Dismantling Ableism Survey: Respondent Recommendations

Introduction

The Dismantling Ableism: Institutional Action and Accountability survey (DAS) was administered in November-December 2023 to University of Manitoba students, faculty, and staff who self-identified as disabled or as having chronic health conditions.12 

Disability is not a singular experience, nor are disabled people a homogeneous group. People encounter different barriers and forms of ableism. Moreover, two people with similar impairments will also experience disability differently as personality, circumstance, privilege, and intersectional identities contribute toward their complex identity. 

“Experiences of inequities are particular to the type of chronic health issues [or] disability. When paired with intersectional issues such as race, class, etc., these inequities become more pervasive.” 

Language

The DAS used identity-first language (disabled persons) rather than person-first language (persons with disabilities) to acknowledge the disabling effect of social, environmental, and institutional barriers which hinder disabled individuals’ full participation in society, including university life.3

Similarly, the survey also used the term “chronic health conditions”, broadly defined as any condition, including mental health conditions, that is continuing or that occurs again and again over a long period of time, which in interaction with various barriers, may hinder full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.4

Positionality

Researchers bring their experiences, identities, and biases to their work. The DAS team members identify with various systemically marginalized identities, including disability and chronic health-related identities. These lived experiences are assets, but we recognize that our personal intersections of privilege also influence our work. Our commitment to research quality includes an openness to concerns and criticisms. Please feel free to send feedback on the DAS results to the Office of Equity Transformation at Equity@umanitoba.ca.

Footnotes

1. The survey was funded by the Robbins-Ollivier Award for Excellence in Equity.
2. The final sample size for the DAS, after data cleaning, is 544.
3. Language choices were explained in the survey introduction; nevertheless, the DAS project team respects that members of disability and chronic health communities have diverse language preferences, including person with a disability, chronically ill, and episodic disability, for example. The team is grateful for all of the feedback we received regarding language and it will inform our work going forward.
4. Adapted from Bernell, S., & Howard, S. W. (2016). Use your words carefully: What is a chronic disease? Frontiers in Public Health, 4, 159. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2016.00159 and the United Nations.

Report content

This summary highlights the recommendations from students, staff, and faculty for reducing the ableism and inaccessibility that they have experienced at UM.

Recommendations

Overall, DAS respondents indicated the following three overarching actions would have the greatest immediate impact on members of the University of Manitoba (UM) community who identify as disabled, including having chronic health conditions: 

  1. Coordinate accommodations and support services 
  2. Improve physical infrastructure and accessibility 
  3. Ensure disabled people and those with chronic health conditions are valued members of the UM community 

Respondents offered several other suggestions to increase accessibility, equity, and reduce the stigma and ableism they are currently experiencing. Unsurprisingly, many of respondents’ additional recommendations correspond to the above three overarching actions and they are grouped accordingly below. Respondent recommendations that fall outside of the three main action items appear separately in their own categories.

  1. Continue to make information technology more accessible
  2. Improve equity-based practices
  3. Conduct policy reviews using the Comprehensive Equity Impact Assessment Tool

Disaggregated statistical analyses and qualitative analyses5 suggest that, overall, implementing the recommendations detailed in this summary would be especially impactful in reducing barriers for those with disabilities and chronic health conditions who also identify as (or as having): 

  • Students (especially Bannatyne students) 
  • Indigenous 
  • Multiple disabilities or chronic health conditions 
  • Cognitive disabilities or chronic health conditions 
  • Mental or emotional health-related disabilities or chronic health conditions 
  • Disabilities and chronic health conditions that are less noticeable to others Systemically marginalized genders 
  • Systemically marginalized sexualities 
  • Financial difficulties 
  • Caregiver or significant support roles for adults aged 18+ 
  • We also note in-text when certain actions would be particularly beneficial to specific individual groups (e.g., faculty). 

Footnotes

5. See the DAS Methodology and Sample Description for more details on exact statistical and qualitative analyses procedures.

Accommodations and support services

Overall, most DAS respondents who currently receive accommodations praise the efforts of those working in accommodations and support services, such as Student Accessibility Services, Student Advocacy, and Employee Wellness, for example. However, these respondents and respondents who need but are currently not receiving accommodations, including those who have been denied accommodations6, also assert that both student and employee accommodations services need specific improvements. 

