior, did you want to get involved in that or Ms. Myers? I know you still wanted to have an 

interjection here. I saw your card up. What did you want to say? 

Mr. FARRIOR. Just to go along with what these ladies have said 

is actually true. They do actually have their services on a variety 

of campuses. But it is my understanding, from my perspective, 

helping students that are transitioning as from my orientation end 

time perspective, they do have the accommodations. There is one 

woman that actually needed the assistance for her residence hall 

being that she was blind, and had a seeing eye dog, and they made 

accommodations for her to live in an all-girls residence hall. And 

they actually—it is just an to-each-his-own campus that allows students, when they do register early, the option to register early, as 

when they get accepted, they make appointments to speak with the 

staff services, so. 

The CHAIRMAN. Ms. Myers, did you have a specific response to 

Senator Baldwin? 

Ms. MYERS. Yes, sir. I do. 

The CHAIRMAN. Yes, sure. 
22 

Ms. MYERS. Transition from high school is very difficult for a lot 

of students, and it is something that we recognize, and we do actively recruit students. And we have tried working with some of 

the high schools to see if there can be better transition for them. 

And we have also sought out a number of grants to help us get into 

those high schools to help those students and establish some summer programming, which we have not been successful in doing. 

But one of the things that we do because we know that that transition is difficult, our students who we consider to be our greatest 

at-risk students, we do some extra programming for. 

We actually have an academic coach program where we hire 

upper level and graduate students to work with incoming students, 

particularly on the autism spectrum. We know that they have a 

very difficult time, especially socially, and dealing with the soft 

skills, the time management, getting their homework done because 

nobody is telling them to do that. 

The coaches can work with a student up to 10 hours a week to 

provide them with support, and this is a program that we are 

wanting to expand and looking to do to expand to our students 

with psychiatric-type disabilities in the very near future. 

We also, because of the limitations that we have with student 

employees as far as being able to do the coaching part, there are 

students particularly with attention deficit disorder and some of 

our multiply-disabled students. We do what we call one-on-one support. We target them when we do their pre-service interview as 

students that we need to meet with on a regular basis. 

One of our staff members will then meet with the student, usually weekly during their first semester. If they are doing really well 

after their first semester, we start spacing that out to every 2 

weeks, so that the student eventually becomes more independent. 

This gives us constant contact with the student, so we can better 

know if they are having trouble. They are more likely—because 

they are actually establishing a relationship with someone—because some of these students are hesitant to do that. They need to 

have someone that they can count on to actually be their counselor 

that they can meet with all the time, and not be thrown from one 

person to another to another. This counselor helps to make sure 

that they are actually plugged-in to our services, along with 

plugged-in to the tutoring services, our writing center, the other 

services that we offer on the campus to all students. 

That is a difficult piece and really needs to be addressed, and 

worked on a much more intense basis. 

The CHAIRMAN. Ms. Ostrow. 

Ms. OSTROW. To answer your question about transition, I think 

there are at least two groups of students here. 

One is those students, like myself, who had disabilities in high 

school and then are transitioning as students with disability to college. And the other are people who start experiencing difficulties 

in college, and there are very different challenges there, I think, for 

students who are coming from a high school, and is already disabled. There is more the internalized shame and stigma that they 

can experience transitioning to college. 

For students that start having problems in college, it is maybe 

not knowing what it is that they have to do in terms of what docu-
23 

mentation is required, which can often be extremely onerous, and 

facilitating those kinds of interactions. I would think decreasing 

the burden on students of documenting a disability, like having to 

go through for psychiatric disabilities, or the mental health system 

in order to get educational accommodation does not make that 

much sense to me. 

On the issue of sort of targeting at-risk students, that can be perceived very differently by people or, in fact, be carried out very differently. There is a lot of stigma about violence in people with mental illnesses, especially now and especially on campuses. As one of 

those students, I do not particularly want to be targeted by the 

school administration or mental health counselors. That just increases anxiety and paranoia, which can lead to more difficulties 

in educational achievement. But at the same time, I do think it is 

helpful to have someone consistently there that you trust that you 

can seek guidance from, whether it is a peer, or a faculty member, 

or someone in the counseling center, or just disabled student services. 

The CHAIRMAN. Yes. 

Ms. EMREY-ARRAS. Just to piggyback off of what Ms. Ostrow was 

saying about populations that may have disabilities for the first 

time when they go to college. 

I think it is important for us to think about veterans coming 

back from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of them 

coming back with sort of those invisible wounds of traumatic brain 

injury, PTSD, and having those disabilities in an academic setting 

for the first time. 

In our work, we did find that some schools are providing services 

specifically for the veteran population. Some have mental health 

counselors that are trained in those issues to specifically treat veterans. And we have made recommendations to the Department of 

Veterans Affairs to help share best practices amongst colleges to 

serve that population. 

The CHAIRMAN. Ms. Fink. 

Ms. FINK. I think programs like what you have mentioned are 

critical for all students, including students with disabilities, but 

also in particular, for students with disabilities, transition cannot 

start when we turn 18. This is a burden in the school systems and 

looking at some of our current systems like voc rehab and Social 

Security to look at where that transition process can start when we 

are 14, 15. It should not be when I am trying to look at schools 

and saying, ‘‘Oh, this is where my sister went to school. It is not 

going to work for me. What do I do now?’’ And that actually was 

something that we have seen really delay a lot of the educational 

practices of students with disabilities who end up having a larger 

gap process in between high school and college. 

The CHAIRMAN. Yes. 

Ms. GETZEL. There has been a lot of research, and demonstration, and work around transition. And we know that academic 

preparation and understanding of what the higher education system is like. There is very little communication between higher education and secondary education. They are two different systems. 

What happens with students coming out of high school with disabilities, if they do not understand that what they were entitled 
24 

through IDEA is now ended, and they go into an eligibility process 

now in terms of what the accommodations are, that the accommodations at college are for access. And just the whole notion of 

what types of supports they need. 

