Fight for inclusion

JMU professors work toward equal education opportunities for people with disabilities

from INCLUSION, page 1

“If you’re not close enough [to] pick your loved one up on Friday and return your loved one Sunday night or Monday morning, [these programs] won’t work,” Desportes Bowman said. “And for most people, it’s probably expensive because it’s about close to $60,000 a year to include tuition and residential support and all of that stuff.”

Only about 65% of individuals with disabilities drive a motor vehicle, and about 23% of individuals with disabilities need some sort of assistance or equipment to travel outside the home, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

“This is a population of learners that gets overlooked,” Desportes Bowman said.

Following the 2014 conversation, Desportes Bowman said, she started to research many of these post-secondary programs for people with developmental disabilities. In total, she said there are about 270 of them. This is in comparison to the more than 4,000 higher education universities across the U.S., according to AdmissionSight.

The current inclusivity of students with disabilities

Desportes Bowman currently organizes a class alongside colleague Nancy Barbour, a recently retired former department head in the College of Education. The class is EXED 309: Supporting Community Access for Young

Adults with Disabilities. This program integrates JMU undergraduate students, typically exceptional education (EXED) minors, with community members and students from local high schools. These groups have a wide range of students with disabilities and contribute to JMU students’ learning experience in education classes, serving as an opportunity to work alongside people with disabilities.

In the class, Desportes Bowman said there are 15 undergraduate JMU students, as well as special education high school students from the high school transition program. She said the high school students are between the ages of 18 and 22.

The JMU students in this class are responsible for planning socially and developmentally appropriate activities for the participants with intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDDs), Barbour said. The JMU students plan games for them to play, such as four corners and Go Fish!, which help the participants practice interacting among their peers.

Barber said the JMU students are offered three credit hours for this course. The community members and high school students are offered no credit. Because these high school students are on non-diploma tracks — an option to complete high school without completing all official graduation requirements — the creditless class doesn’t negatively effect their progress to graduation.

They do different activities on campus each week, Barbour said. Once a month, JMU provides vouchers for the students to have lunch at one of the dining halls, she added. However, the EXED minor, commonly known as the “Special Education” minor, has been discontinued by JMU and will graduate its last students in 2025. Dannette “Dani” Bronaugh, the academic unit head of the EXED department, said JMU will continue to offer the same courses as electives without having the minor as an option for any JMU students.

“If they aren’t required to take a minor, then there’s not that drive to have it,” Bronaugh said.

Bronaugh said the minor courses such as EXED 309 will continue to be offered, but they may not be offered every semester. She said she thinks there’s still a desire from students to learn the information that comes from those courses.

Desportes Bowman said she fears for the loss of this class and experience with the discontinuation of the minor.

“We don’t have enough faculty to teach courses within the majors,” Desportes Bowman said. “So despite how wonderful the courses are and the experiences that people get in the EXED minor, we just don’t have the [financial and logistical] resources to staff it. That’s my understanding.”

Bronaugh also said the EXED department is considering implementing a residential program at JMU — a smaller community on campus targeted toward students with IDDs — and she’s identified people to have “bigger conversations” with about the university being more inclusive.

“I don’t want to say [the special education high school students] are treated differently, because I think that’s really counter to who we are,” Bronaugh said. “I think it’s just not been a model that JMU has really delved into … We’re hoping to see forward movement with that. I think JMU could be on the map for the community.”

Barbour said a residential program for special education students would help them get an authentic college experience.

“Programs that are day programs or [programs where] the students are there during the week and go home on the weekends … [do] not really create a true college experience,” she said. Barbour also said Vanderbilt University is an example of a great residential program.

“Certainly that’s something we’ve been lobbying for,” Barbour said about incorporating a residential program, “And a number of our students from the high school programs would love to be part of that.”

Branching out to other departments

Zachary Bortolot, a professor in the geography department, said he plans to create his own program with help from Desportes Bowman to implement the same level of inclusivity in the geography department. His proposed program would focus on “high-achieving” students — those who are able to make it through a regular program with only some additional supports — on the autism spectrum who are interested in earning geography degrees.

