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Semi Annual Report to the Council of Representatives
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August 2006 – February 2007
The central mission of the Office on Disability Issues in Psychology is to work toward the elimination of bias against and the promotion of equal opportunity for persons with disabilities in education and training, research, and professional practice. The office serves as an information and referral resource on disability issues; develops and disseminates reports and other written materials on professional and consumer issues; monitors the welfare of these groups as consumers of psychological services; and promotes the development and application of psychological knowledge to address public policy issues affecting them. Please visit the office’s web site at www.apa.org/pi/disability for more information on disability issues in psychology.
Barriers to Students Project
The overall goal of this project is to develop evidence-based information and resources identifying the major barriers to training by students with disabilities and how those barriers can be addressed. The project seeks to increase the capacity of educators and directors of training by providing resources that will improve and increase learning opportunities for students with disabilities. Resource materials will be developed from data and information gathered by three separate on-line surveys soliciting information from psychology students with disabilities, directors of training, and internship directors. The Disability Issues Officer is currently working with the APA Research Office to develop these survey instruments; the student survey has been completed and will be piloted soon to a sample group.
Mentoring Program
The office oversees and provides functional support to its on-line Disability Mentoring Program. Launched in 2002, the program supports psychology students with disabilities, disabled psychologists entering the field, and newly disabled psychologists in their educational and professional pursuits by providing them with a mentor. Mentors are APA-member psychologists with disabilities. To date, there are forty-four mentor-mentee matches. The mentoring database is currently being updated to include enhanced reporting capabilities, improved mentor-mentee matching features, and compliance with Section 508.
For further information on our mentoring program, please visit www.apa.org/pi/disability/mentoring/homepage.html
Task Force on Training Issues in Psychological Testing and Assessment for Graduate Students with Disabilities.
The major charge of this task force is how to best facilitate the acquisition of test instruments and manuals in electronic format suitable for visual viewer software for graduate students with visual impairments who are mandated to meet training requirements in testing and assessment. Work from inception until mid November was conducted primarily via monthly conference calls and email exchanges. At the 2006 APA Annual Convention, members of the Task Force met informally with six representatives from test developers to discuss concerns and identify common interests. The task force convened for two days in November 13-14 at the APA building in Washington, DC, to write an initial draft of a handbook for students with disabilities and to discuss ways by which to increase APA’s capabilities for providing accessibility to disabled students in training. The task force is working towards completion of this handbook.
APA Task Force on Guidelines for Assessment and Treatment of Persons with Disabilities.
The major charge of this task force is to develop a set of guidelines focused on assessment and treatment involving persons with disabilities. Since being funded by Council in February 2006, the Task Force has conducted an extensive literature search in areas of professional relationship and communication issues, and assessment and treatment of persons with disabilities. Pertinent publications, searched by selected key words, using psychological, medical, vocational and educational databases, have been identified, including books and book chapters, empirical papers, review articles, case studies and professional papers on disability in general and a wide range of specific disabilities. It was noted that most of the identified literature was theoretical and professional in nature, focusing on specific disabling conditions rather than generic disability. The Task Force has developed methodology to evaluate books, book chapters and both research and non-research based articles and to draw recommendations for psychological practice. Main topic areas of the Guidelines have also been identified.
The Task Force held its first face to face formal meeting September 15 -17, 2006 in Washington, DC. During this meeting, the Task Force identified goals and objectives of the guidelines, underlying values, and strategies necessary for achieving those objectives. The APA criteria for guideline development and sample guidelines developed at APA to date were critically analyzed and discussed. The literature-based introduction to the guidelines which covers key conceptual and definitional issues together with the rationale for the Guidelines has been drafted and discussed. The task force held its second face to face meeting, December 8-10, 2006. During this meeting, the Task Force further developed draft outlines of the guidelines which were then reviewed and discussed.
Legislative Activities
APA advocates policy by participating in coalitions, by preparing testimony, letters, and other educational materials, and by assisting APA members in their advocacy efforts. The APA Public Interest Public Policy Office has the primary responsibility for federal advocacy on disability issues and concerns; advocacy goals and activities are coordinated with the Office on Disability Issues and the Committee on Disability Issues in Psychology (CDIP).