We have been running a program since early 2000 and it is ACEIT in College. We have been adapting this model for a number of 

years. We have worked with students who have cross disabilities. 

They are college students coming to us for those supports that they 

need in terms of above and beyond what they are getting from a 

disability support service. We work very closely with them. But we 

have been working with veterans. We have been working with a 

variety of students. 

Again, it comes back to an understanding of what that transition 

means, and we focus a lot on that big transition which is very important, to be knowledgeable families to have transition planning. 

We feel that the whole transition planning for post-school outcomes 

should begin in middle school and even started to be discussed in 

elementary school all the way up. And that should be for all students, but in particular students with disabilities because they do 

end up at 18 saying, ‘‘What am I going to do? What is happening?’’ 

So it is very, very critical for that. 

We have found that students that come to us for support are unaware of how their disability impacts their learning, and what they 

do need. And self-determination is a very big movement now going 

through secondary education to really know all parts of you. Too 

often, students are only known by their disability label, which is 

unfortunate and not looking at their skills and abilities. And we 

are finding this especially with students with intellectual disabilities, but it does run the gamut with students. 

And it is very important to look because supports and services 

do vary so widely across post-secondary institutions that it is so 

important for students to really look at what that transition is, ‘‘Do 

I have the academic preparation? What are the supports and services?’’ and really get a good grasp of that. We call that our first big 

transition. 

The second big one is getting out of college, and retention and 

graduation rates, especially for students with disabilities, is not 

that great. We need to continue to improve that. We looked at what 

some of the causes are, and some of the causes are the lack of 

available services, or financial difficulties, or personal issues, that 

kind of thing. 

So when we looked at our ACE-IT in College and did a study 

with students with learning disabilities, and ADHD, and we have 

also done it with traumatic brain injury, we found that that type 

of support along with all the resources on campus, many times, 

students do not know what is available to them on campus. 

But I think one of the things that distresses me the most is that 

we really need to be working with students with disabilities, in 

particular, to really work on strengths, interests, and what are 

those accommodations or supports they need. Because when they 

come to us, we say to them, ‘‘What are your strengths?’’ and oftentimes these students are dumbfounded to list it. If you say, ‘‘What 

do you believe are your weaknesses?’’ I mean, they can say those 

things right away. 
25 

We want to look at a holistic picture of these particular students. 

And when we say, ‘‘How does your disability impact your learning?’’ 

oftentimes there is a difficulty in understanding that. 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Farrior, did you have something you wanted 

to add to this? 

Mr. FARRIOR. Actually, I have to agree with Ms. Getzel because 

from my transitioning, I have gone throughout from school to 

school to school to school to find what works for me. It goes along 

when you said you have to go middle school, I feel like it needs to 

start in elementary, roughly about fourth to fifth grade because 

when you are making that transition from elementary to middle 

school, you are trying to figure out where do you fit and where do 

you belong? Where is your voice, where you can advocate for yourself, because not everybody is going to have that support system. 

The CHAIRMAN. That is right. 

Mr. FARRIOR. So that is where you need to start; the earlier, the 

better. 

The CHAIRMAN. Yes, I am sorry. Ms. Myers. 

Ms. MYERS. To piggyback on what Ms. Ostrow said about students with psychiatric disabilities, it is important for students to 

understand who knows what their diagnosis is. One of the things 

that we have done at Wright State is it is all centralized in our office. We emphasize to the students that the knowledge of their disability is confidential. 

We do not reveal to faculty, if they call us about a student, what 

the disability is. We will confirm what the accommodations are for 

that student, and students do have an accommodation sheet that 

they can show their faculty. And we encourage students to get to 

know their faculty on a personal level, be visible to their faculty, 

go to them during office hours. They do not have to tell them what 

their actual disability is, but to try to talk with them about it, 

about themselves and the things that they actually have difficulties 

with, so that they also are learning how to self-advocate for themselves. 

We will step in whenever we need to. If we need to set-up a 

meeting between the student and the faculty, go with them if they 

are concerned about actually talking to a faculty member on their 

own, so that they can actually get buy-in from their faculty about 

the kinds of needs that they have. 

Then the other thing is what Ms. Getzel was saying about transition beyond college. We actually have a vocational support coordinator on our staff who works with students and starts talking to 

them at the very beginning about internships. 

One of the things that we have seen with students with disabilities is they do not have the same opportunity to build their 

resume ́ as a lot of other students do. They are not apt to even go 

to McDonald’s and flip hamburgers. Some of them do not have the 

ability to do that, so how are they going to build their resume ́, and 

especially build it within the area of their interest. 

So we work with them and start looking at internship opportunities. We work with the Workforce Recruitment Program that is for 

Federal employment. We actually have a job fair at our University 

that is strictly for individuals with disabilities, and they are all employers who are actually looking to hire people with disabilities. 
26 

And again, they do not know what the disability is. A lot of it is 

non-obvious, but they know that the people who are coming into 

that career fair actually do have a disability. 

We work with the students on mock interviewing. We actually 

have a company that came in, has started working with our students in the last month, coming in and doing mock interviews with 

quite a few of our students to help prepare them for these kinds 

of things. 

We work with them on their resume ́. We work with our career 

services department at Wright State as well, within the kind of employment type opportunities they have. And their job fairs and the 

workshops that they do, so we are not duplicating effort, but trying 

to make sure our students are included in those, and that they 

know that they are welcome to go there. 

They understand when it is appropriate to identify disability and 

it depends very much on what the disability is. Sometimes you do 

not have to identify. That is not an issue and we want the students 

to understand, ‘‘If you do not need accommodation, you do not necessarily need to identify your disability.’’ Having that ability to 

work with them helps a lot. 

We feel in our University that if a student comes in and we do 

not work with them on building those kinds of skills so that they 

can go to work when they leave us, and that includes technology, 

as to what kinds of things they need, we have not done our job 

right if they cannot be able to be hired when they leave. 