Bortolot said he plans to have a small group, made up exclusively of students with autism, start school in the summer to adjust to university life. They would then begin a set of regular classes where they’d receive additional support, such as mandatory teacher’s assistant (TA) and office hours, he added.

Bortolot’s inspiration for this program lies in his family.

“I have a son who’s on the autism spectrum,” Bortolot said. “So, I’m really hoping it might be something that he might eventually tap into.”

Although Bortolot said he’s hopeful to gain support for his proposal based on some interest by faculty, Desportes Bowman said nobody “does anything” with their words of support to help their cause.

“We’ve been all working together behind the scenes for years now trying to get the right people to listen,” Desportes Bowman said when referencing her post-secondary program. “We’re hoping that we’re slowly, after all this time, gaining some momentum and getting the right people to pay attention.”

When rating JMU’s current level of accessibility, Desportes Bowman said it was only a three out of 10. She said this was because the buildings and pathways around campus need to be more accessible.

“[JMU] needs to really think about what that experience is like for people and how marginalizing that feels,” Desportes Bowman said about the accessibility of the buildings and pathways around campus. “You’re an afterthought.”

Barbour holds concerns about certain parts of the campus. She said the Union isn’t particularly accessible because of how many steps there are, and it’s difficult to get to an elevator. She also said the planetarium isn’t easy to get to, and the University Recreation Center (UREC) can be a little complex.

Tim Miller, vice president for student affairs, said as the villiage begins to be be rebuilt over the summer, JMU is making efforts to make the buildings more inclusive.

“The other thing we’re looking at is across campus what classrooms have door openers and what doors don’t,” Miller said. “One thing we find, especially with students in wheelchairs, is they need a different level of access, like you would have a door opener on the outside of the building, we need to install those on a lot of exterior classroom doors as well, as well as bathrooms.”

Miller also said the accessibilty community came up with 15 different ideas to increase accessibility on campus. He continued to say the Office of Disability Services (ODS) has been working to provide students with different forms of media such as 3-D printed models for students with visual impairments.

Bortolot, who said ODS at JMU has been very good to work with, said there’s still a need for additional accessibility and inclusion services around campus, such as his proposed program as well as classes like Desportes Bowman’s. He said a reason for this is the number of neurodiverse people is increasing very rapidly.

“I’ve [not only] realized how differently they learn,” Bortolot said about neurodiverse individuals, “but that they are actually able to see things in ways that are very different than the way that we see things … [This] could potentially be very valuable because it provides new insights that other people wouldn’t necessarily bring.”

The Breeze reached out to ODS multiple times to request an interview and comment on this story. ODS was not able to provide comment before The Breeze’s deadline.

An inside perspective

Desportes Bowman said she has many friends with a wide range of disabilities but that her program of IDD students has “some of the most interesting and resilient people out of every single person [I’ve] ever met.”

One contributor to this program is 24-year-old Brandon Stees, a co-teacher and volunteer of this program who has Down syndrome, visual impairments and an intellectual disability.

“In Virginia, in order for students to get a [high school] diploma, they have to pass a certain state test called the Virginia SOL,” Brandon’s mother, Rhonda Stees, said. “Typically, students with Down syndrome would not be on that track.”

Brandon passed all the year requirements and graduated with a full diploma, landing him a feature in the Daily News-Record.

“He blazed a trail through Harrisonburg City Public Schools,” Rhonda said.

Rhonda is an adjunct professor in the School of Music Education at JMU. She said that, although she can’t speak for the whole department, she’s seen indications there would be an interest in having a program for students with IDDs in her department. Rhonda said “Music is already doing something,” like supporting Brandon, who plays alongside the concert band. Even though he plays with the band, Barbour said Brandon isn’t enrolled as a JMU student.

Brandon is now taking courses at Blue Ridge Community College, where he’s accumulated 19 credits. He also co-facilitates JMU’s EXED 309 class on Friday mornings. In addition, he participates in speaking engagements at institutions like William & Mary to educate future teachers.

