ORAHEAD Fall 2023 Conference Video Series

Interconnectedness: Living, Working, and Learning in Community

Keynote and five select session videos from the ORAHEAD Fall 2023 Conference. Full descriptions below.

Entire Series: $40 for members, $60 for non-members (free to conference attendees)

Video Keynote

From struggle to empowerment – one woman’s journey to interdependent living

We are honored to have Georgena Moran join us virtually as our keynote speaker. Many of you may know Georgena’s work providing assessments and advocacy for access to our Pacific Northwest trails, and know her love of adventure and the outdoors. Georgena has recently written An Ingenious Way to Live, a memoir of her life before and after the onset of her diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Georgena’s book inspired the theme of our conference: Interconnectedness: Living, Working, and Learning in Community, as she magically chronicles her amazing and often difficult journey and articulates how “living an interconnected life is more fulfilling than she could have ever imagined possible.”

Video Session One

Partners in Change: Moving toward an Institutional Culture of Accessibility presented by Jewls Griesmeyer-Krentz, Assistant Director, Accessible Education Services, Willamette University

This presentation uses a critical disability studies lens to examine how disability service providers can become institutional change agents. First, we will explore how themes found in critical disability studies can shift how we think about our responsibility toward equity for disabled students. As disability professionals, we have a responsibility to effect change on a level that moves beyond the individual student. In addition to reactive accommodations and supports, proactive measures are also essential to our efforts. We move beyond individual-level accommodations and supports toward an institutional culture of accessibility where proactive inclusion is fundamental. By forming key partnerships with stakeholder-allies outside disability services, disability professionals can promote accessibility beyond their offices and become institutional change agents to promote an institutional culture of accessibility. We will explore how these ideas work in a real-life contexts.

Video Session Two

Making Invisible Disabilities Visible: Understanding, Empathy, and Inclusion presented by Jesse Graf, Director of Accessible Education & VR/ICAP Lead, Southwestern Oregon Community College

Invisible disabilities are a complex and often misunderstood category of health conditions that affect millions of people worldwide. These disabilities, which include mental health disorders, chronic pain conditions, and various neurological disorders, do not manifest obvious physical symptoms but can profoundly impact an individual's daily life. This presentation aims to shed light on the challenges faced by individuals with invisible disabilities and emphasizes the importance of creating a more inclusive and empathetic society.

Video Session Three

Providing Civil Rights Protections for ELL Students presented by Andrew Childress, Access Office Coordinator, Rogue Community College and Mary Gerard, Disability Services Director, Bellingham Technical College.

Mary Gerard will join us to talk about an institutional-wide testing accommodation (1.5 times longer) at Bellingham Technical College for all students who self-report as English Language Learners (ELL). Andrew will share progress on this topic at RCC.

Video Session Four

Crack the Memory Aid Code: How Collaboration with STEM Faculty Prompted the Creation of Clear, Usable Memory Aid Guidelines & Examples. Presented by Phyllis Petteys, Accessibility Specialist, Portland Community College.

Portland Community College Memory aids are a necessary accommodation for many disabled students, but are often misunderstood and difficult to implement. At Portland Community College (PCC), the Accessible Education & Disability Resources office recognized that our memory aid guidelines were complicated with unnecessary jargon that was confusing to students and faculty. We partnered with STEM departments to create usable guidelines and concrete memory aid examples. We will present about this experience and our new memory aid guidelines, and share examples of memory aids. This presentation will also include students’ & instructors’ experiences engaging in the memory aid process. We will provide strategies & guidance for Disability Resource Providers to help students and instructors better understand how to create a memory aid.

Video Session Five

Design of the Gladys Valley Marine Science Building presented by Gabe Merrell, Director, Access and Affirmative Action, Deputy ADA Coordinator, Oregon State University.

OSU designed the Gladys Valley Marine Science Center in Newport to be the first building in the United States with a vertical evacuation elevator. The building opened during COVID. Gabe will present on the building design, the conversations around emergency planning in the event of an earthquake and tsunami. He will discuss how we can implement planning centered on the needs of the disabled community. In the afternoon, those interested can take a tour of the building!