DisABILITY Resources Toolbox (DART)

APA's Disability Issues office has developed this DisABILITY Resources Toolbox (DART) as a central location with information and tools psychology training directors and faculty can use to better support students with disabilities. Partly as a result of federal legislation, such as Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), students with disabilities are pursuing higher education in increasing numbers. The number of students with disabilities enrolled in graduate psychology programs, in particular, continues to grow. Both psychology faculty and students have expressed the need for information about legal issues, accommodation strategies, and resources for working with students who have disabilities.

By visiting each toolkit, you will gain a better understanding of the legal obligations, learn about typical accommodation strategies, improve communication skills, and become aware of disability-related data, statistics and available resources. Check often for added toolkits.

• Toolkit I: Students With Disabilities in the Social and Behavioral Sciences

• Toolkit II: Legal Issues — ADA, Section 504, FERPA

• Toolkit III: Reasonable Accommodations Explained

• Toolkit IV: Recruiting Students with Disabilities

 2012 Diversity Training

Drs. Julie L. Williams and Linda Mona presented on Disability Training in Diversity; pictured.Dr. Williams (left) and Dr. Mona (middle) with Anju Khubchandani (right), Director of APA’s Disability Issues in Psychology office. 

Now seeking nominations for the Distinguished Contributions to the Advancement of Disability Issues in Psychology Award 

For Graduate Students: Scott and Paul Pearsall   

Committee on Disability Issues in Psychology (CDIP) Activity Summary 2011-12

• Representation of disability issues (historical, current and emerging) in all aspects of APA (governance, programming, leadership, etc.) 

• Generated and put forth disability-related recommendations to the APA Commission on Accreditation

• Developed Students with Disabilities Resource Guide, Volume 2 

• Hosted annual CDIP conversation hour/award ceremony at the APA 2011 Annual Convention; the Distinguished Service Award was given to Irene Leigh, PhD 

• Presented APA 2011 symposium on Promoting the Health and Wellness among Underserved Populations with Chronic Illnesses and Disability with the Committee on Rural Health 

• In collaboration with the Disability Issues Office, developed disability diversity training for 2012 consolidated meetings and February 2012 Council of Representatives meeting

• Completed revision of the Handbook on Training Graduate Students with Disabilities in Psychological Testing and Assessment

• Reviewed and provided feedback to Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act through the APA government relations office

2012 CDIP Priority Areas

Telehealth

• Highlight important disability-related opportunities/challenges presented by emerging technologies

• Develop factsheet and articles for submission

• APA 2012 convention: Expanding the application of telehealth service models to underserved populations with chronic illnesses and disability

Health Care Disparities

• Identify/respond to important disability-related health care disparities

• APA 2012 convention: Ethical Issues unique to research, training and practice with underserved populations

• APA 2012: Disaster Preparedness: Implications for Persons with Disabilities

• APA 2012: Women Under Siege: Violence against Young Women with Disabilities: Identifying Risk Factors, Formulating Responses, and Supporting Resilience

• Develop several submissions for the 2013 National Multicultural Summit including a "train the trainer" model of disability competencies

Youth

• Highlight important disability-related issues (e.g. abuse [esp. boys], bullying, education, etc.)