Despite Brandon’s accomplishments, Rhonda said there’s generally a lack of opportunities for individuals with IDDs following graduation.

“It’s like, ‘OK, now what?’” Rhonda said. “We’re here and we’d love to be included.”

Rhonda said she feels positively about JMU and about Brandon’s opportunities; however, she thinks that “we need to explore more.”

“Like other programs … Having one at JMU would be kind of cool to see,” Brandon said. Rhonda also said she’d love to see classes offered for credit at JMU for students in special education.

Desportes Bowman said she questions why JMU isn’t following what other higher education institutions, like Vanderbuilt University, are doing in terms of implementing residential postsecondary programs. Although she said JMU’s “probably not too different from a lot of places,” she thinks the younger age of JMU, founded in 1908, makes all the difference in the lack of progress being made.

The Breeze reached out to Executive Director of Communications and University Spokesperson Mary-Hope Vass to request comment and interviews for this story, but she said she was unable to provide one by the deadline.

Rhonda said not only would she and Brandon support a residential program at JMU, which would entail IDD students being able to live on campus with current JMU students, but she also said Brandon has friends who’d be excited at the prospect of a residential program.

“I mean, that would be wonderful,” Rhonda said. “I know JMU is wanting to be more inclusive.”

Brandon said he’s optimistic for this post-secondary program going forward.

“I just feel hopeful for this program for not just me, but for everyone who has a disability,” Brandon said. “I feel like we’re all very hopeful for that.”

Barbour said Brandon’s a great example of why JMU needs a residential college program for young adults with disabilities, because when given the opportunity and support to succed, he did. Desportes Bowman agreed, saying it helps fight stereotypes about Down syndrome.

“We really have a lot of stereotypes about Down syndrome because you wear your disability on your face,” Desportes Bowman said. “People make assumptions about people with Down syndrome the same way they do people with autism … They assume that they’re sort of all alike.”

Deportes Bowman said her goal is to shake up those stereotypes.

“I can see my humanity in them,” she said. “And until we can recognize the humanity in others, I think we’re at risk of losing our own humanity.”

Desportes Bowman said IDD students are not so different from other students.

“In our educational system, we focus on the differences between people,” Desportes Bowman said, “when the reality is that there’s tremendous overlap.”

She added that people tend to focus on the small aspects of others that are actually different, but that’s what people do with any kind of difference.

Rhonda said she believes if more students are given an opportunity to succeed, they’ll be able to accomplish more. However, Desportes Bowman said she believes that if there isn’t adequate pressure on the institution, nothing will happen.

She said she wishes “people were interested in starting some kind of advocacy group, or putting some pressure on university leadership.”

Yet, Brandon has limited options in furthering his education and his talents beyond his current BRCC classes and EXED 309 position, Barbour said.

“We try to advocate for him whenever we can,” Barbour said. “There are [also] a couple of other students in my Friday class that come from Central High School and from Harrisonburg High School that I’d also say are really good examples of why JMU needs to develop a residential post-secondary program.”

Rhonda said she and Brandon have hope, and that they would never want anything to take away from that hope.

“All we said was, ‘Don’t put him in a box, and let him try,’” Rhonda said. She also said she thinks programs have changed in what students have been offered to do, and in opportunities that they’ve been able to have, because Brandon has blazed a trail.

“How can JMU continue to bridge that connectedness with that community of students?” Rhonda said. She also said she thinks there’s still much more people need to learn about inclusion.

Barbour said it’s “disheartening” that there is no program for these students here at JMU.

“You see how enthusiastic they are. They look forward to every Friday to come here,” Barbour said. “But there is no option for them. So are they treated differently? No, because they’re not treated at all.”

CONTACT K. Mauser at mauserkk@dukes.jmu.edu. For more on the culture, arts and lifestyle of the JMU and Harrisonburg communities, follow the culture desk on Twitter and Instagram @Breeze_Culture.