  • Review and revise existing student and employee accommodations registration processes, emphasizing: 
    • A proactive approach that removes the burden on applicants; The expertise of accommodations applicants, rather than the requirement for medical or expert assessment and documentation; and 
    • Greater schedule flexibility. Some students indicated the requirement to apply for certain accommodations two weeks in advance was a barrier for them
  • Reconsider “all-or-nothing” approach to accommodations and offer smaller or shorter-term accommodations, including those for temporary and intermittent or episodic disability and chronic health needs 
  • Expand access to counselling services, including one-on-one and in-person services for students and employees7 
  • Better communicate accommodations options and processes to students and employees, clarifying8:
    • The circumstances under which mental and emotional health-related disabilities and less apparent disabilities and chronic health conditions (e.g., intermittent or episodic disabilities) qualify for accommodations; and
    • Who has decision-making power regarding overriding or denying approved accommodations.

Student-specific needs

Student respondents to the DAS made the following suggestions regarding student accommodations and supports: 

  • Improve the Student Accessibility Services test booking website
  • Expand the student note-taker program (e.g., include more graduate-level courses) and consider paid positions to ensure note-takers are available to meet accommodations needs 
  • Expand graduate students’ access to accommodations and support services

Employee-specific needs

  • Increase employee access to accommodations and support services, including: 
    • Clarifying the process for accessing the centralized accommodations fund for employee accommodations
  • Reconsider the use of the term “wellness” in Employee Wellness to better communicate the unit’s role in providing accommodations and accessibility to faculty and staff who identify as disabled and as having chronic health conditions

Footnotes

6. In addition to being asked if they need accommodations to fully participate at UM, respondents were also asked if they are currently receiving accommodations, and reasons why respondents may not be currently receiving needed accommodations (e.g., prefer informal accommodations arrangements vs. applying for formal accommodations). According, it was possible to identify respondents who need but are not currently receiving accommodations. The accommodations section of the survey was explicitly designed to identify such nuanced differences for the purpose of identifying specific issues requiring the development of targeted recommendations.
7. The DAS was administered prior to the relatively recent increase in mental health care coverage for UM employees announced in early 2024.
8. DAS respondents indicated these two issues are ongoing sources of confusion, affecting their decision to applying for accommodations.

Physical infrastructure and accessibility

  • Continue to remove physical accessibility barriers, including but not limited to9: 
    • Barriers getting to UM campuses (e.g., access to affordable bus passes and parking10); 
    • Barriers getting around UM campuses; 
    • Barriers to accessing appropriate work and study spaces; and
    • Barriers to accessing remote and hybrid work and learning. 
  • Barriers related to ableist productivity expectations also remain problematic for DAS respondents, including: 
    • Inflexible deadlines and due dates; 
    • How fast they are expected to complete work; and 
    • How many hours of work they are expected to complete each week. 
  • Ensure accessible spaces and seating consider body size diversity 
  • Ensure accessible spaces consider sensory sensitivities (e.g., lighting, sound, and access to quiet rooms11, etc.) 
  • Improve safety across UM campuses, especially regarding getting to campus and in recreation and active living spaces

Footnotes

References: 
9. Respondents specified many other barriers that have also been identified as part of the recent accessibility audit including ensuring elevators and accessible door buttons are all operational and expanding the number of private, all gender, accessible washrooms, for example.
10. Especially parking, accessibility, and safety at the Bannatyne campus.
11. Respondents note that quiet spaces would also support anyone needing a place to rest during the day.

Ensure disabled people are valued members of the UM Community

  • Change the existing institutional culture that reinforces ableism and stigma (particularly around receiving accommodations) that compound the effects of ableism, particularly for those who identify with multiple systemically marginalized identities 
    • Recognize and support a diverse range of disabilities and chronic health conditions, especially those that are mental or emotional health-related and those that are only sometimes apparent to others (i.e. intermittent or episodic disability) 
    • Take a person-centered approach to disability and chronic health 
  • Increase access to social support at UM, including opportunities for those with disabilities and chronic health conditions to build communities and relationships with each other and the wider UM community 
  • Continue to provide education and training around disability, chronic health, and ableism to all members of the UM community to reduce stigma and discrimination 
    • Students indicate education focused on the following topics is especially needed: 
      • The diverse range of disabilities and chronic health conditions, including mental and emotional health-related disabilities and health conditions, and less apparent, intermittent, or episodic disabilities and health conditions; 
      • Accommodations responsibilities12 options, and processes at UM, and clearly emphasize that accommodations do not constitute “unfair advantages”; 
      • Inclusive course design, teaching, and assessment; 
      • Workshops designed to support students with disabilities and chronic health conditions (e.g., effective study techniques for ADHD). 
  • Implement and communicate clear processes to address and report ableist conduct, including accountability procedures 
    • Students and staff would especially benefit from the development of reporting and accountability procedures

