1. patricia.tesar@gallaudet.edu / jeffrey.shaumeyer@gallaudet.edu
Equity of Access to Higher Education for Deaf Students with Multiple Disabilities
40th Conference of the Association on Higher Education And Disability 17—22 July 2017
Dr. Patricia Tesar & Dr. Jeffrey Shaumeyer Office for Students with Disabilities Gallaudet University, Washington, DC /

2. Gallaudet’s Mission Statement
Gallaudet University, federally chartered in 1864, is a bilingual, diverse, multicultural institution of higher education that ensures the intellectual and professional advancement of deaf and hard of hearing individuals through American Sign Language and English. 

3. Students with Disabilities in Postsecondary Education (all US)
Approximately 11% had some kind of disability; of those, roughly half have more than one disability
Most common disabilities reported:
“Specific learning disabilities” (36% of those with disabilities)
“ADD or ADHD” (26% of those with disabilities)
“Mental Illness/psychological or psychiatric condition” (13% of those with disabilities)
“Health impairment/condition, including chronic conditions (11% of those with disabilities)
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Postsecondary Education Quick Information System (PEQIS), “Students With Disabilities at Postsecondary Education Institutions,” 2009.

4. Comparison of Students with Disabilities
College Students Nationwide
Gallaudet Students
11% reported a disability (in 2011—2012)
Of those, 4% reported “hearing impairment” as a major disability
OSWD serves 17% of the student body in (307 of 1800)
92% are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, and 2011–12 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:08 and NPSAS:12).

5. OSWD 9-Year Study Purposes:
Go beyond opinions
Develop OSWD student profile
Explore retention and graduation rates
Does OSWD “level the playing field”?
Extend previous 7-year study to obtain graduation rates
Make objective measurements of OSWD effectiveness with factual data
602 OSWD students from academic years through

6. OSWD Students : 2001—2017 OSWD Percentage of All Gallaudet Students
OSWD numbers: 147 ( ); 307 ( ), an increase of 108%
Nationwide, 11% of university undergraduates (5.3% of graduates) in had a disability (U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, and 2011–12 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study, NPSAS:08 and NPSAS:12); about 2% served by DSS offices

7. OSWD Students : 2007—2016 Hearing-Status Distribution

8. OSWD Students : 2007—2016 Hearing-Status by Gender

9. Deaf / Hearing Students Served by OSWD, by Semester

10. Compare OSWD with Gallaudet by Student Gender 2007—2016
80%

11. OSWD Students : 2007—2016 Ethnic Distribution (Ugrad & Grad)

12. OSWD Students : 2007—2016 Disability Breakdown by Type

13. OSWD Students : 2007—2016 Disability as Percent of Gender

14. OSWD Students : 2007—2016 Changes in Disability Types
Number of Students

15. Multiple Disabilities Composition over 1-year period 2013-2014

16. Students with 2 or more Disabilities Over a 1-Year Period: 2013-2014

17. Students with Two Disabilities (2013-2014), Pairing

18. Accommodating Multiple Disabilities means Multiple Tactics (I)
Video as a classroom adjunct, and in distant learning
Not immediately available to Deaf-Blind or Low Vision students
Captioning sometimes of questionable quality
Captioning for Deaf / hard of hearing an active issue at Gallaudet
What strategy for Deaf-Blind students?

19. Accommodating Multiple Disabilities means Multiple Tactics (II)
Alternative Print conflicts
Low Vision/Blind variously needs Braille, large print, low-contrast print, high-contrast print, computer-based readers
Deaf/Hard of Hearing precludes recorded books, computer-based readers

20. Accommodating Multiple Disabilities means Multiple Tactics (III)
Testing Accommodations must address
Mobility challenges
Low Vision / Blind
Deaf / Hard of Hearing
Attention-deficit disorders
Multiple disabilities

21. Accommodating Multiple Disabilities means Multiple Tactics (IV)
Gallaudet education is officially bilingual, ASL and English, nevertheless
Deaf-Blind students will require tactile interpretation
At other institutions, ASL interpretation for Deaf/hard of hearing, spoken interpretation for Low Vision, and tactile interpretation for Deaf-Blind may all be called upon at times

22. OSWD Retention, 9-Year Average

23. OSWD Retention by Year

24. OSWD vs. Gallaudet Retention

25. OSWD 6-Year Graduation Rate 2007 – 2016 (7 cohorts)
Rate for 2009 cohort was 59% for all 4-year universities (red arrow) (Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), Winter 2015–16.)

26. Expenditures / Student
How much does it cost to provide accommodations to students with disabilities?

27. OSWD Cost Estimate for some individual services
$400 / student: intake processing
$473 / student: note taking, for one, 3-credit hour course each semester
$46: each extended-time test given

28. Expenditures / Student, 2001—2017 (actual figures)
$5,404
$2,114

29. Expenditures / Student, 2001—2017, constant 2016 dollars
$2,114
$7,324
Inflation-adjusted decline of 71%