The CHAIRMAN. Senator Casey, something that you wanted? I am 

sorry, Ms. Ostrow, you wanted to add something before I call—— 

Ms. OSTROW. I would certainly like to applaud efforts by the Federal Government and the private sector for initiatives to hire people with disabilities. I was encouraged to not finish college, so I 

guess I feel like our day has come because if employers want to 

hire us, then we need to graduate. 

At the same time, I do not think we can emphasize enough that 

there is a lot of heterogeneity between schools and between States. 

I think some of the things you were talking about are wonderful, 

but not available everywhere. 

In the context of disclosing with a psychiatric disability, yes, you 

do not need to disclose to disabled student services or faculty if you 

do not have an accommodation. At the same time, institutions of 

higher education, not just education but communities, where you 

want people to know you, to know who you are, and what you are 

about. And for a lot of people, that is identifying to some extent 

with having a disability, or what your story is, or what you bring 

to the table, again, in this context of employment for people with 

disabilities. But there are risks there and you have to know the environment. 

I think it would be great if all of our schools were safe for people 

with disabilities to disclose, to be open about our identities and 

what we can bring. But sadly, that is not the case. 

The CHAIRMAN. As we continue this discussion, this is all good 

information, keep in mind, what is our role, what is the Federal 

Government’s role? What do we need to do in higher education? 
27 

In 2008, in that last reauthorization, we put in the TPSID program, and then we funded it. I did not know there were 27 of the 

programs out there. Mr. Farrior, you are in one of those also. 

In our new reauthorization, what should we be thinking about? 

Senator ALEXANDER. And if you could add to that, have you run 

into anything on your campuses that the Federal Government is 

doing that makes it harder for you to provide the kind of services 

and support that you would like to support? This is a good time. 

Sometimes we unintentionally do things like that. 

The CHAIRMAN. Did you have something too, Senator Casey? 

STATEMENT OF SENATOR CASEY

Senator CASEY. I do. 

Mr. Chairman, first of all, thank you for having this and our 

Ranking Member, Senator Alexander, we are grateful you have 

convened this. We have a lot of hearings around here that we have 

clocks and time deadlines. Senators love when there is no clock. We 

can go, but it is a much better conversation than we often have, 

and we are grateful for this. 

I missed a good portion of this discussion, probably about the 

first 40 to 45 minutes, so some of what I might ask about or what 

you might speak to will be redundant, and I apologize for that. 

But I want to start with Ms. Fink. I just have really, maybe for 

Ms. Fink and Mr. Farrior; is that how you pronounce it? 

Mr. FARRIOR. Yes, sir. 

Senator CASEY. Thank you. This is not a very important question, but one I have to ask. You played wheelchair basketball. How 

did your team do? 

Ms. FINK. We won two national championships my freshman and 

sophomore year, which was more than the able-bodied team did 

those years. I love my team, but we are struggling a bit. 

Senator CASEY. Now, what position did you play? 

Ms. FINK. Small forward. 

Senator CASEY. So, did you score a lot? 

Ms. FINK. Not as much as I would like. 

Senator CASEY. I like you better now, because that is where I always was when I played basketball. I always wanted to score more, 

so we have a real kinship. 

Ms. FINK. Oh, defense wins games. 

Senator CASEY. Let me ask you, in your testimony, there was one 

point that you made about SSI. You say, 

‘‘For me, SSI played a strong role in helping me achieve my 

educational goals. However, for too many people, it becomes a 

lifelong parking lot.’’ 

You may have addressed some of this before. I just want to get 

a better understanding of what you meant by that. 

The CHAIRMAN. Can I just interject something? Do not forget this 

question. I thought maybe this was a follow on to that. This is a 

little bit different aspect of that. 

I know some of you wanted to respond to Senator Alexander, because his question was, I think, very important. Are there things 

we are doing that hinder the success of colleges in terms of sup-
28 

porting students with disabilities? Some of you have put up your 

name tags. 

Ms. Ostrow, you put yours up, then we get to Senator Casey’s 

question. 

Senator CASEY. Sure. 

The CHAIRMAN. Yes. 

Ms. OSTROW. We have lovely laws in this country to protect civil 

rights. Unfortunately, I think, for students, these laws have very 

little teeth. The Americans with Disabilities Act, HIPAA, FERPA, 

are often not, in reality, protected by these things, but our privacy 

is not necessarily protected under FERPA or HIPAA whether it is 

in an educational setting or in campus health services. I think, 

sadly, there is little we can actually do about that. Those laws address other problems, perhaps. 

I think building stronger self-advocacy and advocacy networks 

for students and families where they can address these problems 

and prevent them would be even better. I know we are talking 

about one bill here, I think, a number of things can be done to improve a number of different bills in terms of their implementation 

of protecting students’ civil rights. 

The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Farrior, yes. Did you have a response to Senator Alexander’s point? 

Mr. FARRIOR. Yes, sir. 

To go along with that, I notice with different programs, the hard 

thing is for the comparison of in-state versus out-of-state tuition. 

Where we are not allowed, we are not able, excuse me, we are not 

able to apply for certain grants and certain funding because of 

what the criteria are under the Federal laws of going to post-secondary programs. So that limits students to continue to stay in 

school and find other opportunities. 

So it is more with the financial sustainability to what goes along 

with what can we apply for and what can we not. 

The CHAIRMAN. You had a response also, Ms. Myers. 

Ms. MYERS. Yes, sir. 

Senator ALEXANDER. Also, Ms. Myers, what percent of students 

have disabilities at your University? 

Ms. MYERS. I think it is about 2 percent; 2 or 3 that are revealed 

to us. 

We have students on the campus with disabilities that we do not 

know anything about because of the accessibility that we have. A 

lot of them might be low level, have low-level spinal cord injuries, 

or paraplegia, or they are working with their professors themselves. So we have another couple percent that are in that category 

as well. 

Senator ALEXANDER. But the statistics say that 10 percent of college students are students with disabilities and only 2 percent of 

yours are? 