Footnotes

12. Including the legal responsibility to provide accommodations, as outlined in the Accessibility for Manitobans Act.

Continue to make information technology more accessible

The Dismantling Ableism Survey was administered in November-December 2023. As such, the results may not capture recent (and ongoing) accessibility improvements to specific information and communications systems at UM, including the work undertaken to meet the Accessibility for Manitobans Act Information and Communications Standard (AMA-IC), and WCAG 2.1 standards. 

  • Streamline UM’s information systems and technologies
    • Faculty would especially benefit from IT support 
  • Review strategic operating procedures for the IT procurement and review processes. IT testing and review of new and existing systems and software must include disabled people and those that have chronic health conditions13 
    • DAS respondents report fewer barriers to accessing and using Zoom, as compared to Microsoft Teams and WebEx, for example. 
  • Student and employee training and support must be more attentive to the needs of disabled people and those that have chronic health conditions to ensure they can continue to learn and work optimally during periods of IT-related change, such as beginning training earlier. 
    • Students would especially benefit from test-taking program tutorials well in advance of tests or exams, specifically. 
  • Consider the impact of IT changes on those experiencing greater financial difficulties (e.g., those who cannot afford or choose not to own a smartphone)

Footnotes

13. A user testing process is currently being developed.

Improve equity-based practices

  • When people with disabilities and chronic health conditions serve as experts on disability, chronic health, or accommodations at UM, this labour must be appropriately recognized, valued, and possibly compensated 
    • Students with disabilities and chronic health conditions would especially benefit from valuing their expertise 
  • Promote and support Universal Design for Learning (UDL) more widely
    • Students would especially benefit from improving equity in the following ways:
      • Expanded course assessment options 
      • More accessible course materials 
      • Greater time flexibility to complete course requirements 
  • Increase staff access to professional and skills development 
  • Increase staff access to promotion and advancement opportunities 
  • Support faculty with disabilities and chronic health conditions to pursue senior leadership, if they are interested in these roles 
  • Improve access to suitable mentors for students, staff, and faculty who identify as disabled or as having chronic health conditions
  • Prioritize workload equity including considering options for greater time flexibility to support employees who have disabilities or chronic health conditions (e.g., flexible start and stop times, 4-day work weeks, part-time roles, etc.)
  • Reassess resource allocation to ensure disabled faculty, including those with chronic health conditions, can optimally and sustainably engage in research, teaching, and service activities

Conduct policy reviews using the Comprehensive Equity Impact Assessment tool

Disaggregated analyses demonstrated that student, staff, and faculty respondents are negatively impacted by a number of UM policies. Accordingly, UM should undertake a review of existing policies for impacts stemming from intersectional systems of oppression including, but not limited to, the following: 

  • Classroom policies: including, but not limited to, attendance and absence policies
  • Student accommodations: to address any existing gaps that may result in certain students not receiving needed accommodations (e.g., students who are at particular stages of their programs or graduate students14) 
  • Staff absence and leave policies 
  • Employee accommodations: to address any existing gaps that may result in certain employees not receiving needed accommodations (e.g., sessional instructors) 
  • Tenure and Promotion guidelines including, but not limited to, appropriately recognizing the contributions of faculty with disabilities and chronic health conditions who serve as experts on disabilities, chronic health, and accommodations 
  • Work-from-home policies: to ensure consistent and equitable access across the institution 
  • Employee benefits: to assess the need for additional or expanded benefits, especially for mental and emotional health supports offered both internally and externally to UM15 
    • DAS respondents emphasized the need for designated mental health days, specifically
  • Student benefits: to assess the need for additional or expanded benefits, especially for mental and emotional health supports and more comprehensive one-on-one supports (e.g. ADHD coaches, case managers, and disability counsellors, etc.) both internal and external to UM.

Footnotes

14. Student Accessibility Services and Faculty of Graduate Studies are currently working together to improve graduate students’ accommodations experiences, specifically.
15. The DAS was administered prior to the relatively recent increase in mental health care coverage for UM employees announced in early 2024.

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