Equal Access for Students with Disabilities: The Guide for Health Science and Professional Education

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A vital resource for ensuring students with disabilities have access to appropriate, legal, and necessary accommodations

Now in its second edition, this book on disability inclusion in the health sciences remains the most comprehensive, critically and legally informed guidance available to health science programs. Grounded in the ADA, case law, and OCR determinations, this seminal text delivers information that is translatable to daily practice. The second edition focuses on disability as a welcome form of diversity, with concomitant changes to language and approach that promote disability inclusion.

New chapters and updates on topics including technical standards; a new appendix to guide faculty communication; and revised advice throughout, provide faculty, student affairs and disability professionals with the most up-to-date practices. The text delivers updated legal guidance and case references, assistance in benchmarking office policies and practices, new case studies, and a review chapter for teaching and assessing learning. New examples impart the best decision-making practices, describe what to do when things go awry, and discuss how to avoid problems by implementing strong accessibility-focused policies. Written by noted educators and practitioners at prestigious health science schools, this text is backed by years of practice and expertise. It is written in an easy-to-read, engaging manner that makes disability inclusion and disability law accessible to all.

New to the Second Edition:
• Focus on the importance of fully-inclusive education for health care practitioners
• Real-world informed case studies that demonstrate best practices
• New and updated advice highlighting recent legal decisions
• New chapter on technical standards
• Updated guidance to inform office policies and practices
• Chapter specific review questions for teaching and self-assessment
• Expanded discussion of clinical accommodations
• Updated guides for high stakes exams, including new personal statement prompts
• Communication guide for faculty
• Available in e-book format

Key Features:
• Addresses all aspects of disability, including disability law, for students in health science settings
• Delivers information directly applicable to practice
• Accessibly written by esteemed and experienced practitioners and educators
• Includes easy-to-follow flowcharts
• Supports professional development in an affordable format

Lisa M. Meeks, PhD, an assistant professor of family medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School, is on a mission to reframe disability as a valued part of diversity in health professions programs. Her contributions to the advancement of inclusion in health science include serving as past-president and co-founder of the Coalition for Disability Access in Health Science Education, serving as a board member and trainer for AHEAD, co-PI and lead author of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Special Report: Accessibility, Inclusion, and Action in Medical Education, co-creator of the social media campaign #DocsWithDisabilities, and host of the Docs with Disabilities podcast. As a researcher and policy leader, Dr. Meeks is helping to inform best practice in the area of disability inclusion for medical education, training and practice. Her research interests include: Improving access to medical education for learners with disabilities, medical student and resident well-being, and the performance and trajectory of learners and physicians with disabilities. Dr. Meeks serves as a consultant to medical schools across the country and has published numerous articles, chapters and books on the topic of disability in medicine. Her work has been published in the NEJM, Lancet, JAMA, and Academic Medicine and has been featured in the Washington Post, CNBC, Bloomberg Law, The Chronicle of Higher Education, AAMC News and on NPR.

Neera R. Jain, MS, CRC, is a researcher, rehabilitation counselor, and passionate advocate for disability inclusion in health science education. She is a board member for the Coalition for Disability Access in Health Science Education and a Doctoral Candidate at the University of Auckland, Faculty of Education and Social Work. Weaving together perspectives of students with disabilities and school officials, her dissertation explores how four U.S. medical schools enact disability inclusion. Formerly, Neera led disability services for two major health science campuses in the United States: Columbia University in the City of New York and the University of California, San Francisco. In New Zealand, Neera managed a free legal service run by and for disabled people, Auckland Disability Law. She co-authored the 2018 Association of American Medical Colleges research report, Accessibility, Inclusion, and Action in Medical Education: Lived Experiences of Learners and Physicians with Disabilities.

Elisa Laird, JD has an extensive background in law, disability, and public health, which provide her with a unique perspective on the future of disability in higher education. Elisa is currently the Director of the Disability Resource Center at Samuel Merritt University, an institution devoted exclusively to health science education. She formerly worked as a university Deaf Services Coordinator/Interpreter and later a disability rights litigator and public health policy attorney before subsequently returning to university disability resources. She is on the Board of the Association for Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) and served four years on the Board of the Coalition for Disability Access in Health Science and Medical Education. Elisa is author of numerous publications and a seasoned presenter: she regularly provides trainings through AHEAD's Management Institutes and Master Classes, presents often at professional conferences and symposia, and provides customized consulting and training services to universities around the country.