Ms. MYERS. A lot of them do not want to reveal to us. Students 

with learning disabilities, and students with psychiatric disabilities, and veterans do not like to reveal to people. These are students who do not want to come through our door because they have 

dealt a lot with stigmas in high school, and they are very much 

afraid that they are going to be dealing with those same kinds of 

stigmas when they come to college. They do not understand that 
29 

a college like ours, we are very open to students with any type of 

disability, that we do not stigmatize our students and our faculty 

does not. 

The CHAIRMAN. Can I interrupt? Again, you had your placard up. 

Senator Alexander asked a very keen question, and that is, are 

there things that inhibit? There are always paperwork burdens and 

regulations, Mr. Farrior mentioned that. 

Is there something else that you had in mind that maybe hinder 

or put undue burdens on colleges who really want to recruit and 

support students with disabilities? 

Ms. MYERS. Students who have Medicaid waivers who want to 

come from a different State have a very difficult time getting that 

transferred from one State to another, and their State might not 

support them in another State with their waiver. 

Students on SSI are very concerned that if they actually take an 

internship, are they going to lose their SSI money? We have to 

make sure that the waivers are low enough that that is not a risk. 

That is really not fair to the students. 

Students who get vocational rehabilitation support, the instant 

their GPA goes below a 2.0, they do not have support in college. 

Other students can fail, and then come back, and not be penalized 

for it. Yet a student with a disability runs the risk of being penalized if they are a student, first, unlike their peers. They have to 

do a level of work higher than other students to be able to maintain their supports, which is something that really is difficult for 

the student, and they are constantly worried about, ‘‘Am I going to 

lose my support if I do not do well in a class?’’ 

Senator CASEY. Can I just ask? How do we best rectify that? 

The CHAIRMAN. Yes, you were getting onto that point with your 

question. 

Ms. MYERS. Well, I think in the two areas with SSI for them to 

recognize that internships are important for students to be able to 

eventually gain employment and not be on SSI anymore. And they 

are doing a summer internship, they should not be pulling their 

support just because they have made a little bit above what they 

should, what they need to. So that needs to be something recognized by SSI. 

With voc rehab, there should not be a ‘‘one strike and I am not 

supporting you anymore’’ in college. They will support them for 

other things, but not college. So voc rehab needs to understand 

these young people, 18-, 19-, 20-year-olds are young people and 

they struggle like other students. They have classes they do well 

in; they have classes they do not. And to have this one strike ruling 

that, ‘‘I am not going to support you in college,’’ really needs to be 

changed. 

The CHAIRMAN. Obviously, if you are on SSDI, the law has been 

so since 1959 or something, we encourage people to work who are 

on SSDI. It is a fallacy, a lot of people do not know; they think if 

you get SSDI, you should not work at all. Right now, you can earn 

up to $1,070 a month. You can earn up to $1,070 a month and still 

get SSDI. 

Well, I can see that if you have a college student who is on SSDI, 

who maybe goes out and gets a summer job, makes more than 
30 

$1,070 a month, they get cut off of that even though they are not 

making a lot of money for the year. 

Ms. MYERS. Right. 

The CHAIRMAN. They are making just a couple of months of summer work, and they get cut off of SSDI. So is that a problem? Is 

that what you are talking about? 

Ms. MYERS. Yes, I am, and they are not on SSDI. They are on 

SSI usually because they have not worked before. The SSDI is for 

people who have actually worked previously. 

The CHAIRMAN. They have worked before, that is right. 

Ms. MYERS. So these are students who come in on SSI, which is 

for students with disabilities, people with disabilities who have 

never worked. 

The CHAIRMAN. They never paid into the system. 

Ms. MYERS. Right. They have not paid into the system. They get 

lower amounts of money for support in the first place, and they are 

at great risk for having that pulled if they make over that in 1 

month. It is not something that is looked at on an annual basis; 

it is looked at on a monthly basis. 

The CHAIRMAN. A monthly basis. See, that is a problem. I have 

not thought about that. It is interesting. 

Did you want to re-state again? 

Senator CASEY. No, I just want to make sure that Ms. Fink, the 

answer to the question, is that? 

Ms. FINK. I am going to attempt to answer both your question 

and Senator Alexander’s question at one time. 

Senator CASEY. OK. 

Ms. FINK. I think they do kind of combine together in my experience. 

I think as I mentioned in my opening statement, I received a 

wheelchair basketball scholarship to the University of Illinois, 

which supplemented by some academic scholarships as well as 

some hard-fought voc rehab support, which I will get to in just a 

minute. It made my education marginally cost-free. So this was a 

massive financial burden lifted from my family, but of course had 

other costs, living expenses, very specific healthcare costs that necessitated I establish eligibility for Social Security, for SSI; I am 

sorry, Supplemental Security Income and Medicaid which went 

along with that. And that provided me with my necessary 

healthcare coverage throughout school, as well as somewhat of an 

extra income to support me beyond that point. But it also simultaneously limited my assets to $2,000; limited my access to $2,000 

per month with SSI in order to maintain my Medicaid and my SSI 

there. 

So our programs that are in place like Ticket to Work and PASS 

Plan, that are trying to alleviate some of these issues are not quite 

hitting the nail right yet. 

The CHAIRMAN. Dana, let me ask you a question. 

Ms. FINK. Yes. 

The CHAIRMAN. That $2,000 that varies by State, does it not? 

Ms. FINK. It does and that actually creates some of the issues. 

Switching, I went to school, I am originally from Georgia and then 

I went to school in Illinois, and had to switch beyond that point, 

and then I came here to do an internship in Washington, DC. That 
31 

created other issues where I could lose my healthcare coverage just 

for doing an internship here, and then I studied abroad, and there 

were different State by State regulations about where I could lose 

my Medicaid and lose my SSI in that respect as well. And it is so 

complex each State. We could have an entire hearing on what some 

of these issues are with SSI. 

To answer Senator Alexander’s question about some of the Federal Government institutional barriers, I would definitely echo 

what some folks have said about voc rehab. Me and my family, we 

really believe in early transitions. So when I was in high school, 

as soon as I could, I enrolled in the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Services. This is a pretty good story, so I will tell it as quickly 

as I can, but I think everyone will enjoy this. 