During the Fall 2006 Consolidated Meetings, CDIP met with staff from the Public Interest Public Policy and revised CDIP legislative priorities to include 1) advocacy for mental health services targeted to vulnerable populations, including persons with physical and mental disabilities, and 2) advocacy for training opportunities for health care providers in delivering culturally competent services.
Also during the Fall meetings, 4 CDIP members took part in coordinated advocacy activity organized by the APA Public Interest Public Policy Office. The topic of respite care was addressed with various legislative staff.
Disability-related coalitions
The disability issues officer continues to be actively involved with the Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD) to advocate for national public policy that ensures the self determination, independence, empowerment, integration and inclusion of children and adults with mental and physical disabilities. The office serves on CCD’s Rights, Prevention, and Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Relief task forces.
International Issues
In Oct., APA's Office of International Affairs hosted a delegation from the Psychological Center for Research in Bulgaria. The Center is involved in public education and lobbying for psychology in Bulgaria. Their focus includes disability issues and mental health. The delegation met with APA staff members on two days, to share information and to explore avenues for future collaborations, especially in the areas of disability legislation and public education about disability and mental health.
Division Activities
In order to share disability-related information with Division 22, Rehabilitation Psychology, the Committee and staff develop articles four times per year for the division’s Rehabilitation Psychology News. In 2006, the following articles were developed and submitted for publication:
- Johnson-Greene, D. (Spring, 2006). Ethics of testing and assessment of persons with disabilities: moving towards disability-related competence.
- Khubchandani, A., Abels, A, Shigaki, C (Summer/Convention, 2006). The APA Convention Disability Resource Room.
- Abels A, Durr, L, Linnemeyer, R, Mueller, A, Sneed B (Summer/Convention, 2006). Reflections on a year of training with a blind/visually impaired training director.
- Gibson, J. (Fall, 2006). Universal instructional design: Education accessible for all.
- Shigaki, C. (Winter, 2007). Annual report for CDIP, 2006.
- Make APA membership essential by being responsive to the needs of all members (e.g., use of surveys, joint memberships, etc.)
Convention Activities
The Resource Room is wholly dedicated to providing free services to convention attendees with disabilities so that each may take full advantage of the convention’s offerings. It is managed by the APA Disabilities Issues office and is housed each year in the main convention center.
The Disability Resource Room was formally established at the 1982 convention and was originally stationed on the fringe of the main convention area. Prior to that time, attendees with disabilities requesting assistance could check with individuals located in the Convention Office beginning in 1979. Since then, the Resource Room has grown into a bustling center of activity that serves, on average, 85 to 90 conference attendees. Psychology graduate student volunteers provide a significant amount of the manpower needed to operate the Resource Room. Since its inception, this volunteer base has nearly tripled in size to nearly 50 students.
In addition to direct service provision on-site, many hours are dedicated to providing services prior to the convention. Specific convention and pre-convention needs are ascertained for each attendee contacted by office staff and each individual’s needs are addressed as fully and flexibly as possible.
For additional information on disability-related services available at APA’s Annual Convention, please visit www.apa.org/pi/disability/convention.html
Governance Support
The Office on Disability Issues provides continuous staff support to APA’s Committee on Disability Issues in Psychology (CDIP). Current priorities of the Committee include:
- Development of a proposed APA resolution on the Americans with Disabilities Act.
- The development of several convention activities, including one symposium, a CE workshop, and conversation hour on mentoring.
- The development of disability-related information and content for introductory psychology courses at the community college and high school levels.
- Increasing the visibility of disability issues within the APA.
The office also provided staff support to two task forces which were approved and allocated funds from council 2006 discretionary monies.
Through its nomination process, the committee actively seeks diversity in its own membership, including race and ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, and disability status. In 2006, the Committee was diverse in its membership with respect to ethnicity, gender, geographic location, and disability status. Specifically, the Committee included two Asian-American members, two women and four men, and five members with disabilities. In its nomination slates for 2007, the committee prioritized a balance of disability, gender and ethnicity. The committee continuously advocates for inclusion of, and sensitivity to, diversity and cultural issues as publications, policies and programs are developed within the association.
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