Universal Design and Reacting

UNIVERSAL DESIGN AND REACTING 

Back by popular demand: this was another one of our most well-received sessions at this year's Annual Institute, and we are excited to have Jamie Lerner-Brecher again share her advice, experience, and best-practices with the Reacting community. Jamie Lerner-Brecher will discuss questions of accessibility, how to incorporate principles of Universal Design into your syllabi, and the ways that Reacting already aligns with and supports Universal Design principles.

According to recent studies, nearly 40% of college students report  anxiety disorders. (!) How can we adapt Reacting, a pedagogy centered on public speaking and trying new and sometimes scary things? How can we help students with autism spectrum disorders navigate the hurdles of role-playing? (“Should I even say student with ASD? Or is it ‘autistic student’?”) What to do about a student with an auditory processing disorder? Do extra-time accommodations affect gameplay? How to help a student who doesn’t disclose a disability? If you have interest in discussing these questions and general Universal Design integration, join us!

Facilitator: Jamie Lerner-Brecher is a disability studies scholar-activist. She holds a master's degree in Disability Studies from the CUNY School of Professional Studies (SPS) and a bachelor's degree from Columbia University, where she graduated summa cum laude.

Jamie currently works on a grant-funded project that aims to create, implement, and research the effects of disability training on college professors. Jamie's other current research studies include: a paper on how Universal Design in Higher Education (UDHE) benefits students with learning disabilities, mapping UDHE principles to Reacting to the Past pedagogy, and researching best teaching practices for autistic students in Reacting classes. During graduate school, Jamie chaired the Disability and Access Coalition, represented SPS graduate students on CUNY's University Student Senate (USS), and sat as the sole student member on the SPS ADA-504 Committee. She also co-chaired the USS Disabilities and Mental Health Committee and vice-chaired the USS Academic Affairs Committee. Finally, she was hand picked to represent CUNY's 500,000 students on the CUNY Board of Trustees' Academic Policy, Programs, and Research Committee.

Before attending CUNY SPS, Jamie worked for the Reacting Consortium, specializing in innovative student-centered college pedagogy. She helped organize over 20 conferences where hundreds of professors learned the RTTP pedagogy.

Jamie identifies as disabled, having been diagnosed with multiple chronic illnesses as an adult.