I was assigned a VR counselor and they asked me what I wanted 

to do when I grew up which, at the time, I wanted to be a journalist. And I told him that and he said that I would not be a candidate for services because of that specific career choice. He then 

gave an example if I wanted to be a piano teacher and I was missing an arm, then voc rehab could support me by providing me with 

a prosthetic arm. At which point my mother said, ‘‘Well, what if 

she wanted to be a tap dancer?’’ And he said, ‘‘Yes, then you would 

be a candidate for services.’’ Which is just unbelievable, and it is 

not what those supports are trying to do. It is not what they should 

be doing. There is such a lack of knowledge. We, at the time, also 

did not know that I could seek recourse in these instances. 

There is the Client Assistance Program which can support you 

if you need, if you are having issues with your voc rehab. I had to 

go to court and petition to get a new counselor. I got a new counselor, and then there were issues when I said I wanted to go to the 

University of Illinois, and they were supposed to pay for me what 

I would have received to go to an in-state school at the out-of-state 

school, and they refused to do that. Because at Georgia, there is 

the HOPE Scholarship which, if you have a 3.0 GPA, you largely 

get tuition free and so, they were supposed to provide equivalent 

services at Illinois, and they wanted to penalize me for that even 

though it was a merit-based scholarship. And then at that point, 

my family would have been responsible for that cost burden. 

The CHAIRMAN. Ms. Emrey-Arras, did you have any comments on 

what Senator Casey asked? 

Ms. EMREY-ARRAS. Yes. In terms of what we can do about this, 

I think, at GAO, we have reported on the lack of coordination 

across Federal agencies, and I think some of these issues have 

come up just now in terms of eligibility criteria being different and 

the like. 

We have made a recommendation for a single, formal, Governmentwide strategy specifically focused on the transition for students with disabilities. Not only to colleges, but also to the labor 

force, and we have made that recommendation to the Departments 

of Education, Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Social 

Security Administration. And that recommendation is still open. So 

that has not happened as of yet, but we think it is a critical one. 

Senator CASEY. Mr. Farrior, I know you were going to say something, but let me just ask, and I will be done with this. I know we 

have others who are waiting. 
32 

As someone who was diagnosed with Asperger’s, I guess you 

were in eighth grade at the time? 

Mr. FARRIOR. Yes. Yes, sir. 

Senator CASEY. So you were getting, moving closer to adulthood. 

And when you consider your own experience now in higher education, and you may have already answered this in light of what 

Senator Alexander asked, but if you had to line up one, two, three, 

even one or two things you hope we would do to make your experience better if you had to be doing it all over again, what would 

those one or two things be? 

Mr. FARRIOR. The first thing to go along with what Ms. Myers 

said and Ms. Getzel, is to have the support system in the public 

school as well as private schools to bringing attention to students 

like, ‘‘OK. This is what you have. How can we help you?’’ Because 

when I was going through different school systems, I did not even 

know about Asperger’s. It took me, like I said, to about age 14 just 

to understand what I had to transition to. 

So to go along with that, I met a third grader parents whose actually said to him, ‘‘Do not tell them. Do not tell them you have 

Asperger’s.’’ But he gave a whole presentation about this to his 

classmates, and to students, and peers, and teachers to actually 

understand to help him better succeed. So it needs to go along once 

you find, once a student is actually found out that they have it, 

they should find ways in the school system to be able to help them 

succeed. 

In sixth grade, I was turned down because I got diagnosed—actually in Washington, but each State is different. I was actually denied because I actually got tested in Washington, but I was supposed to be tested in South Carolina and they do not take out-ofstate testing. So they should be actually reasonable to figure out 

what accommodations they can make from different States because 

not every psychiatrist is going to find the proper diagnosis for that 

individual. 

Along with the point you are asking, how we can make a difference is just basically like I said before. Really advocate for the 

students along the way, going along with Senator Alexander, is 

that finding out what is eligible because of what Ms. Myers said. 

I actually talked to other students, traditional students that have 

lost their life scholarship that freshman year because of playing 

around. 

I lost my scholarship when I was at Trident because I actually 

went down from a 3.5 to a 1.5 to where an individual asked, ‘‘How 

can you get a 3.5 and need all this accommodation? That does not 

make sense.’’ Basically, the statement was that I was actually incompetent, so it is just actually having the assistance to succeed. 

Senator CASEY. Thank you. 

The CHAIRMAN. Senator Murray, did you have something to say? 

STATEMENT OF SENATOR MURRAY

Senator MURRAY. Mr. Chairman, thank you. 

Thank you to all of our panelists. I had an opportunity to listen 

to some of this while I was in my office, but this is really a great 

discussion. I really appreciate all of your courage in coming for-
33 

ward, especially the students that are here as well. I had one general question. 

For a lot of individuals including many of our newly acquired disability veteran students, they have challenges related to documentation. And I wondered if any of the students could comment 

on that challenge, and what we need to be looking at. 

Ms. OSTROW. For certain disability categories, I sense that it is 

a lot easier than for others. If you have a physical disability or a 

sensory disability, documentation may not even be required in 

some instances by certain disability services offices. 

For those of us with psychiatric or learning disabilities, it is a 

much more complex process. I am told that I have bipolar disorder. 

To my knowledge, there is no test for having bipolar disorder. So 

what documentation should I produce to get accommodation? Even 

if I understand perfectly what it is, but I need it in terms of accommodations. 

I think another problem is that you are required to be involved 

with mental health providers in order to get accommodation. You 

are seeking accommodations in education or work, not within the 

mental health system. 

In addition to that, accessing those services is, in itself, a barrier. 

You are talking about weeks or months where you are waiting to 

meet with a mental health provider in order to get documentation, 

and then after that provided to disabled student services so that 

their ADA compliance office can approve it. And then from there, 

have them contact faculty to assemble the accommodations. I 

mean, we are talking several weeks into a semester where you 

have already missed a mid-term or several assignments before anything even happens. 

