Converse Accessibility

09/02/2025

STUDENTS & RECENT GRADS: Expand your network while learning more about internships, apprenticeships, and full/part-time jobs for all majors. If you've ever had a 504, IEP, or school accommodations, this is an invaluable opportunity for you!

BY PARTICIPATING YOU'LL:

Discover career paths across various fields.
Meet with hiring managers and recruiters from well-known companies prioritizing equitable hiring and find job opportunities fitting your skills, experience, and professional aspirations.

https://app.jobsconnected.com/e5c9e5af-5dd3-4c97-ae91-328953a5ce37/public

08/23/2025

**DON'T FORGET!**

Accommodations are not retroactive. If you are approved for accommodations, they do not go into effect until you have communicated your needs to your professors. This can't be done at the last minute as some accommodations require timely preparation. If you are planning to use any of your accommodations this semester, please send your CAP letter to your professor as soon as possible.

[Image description: Colorful background that says Reminder - Make sure to send your CAP letters to your instructors.]

07/24/2025

Autism in girls (and AFAB) often presents in non-stereotypical ways which can make it difficult for them to access a diagnosis.

HOWEVER, it’s also super common for girls to have the *same* traits as boys and still go un-diagnosed because of how their actions are interpreted.

All genders can be Autistic and it’s important to look for *patterns of differences* which can range from subtle to clear ❤️♾️🌈

07/17/2025

07/17/2025

With little research or consensus on the topic — unlike its reading counterpart, dyslexia — educators are striving to identify and help kids with it.

07/11/2025

In 2018, 22-year-old Grace Spence Green was walking through a shopping centre in London when a man landed on her and broke her spine.

The man had just jumped out of a third-floor window - and the impact left Grace paralysed from the chest down.

She woke up to find herself on the floor, with a body lying next to her. "I remember screaming and the sensation that I couldn't feel my legs," she says.

Grace was a medical student. She hadn't expected to end up as a spinal injury patient herself. But, she believes the bizarre accident has made her a better doctor.

As a trainee medic, Grace knew all about spinal injuries. Nonetheless, it took her a long time to accept what had happened to her.

"I just felt that, oh, I'm not one of them. I'm not disabled. I'm not going to be in a wheelchair. That's not me. They've got it wrong."

She often felt powerless, and unable to advocate for herself.

"It was very humbling suddenly being on the other side of the bed, how often I felt out of control of my situation, how often I felt like I didn't have any autonomy or any dignity."

She was sent to a rehabilitation unit, and gradually came to terms with the extent of her injuries. She also found camaraderie with other patients, like Vince, a scaffolder in his 40s:

"it's just a closeness that I haven't really experienced before because we've gone through this thing together, and now we call most days and he's coming to my wedding."

Grace also began to confront some of the prejudices she didn't know she'd had as a trainee medic - like the idea that disabled people had a lesser quality of life. Now, as a qualified doctor, she says her time in the spinal injury unit was the best placement she could have had:

"It taught me about dignity and autonomy... There's a real openness I find with patients, a kind of understanding I don't have to build."

As for the man who fell on her, Grace feels very little. "It feels like we were strangers, we collided, and we are just strangers again."

What she does know, is that by breaking his fall she somehow saved the man's life. So, rather than holding onto any anger towards him, she channels it into her biggest passion: advocating for change in the way society sees disabled people.

🎧 https://bbc.in/4knKQRp

06/04/2025

School officials say parents' heightened awareness, improved testing procedures and pandemic-era learning losses have contributed to the spike in students requiring specialized instruction.

05/01/2025

🧠 In case anyone read or heard about the recent New York Times article about ADHD & treatment, here are some responses to it from the ADHD experts & community, countering what was stated, and putting the record straight about what the research actually says.
🧠 "Setting the Record Straight About ADHD and Its Treatments" By Anni Layne Rodgers
https://www.additudemag.com/adhd-article-new-york-times/?srsltid=AfmBOoqrkbFBTFnD--oyHOPvesnafm_eVD_M62cPf5lqN_U2knS4FSBh
🧠 Rebuttal from Russell Barkley, Ph.D.
https://youtu.be/-8GlhCmdkOw?si=RsSx5QL2kXa8hPYz
🧠 “The New York Times Reruns Familiar ADHD Tropes” By Wes Crenshaw, Ph.D.
https://www.additudemag.com/adhd-criticism-new-york-times/?srsltid=AfmBOorG1k8lo3-yNU8cN54FFV0MvxTGlIIXK8VeKRRSyDyzor3J7PnL

04/19/2025

04/14/2025

Braille is more than just dots…it’s a powerful tool for literacy and independence in the blind and visually impaired community.

Here are some fascinating facts about Braille:

1. Braille is not a language it’s a tactile code that can be used to write almost any language, including English, Spanish, French, and even music and math!

2. Each character is made up of a cell of six raised dots, arranged in two columns of three.

3. There are two grades of Braille: Grade 1 is letter-for-letter transcription, while Grade 2 uses contractions to save space and increase reading speed.

4. Braille can be read by touch with the fingertips, and practiced using slate and stylus, a Braille typewriter, or modern electronic Braille displays.

5. Many public spaces include Braille on elevator buttons, room signs, ATMs, and packaging, making the world more accessible.

6. Only about 10% of blind individuals in the U.S. read Braille, but it remains a vital skill for those who use it daily in education, work, and life.

Braille opens doors to communication, independence, and equal access to information. Let’s continue to promote and support its use wherever we can.

04/14/2025

A great read for your weekend:

"As with much of U.S. politics right now, Texas v Becerra feels like a reckless attempt to pull us back to a former time. But there is one crucial difference between 1977 and 2025. More than one generation of disabled children has grown up under the protections Section 504 provides us. And while the politicians are still reciting the same script, our revolutionary predecessors gave us a new story. We are a valuable part of our communities, we belong here, and we’ve been shown how to fight." https://time.com/7258245/disability-protections-section-504-texas-v-becerra-essay/

04/14/2025