Director of the Disability and Accessibility Resources (DAR) Dr. Carrie Dattels lectures on accessibility and accountability

Recently, the Director of the Disability and Accessibility Resources (DAR) at Hope College, Dr. Carrie Dattels, delivered a presentation entitled “Moving Hope Forward: Disability Inclusion by Design.” She invited the audience to think about how disabilities can change lives and how the community needs to reshape its thinking about disabilities for continual improvement at Hope. The ultimate success is when a student can meet their accessibility needs without requiring a trip to DAR, as students do not usually need DAR unless they have encountered a barrier.

Dattels began the lecture by saying that she had previously believed a traumatic head injury during her teen years qualified her for the job, but changed her thinking once she became the parent of a child with chronic medical needs. Dattels continued to share the history regarding the passing of disabilities acts, the first of which was the disability civil rights law entitled The Rehabilitation Act that was passed in 1973. This act allowed more students with disabilities to attend schools and gain a higher education. In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed with the motive of providing all students the same opportunities – with or without disabilities. In 2008, the ADA Amendments Act was passed, aiming to broaden the definition of disabilities and place the responsibility of accommodation on the institution, rather than the individual.

Dattels discussed how Hope has fallen behind, responding to the acts and amendments rather than taking preemptive action. When acts were passed in the 1970s, the school would respond in the 1980s leaving Hope ten years behind both the laws and other colleges. She quotes Dr. Margaret Price,
a faculty member at Ohio State University, who said, “A powerful feat of imagination is required to go beyond ‘welcoming’ disability and instead actively expecting it.” Price’s quote and the passage of the 2008 ADA Amendments Act pushed Hope toward proactivity and accessibility, and away from solely making retroactive accommodations.

Despite this push, Dattels claims that Hope College still operates within the retroactive model – especially for academic programs. Dattels calls Hope’s approach “backwards” as it is largely individual, not collective. She believes that we, as a community, need to reassess how we define accessibility, inclusion and commitment in order to see an active change within our community. According to her, we need to foster our community values. “Without grace, students do not experience understanding or belonging. Without grace, we cannot demonstrate Hope College’s core values like being a caring community. Grace is a practice of accessibility.” 

Specific groups on Hope’s campus have worked to be more accessible. One of which includes the Department of Theatre. This department has recently implemented their “Sensory-friendly Saturdays” with the opening of “The Hijabis” on the 18th. This specific showing kept the colorful stage lights dimmed, muffled or removed certain sound effects and offered accessible seating and a live audio description for those who requested it. Residential Life has also been working to improve accessibility by adding air conditioning units within cottages, offering more single rooms and creating ADA compliant bathrooms and barrier-free entrances on lower-level duplexes. Though certain departments and groups here are working to be more proactively accessible, Dr. Dattel’s message challenges colleges to hold everyone in their communities accountable. 

Speaking with Dattels after the lecture she explained that she was, “grateful for the opportunity to speak.” Information can be learned from anywhere, and Dattels conveyed how a lot of information, particularly about the books she referenced, was gained through email correspondences. Dattels wants the Hope community to create a narrative re-emphasizing the idea that this should be “the beginning of a conversation, not the end.”

(Featured image source: Hope College)