Senator MURRAY. Mr. Farrior. 

Mr. FARRIOR. Can you repeat the question? 

Senator MURRAY. I wanted to know what your challenges or challenges that you know about in terms of documentation. 

Mr. FARRIOR. Documentation for myself, for others—and it is different for each individual—has been finding out, going back to past 

testing to different States to where you can, what States are going 

to offer what testing. As well as finding out what they need. 

For example, I actually needed a small class size, along with authorization to take my test outside of the classroom. And you really 

have to wait until you’re actually accepted by the college, to my 

knowledge, to start the process. 

Senator MURRAY. Ms. Fink, you wanted to comment? 

Ms. FINK. I think this goes back to the issues of students not 

knowing how their rights change when they go from being covered 

under IDEA to then ADA in higher education. 

I have had my physical disability since birth and had done quite 

a lot of advocacy and self-advocacy for myself and for others, and 

been so proud to be a person with a disability throughout this 

whole process. And then I got hit sophomore year of college with 

mental health concerns and I had no idea what to do with this. I 

did not have an understanding of what disability disclosure even 

was because I usually, I walk into a room and people know what 

my disability is. I do not have to disclose necessarily. That can be 

a challenging process for students with invisible disabilities to 
34 

know what specifically they do have to disclose in order to get accommodation. 

And then it also goes back to the issue of paperwork, needed paperwork focusing more on the diagnosis rather than what the 

needs and the accommodations are. So, I mean, we talk about what 

are the strengths, and dreams, and everything that we have for 

ourselves. The accommodation should be, focus on what are the 

strengths and how do we get to those dreams rather than, ‘‘This 

is a person who has bipolar disorder, who has Asperger’s, and these 

are the things that people with bipolar disorder and people with 

Asperger’s need.’’ It is not that one-size-fits-all approach, which is 

what tends to happen when we are submitting this paperwork to 

higher education institutions. 

Senator MURRAY. Ms. Getzel, you wanted to comment. 

Ms. GETZEL. Yes. Documentation issues are a very long-term 

issue for students with disabilities, and part of that is that transition into higher education where they are under different laws. 

I think that even within a State or even within a college that 

could be 10 miles apart from each other, each institution has a different way of interpreting and what they require for documentation. So that makes a family and students really have to understand what that process is, what needs to be involved, and that can 

be very time consuming. 

It is also a financial barrier for many students, especially students who come from various economic backgrounds who may not 

be able to—it is very expensive to get the testing necessary. 

Another issue is that many students who have been coming 

through the secondary education system have had all kinds of tests 

and work around what their disability is, what accommodations, 

and that kind of thing. And yet, we have many institutions of higher education that will not look at or accept that type of documentation like an IEP or a summary of performance. So that is also difficult. 

Why would someone who has had a long occurring disability all 

of a sudden need to get retesting? It is that whole adult norms and 

those types of issues that are brought up. 

I do have to say, though, that the Association on Higher Education and Disability has really been trying to work on this a great 

deal, and we are seeing somewhat of a shift, not all colleges and 

universities, it varies widely. But some are not asking for the documentation as the first thing out the gate. They talk with the student, ‘‘What accommodations did you use? How do you learn best?’’ 

that kind of thing. 

As they go on further, they then work on what accommodations 

are provided at the college, which brings it more to a discussion, 

more of students coming and saying, ‘‘This is what I need. This is 

how I learn best,’’ which is so important from elementary school or 

preschool on up that students with disabilities really understand 

that. 

With acquired disabilities, we have worked with students—in the 

middle of their situation in college, a number of times—we have 

worked with students in the middle of their internship, they receive a diagnosis, and now they are on the clock because they have 

to finish their internship or go to graduation, and that kind of 
35 

thing. And that can be very stressful for students. So there is 

sometimes very little leeway for students with acquired disabilities 

or that have not been diagnosed previously in terms of what systems they do use. 

With veterans, we work with veterans with PTSD, and traumatic 

brain injury, and spinal cord injury. And there are so many competing responsibilities that these individuals have coming into college that even the transition to college is difficult, and coming into 

what they need to be doing. And then what stigma do they feel in 

terms of letting their unit down by acknowledging that they have 

a disability. There is a whole realm of issues that are very specific 

to veterans as well in higher education. 

The CHAIRMAN. Ms. Myers, do you want to comment? 

Ms. MYERS. You had mentioned veterans and Ms. Getzel mentioned veterans. At Wright State, we have a large group of veterans on the campus because we have a very large VA hospital in 

our area, and we are also adjacent to Wright Patterson Air Force 

Base. So a lot of veterans do come to our area. 

One of the problems that they have, though, is getting their documentation from the VA. It is, and I really hate to say it this way, 

but it is a very convoluted system for them. We have a veteran we 

have been working with recently who, I have told his voc rehab 

counselor, I do not even need to know his diagnosis. I just want his 

limitations. I need to know because what he has presented to us 

does not give us any kind of long-term disability information. 

Senator MURRAY. Because he does not have a rating from the 

VA? 

Ms. MYERS. He has a rating from the VA. We know he has a disability and we have told them, ‘‘We are not questioning that.’’ So 

that we know best how to help this student, we need to know what 

his actual limitations are. 

Senator MURRAY. So the VA is not giving you that? 

Ms. MYERS. No, they have not. And for the student to try to get 

this information because they have changed his doctor, so that 

takes time. And getting back to his counselor takes time, even by 

e-mailing the counselor sometimes you do not get responses back. 

So the VA does not make it easy at all for our veterans to be able 

to go to college and be successful. 

This is also a hard group to reach out to because they do not 

want to admit they need any assistance. OK. So they finally get to 

that point where they are, ‘‘OK. I need some help. I really do. I 

have got to get some help from disability services,’’ and then the 

VA is not helping them to get anything that will help us to provide 

their accommodations. 

