Allies for Inclusion: Disability and Equity in Higher Education: ASHE Volume 39, Number 5 by Karen A. Myers, Jaci Jenkins Lindburg, & Danielle M. Nied (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Allies for Inclusion: Disability and Equity in Higher Education: ASHE Volume 39, Number 5 by Karen A. Myers, Jaci Jenkins Lindburg, & Danielle M. Nied Edlyn Vallejo Peña Karen A. Myers, Jaci Jenkins Lindburg, & Danielle M. Nied. Allies for Inclusion: Disability and Equity in Higher Education: ASHE Volume 39, Number 5. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2014. 152pp. Paperback: $29.00. ISBN: 978-1-118-84611-7 Today, 11% of college students report having a disability (U.S. Department of Education, 2009). Federal legal mandates, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, coupled with growing enrollments of students with disabilities, have increasingly prompted postsecondary institutions to serve the unique and complex needs of their students over the past 25 years. In their monograph, Allies for Inclusion: Disability and Equity in Higher Education, Myers, Lindburg, and Nied (2014) bring attention to the ways in which institutional allies can support the needs and successes of college students with disabilities. The monograph is useful “to serve as a guide to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities” (p. 5) for researchers and higher education practitioners. The seven-chapter monograph departs from the majority of publications about students with disabilities in higher education. That is, the central purpose of Allies for Inclusion is to underscore and explore the role of faculty, staff, and administrators as allies in the lives of students with disabilities. The authors move a step beyond placing the onus of responsibility for postsecondary success on students with disabilities and disability service providers themselves toward a shared model of campus ownership and responsiveness toward students. The authors begin their first chapter with a discussion on preparing institutions of higher [End Page 310] education for a future of equity and inclusion for students with disabilities. It effectively establishes the significant role of allies and argues that the inclusion of people with disabilities is the responsibility of all campus constituents, not just those who work in disability and affirmative action offices. This theme of shared responsibility is woven into the fabric of the rest of the chapters. The second chapter details an overview of disability history in higher education. The authors describe critical pieces of legislation, policies, and cases that made an impact on disability movements in society, and in turn, institutions of colleges and universities. The unfolding descriptions of key decisions made in the United States capture the “spirit of change” over the last 60 years for students with disabilities. The authors describe different types of disabilities in the third chapter, with the majority of college students having been diagnosed with a learning disability or ADD/ADHD. Meanwhile, autism spectrum disorders and psychological disabilities are on the rise. The chapter summarizes research studies that report students’ experiences with faculty, disability services, and navigating campus cultures. The authors remind their readers that the whole campus is responsible for cultivating an inclusive climate. “Disability education is for everyone, by everyone. Through collaborative efforts and open communication, an entire campus community has the potential for providing a welcoming, inclusive environment” (p. 47). The next chapter focuses on “Understanding Campus Complexities: Problems, Challenges, and Marginalization.” The authors detail different theoretical lenses through which people with disabilities are viewed and treated, not just in society but in higher education. The models range from perpetuating damaging perceptions toward people with disabilities to a framework rooted in social justice. These models and frameworks include the moral model, the medical model, the functional limitations framework, the minority group paradigm, the social construction model, and the social justice perspective. Ultimately, the goal is to move toward a lens that “challenges those [traditional] assumptions, celebrating the uniqueness of individual differences while focusing on social change and transforming oppressive structures” (p. 53). The chapter also delves into attitudes about disability, as well as campus services, including serving veterans with disabilities. While the topics in the fourth chapter provide practitioners and researchers with critical information about ways in which to frame and serve students with disabilities, the major drawback of the monograph reveals itself in this very chapter, alerting the readers to a limitation that is systemic to the monograph. That is, Myers, Lindburg, and Nied fail to explain the ways in...