Now, we have gone ahead in this particular case, and we are providing him with a private room to take his test in because that is 

one of the big things that he really needed. That is not a big deal. 

We will go ahead and do that, while we wait to get everything else 

on him. 

Senator MURRAY. Yes. 

Ms. MYERS. But they do not make it easy. 

The CHAIRMAN. Interesting. Ms. Ostrow. 

Ms. OSTROW. In addition to being in the 22d grade, I have also 

had a number of jobs throughout my life, and never a single job, 
36 

have I been asked to produce any written documentation from anyone requesting an accommodation for a disability. The fact that 

when you go to college, or to graduate school, you have to have 

these packets of diagnoses and testing from a professional does not 

make that much sense. 

The other thing that I would like to say is that for people with 

psychiatric disabilities, I think there is a real lack of education and 

awareness on the part of disabled student services in some places 

where students with psychiatric disabilities that are not learning 

disabilities, are kind of shoehorned into those kinds of accommodations because that is what the disabled student services are familiar with, and then these are very different problems that people 

have. 

I believe it was Senator Harkin who mentioned the episodic nature of psychiatric disabilities. So like a persistent accommodation 

may not make that much sense. At the same time, you might need 

a lot more supports during certain periods of time, and those periods of time tend to be times when people are experiencing stress 

or life events where it may be particularly difficult to achieve those 

things. 

The CHAIRMAN. Senator Warren, did you have something you 

wanted to jump in on here? 

STATEMENT OF SENATOR WARREN

Senator WARREN. I do. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman and 

thank you, Ranking Member. 

I apologize for coming in late. I am going to have to leave. We 

are in the middle of a banking hearing in another room. But I want 

to thank you for your leadership and all that you have done to expand access for people with disabilities. Before I ended up in law 

school, I was a special needs teacher in public school. So that is 

where I started my life and this is really important. 

We have made a lot of progress, because I was in this field a very 

long time ago, and a lot of progress has been made in terms of access. But I wanted to talk just a little bit today about materials, 

just wanted to focus on that part, and I am seeing people nod already on this. The changes in technology have created such incredible opportunities now to expand access, but opportunities does not 

always mean that is, in fact, what is happening. 

In fact, there was a 2011 Federal commission that reported that 

colleges were adopting technologies that are not accessible and that 

this is creating additional problems. 

So the question I wanted to start with, and I thought maybe you 

would be the right person for this, Ms. Myers, is why some colleges 

are failing to offer accessible materials even though this is what 

the law requires? Ms. Myers or anyone else who wants to, but I 

thought Ms. Myers. 

Ms. MYERS. Well, I think one of the difficulties is we have colleges, and this happens at Wright State, and it puts a responsibility on our technology center to be able to take what they have 

adopted and get it into an accessible format. 

But colleges, because of technology, are adopting more and more 

electronic textbooks. One of the problems with those textbooks is 

they are typically created in more of an image or graphical environ-
37 

ment than a text environment. OK. That is not an accessible environment if you are using a screen reader or any kind of talking 

technology. So those, then, have to be turned into something that 

is accessible, and that is not easy to do. 

The publishers are not being pushed enough to make sure that 

what they are creating in those electronic environments is, indeed, 

accessible. Even putting on the disks for the download, accessible 

version would make things a whole lot easier for the students. It 

is really hard for them when they go and they purchase that, they 

download it, and they cannot use it. OK. And I think that is one 

of the big problems. 

The faculty members are also not being pushed to check out accessibility before they adopt to make sure that what they are 

adopting is, indeed, accessible particularly if they are using something electronic, or if they are using some kind of software program 

within their teaching as well, to make sure that that is going to 

be accessible. But I think there is a two-way street here: faculty 

making sure that what they are adopting is accessible, but publishers making sure that what they are putting out there is accessible. 

The burden of responsibility falls onto—has in the past and continues, in our opinion—to fall on the university to make sure that 

the students have the materials that they need to be able to be successful in college. So that responsibility falls on us to make sure 

that what we are giving them is accessible. But the publishers are 

not helping and sometimes the faculty are not either. 

Senator WARREN. Good. And I thought maybe I could ask, what 

are the universities and the schools doing to push. But Ms. Getzel, 

could you add to this please? 

Ms. GETZEL. Yes. It is a very big difficulty, especially with publishers. I know that in work that we have been doing in working 

with the disability support service office, working with students, 

that it is either very long to get it or they tell us it is not available, 

and it is very difficult. 

What we would like to see more on sort of the publisher end now 

with the technology, it is almost like all this technology is happening, but in one sector, we cannot seem to get that opened up. 

And I know that there are certain regulations or policies and that 

kind of thing, especially with publishers. 

I know that in Virginia, at one point, they started almost like a 

lending library among the universities who had accessible materials that they could then use, if you belonged to this consortium, 

then you would have access to some of that to relieve some of the 

costs, as well as some of the waiting time. And again, faculty do 

need to be very aware of this, and sometimes books or what 

coursework is put up in a short amount of time, which then the disability support services offices are scrambling to try to get that. 

I know that the universities, at least at VCU, is really trying to 

adhere very carefully to that and always we get things at the beginning or the end of the semester to alert faculty to be aware of 

these type of things. But it really is a difficulty. 

Senator WARREN. Yes. Ms. Myers. 
38 

Ms. MYERS. We did some of the lending in Ohio. We established 

within our consortium, we are members of the Southwest Ohio 

Consortium on Higher Education and we created a lending library. 

One of the problems that we had is a problem we have within 

our own University, which is, we can have two economics professors who do not adopt the same books. And when you have that 

issue within your own university, having other schools adopting the 

same thing, when there are no standards created by the State saying, ‘‘All history teachers have to use this.’’ Or, you know, ‘‘Within 

a university, all economics professors have to do this. All sociology 

professors have to do this,’’ which takes away their academic freedom. That is another part of the problem. 

We do get calls from other schools asking them, well, if we have 

done a book to help them out, which we will share. We have done 

this for quite a while. The only problem is most of the time, it is 

not something that we have because of that freedom that the faculty has. 

We do use a clearinghouse called AccessText and we can get 

about 60 percent of our materials from them. They do not include 

the small publishers in that process. It is typically the large publishers, but there are also files that we cannot just hand over to 

a student. We have to take them. A lot of times, it is one file for 

the whole book, which means we have to break it up into portions 

that the students can use. And sometimes page numbers are missing or there is all this missing information so we still have to work 

on the file before we can hand it over. 

Senator WARREN. I very much appreciate your comments on this 

and they are very valuable. I think that accessible materials are 

critical. We already have laws about requirements, and clearly they 

are not being met. 

Today, Senator Hatch and I are introducing legislation to establish guidelines to ask an independent agency to develop guidelines 

so that we will have some guidelines for what kinds of accessible 

materials we need. We are hopeful that what this means is that 

colleges will be able to meet their legal requirements if guidelines 

are out there. And that we will be able to develop a market for 

these materials so that the publishers, as you rightly say, Ms. 

Myers, receive some encouragement to make sure that they have 

consistently available materials and that we will be able to do 

more. It is not enough to say to our students, ‘‘We are trying to 

make college accessible, but when you get here, you are not going 

to be able to deal with the material.’’ 

I just want to say this bill has strong support from the disability 

community and on behalf of Senator Hatch, I wanted to come here 

today to hear from you about it, and be able to mention it. And 

again, I apologize. I am in a banking hearing and I am going to 

have to go back to that. But thank you for the work you are all 

doing and thank you for all you have done. 

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate it. 

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you, Senator Warren. 

I was just informed by my counsel that, and I met this group before, Bookshare has a Department of Education grant to provide 

textbooks in different formats. But I was just informed that one of 

the largest publishers of textbooks, Pearson, does not allow that. I 
39 

do not know why. We will have to look into that. It has to do with 

the copyright, I guess, and things like that, but some publishers do, 

do that. So it is sort of a little mixture of this and a little mixture 

of that. 

I think that is maybe something we ought to look at too in terms 

of our reauthorization of our Higher Education because we put the 

money into TPSID. They are doing well, but if young people like 

Mr. Farrior and who else was involved with TPSID—— 

Ms. GETZEL. I am. 

The CHAIRMAN. Yes, Ms. Getzel. But if you cannot get the textbooks in a format that is accessible then that limits what we are 

doing in that program, in the TPSID program. So I think we are 

going to have to look at this textbook thing. 

We are running out of time, but Ms. Fink, we will close this 

down, but Ms. Fink, you had one last thing. 

Ms. FINK. I just wanted to caution that accessible materials are 

not limited to accessible textbooks. 

The CHAIRMAN. Say that again? 

Ms. FINK. I just wanted to caution that accessible materials are 

not to be limited to accessible textbooks. When I was in school 4 

years ago, half of my reading was done through Noodle or through 

a system like that where a teacher would upload a couple of PDF’s, 

and then you have to read it by the next day, and that is not 

enough time if that format is not accessible, and there needs to be 

some sort of regulations about those materials going onto those online platforms as well. 

The CHAIRMAN. Good point, good point. 

This has been a great discussion; just a nice, open format of discussion. I think we have covered a lot of the points. 

Again, I would just let you know that there are a lot of barriers 

facing students with disabilities in getting a higher education; it 

runs the gamut with all the things that we have talked about here 

this morning. I am not saying that we can solve all that in the 

Higher Education bill, and probably not, but there are certain 

things that we are going to have to look at and address, and I 

think you have given us some thoughts this morning on what we 

can do to help try to remove some of those barriers. 

I would just ask, as we proceed, that you keep in contact with 

this committee and with our staff, and give us the benefit of your 

thoughts as we move forward on the reauthorization. I would sure 

appreciate it. 

I think there are a lot of things that we can do to make sure that 

we have equal access, good transitions, effective recruitment, making sure that kids who are in IDEA who have an IEP know what 

they have and how colleges are able to take that and move that 

into the college setting, support services, and overcoming a kind of 

an attitudinal barrier that exists in a lot of schools. 

Let us face it, when you talk about higher education being accessible for kids with disabilities, the first thing that pops into their 

minds is, ‘‘Oh, well, we must have ramps and widen doors.’’ It is 

physical. They think about the physical disability, but as you point 

out, Ms. Fink, sometimes people have more than just a physical 

disability, they have other disabilities too, right, Ms. Ostrow? They 
40 

have intellectual, psychiatric disabilities that need to be accommodated also. 

So they need to start thinking along those lines. Obviously, 

Wright State has done that in many ways, maybe the University 

of Illinois too, but I do not think that this is very widespread. In 

other words, thinking about accommodations and accessibility for 

nonphysical disabilities that students have. So I think we kind of 

have to focus on that too. 

I look forward to working with members of this committee to 

craft the policies that will aid youth to access higher education. If 

there are certain paperwork things that are in place that are keeping colleges from offering supports, we ought to look at that too. 

SSI, as I said to Senator Alexander that is sort of not in our bailiwick; that is the finance committee. But maybe we could work 

with them to provide some kind of crossing State borders when you 

are a bona fide student and you are going from one school to another that some kind of solution for a student during their college 

years when they are working on a summer job or something like 

that where they might go over the monthly limit. They need that 

money for going to school. Also, we need to address the SSI limits 

of only $2,000 in assets, if I am not mistaken, something like that. 

If you earn a little bit more than that and you have that in the 

bank, you are cut off from benefits. They will cut you off your Medicaid on SSI. But like I said, that is not in our jurisdiction, but 

something maybe we could work with the finance committee on. 

I thank you all. Some of you came a great distance. I appreciate 

it. Thank you. You have given us great insights. Thank you for 

your leadership in this area. 

We will leave the record open for 10 days to allow additional 

statements or supplements to be submitted for the record. 

And the hearing will be adjourned. Thank you very much. 

[Whereupon, at 11:53 a.m., the hearing was adjourned.] 

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