Barriers to Higher Education for Students with Bipolar Disorder: A Critical Social Model Perspective

Abstract

Employing some of the features of participatory research methodology, a disabled faculty joins a student with mental health diagnosis to examine the factors that hinder or enable success for this group. The theoretical framework or scholarly bearings for the study comes from the critical social model of disability, disability services scholarship in the United States, and education theory literature on “student success”. With a particular focus on students with bipolar disorder, the article highlights the gaps in disability scholarship on this specific group while underscoring the oppression experienced by them through the inclusion of an autoethnographic segment by the primary author in this collaborative, scholarly work. The model of access, we propose, moves beyond accommodations—which are often retrofits or after the thought arrangements made by an institution—and asks for environmental support, social and institutional inclusion, and consideration for students with psychiatric health diagnosis. This article not only presents an array of problems in the United States academy but also a set of recommendations for solving these problems. Going beyond the regime of retrofit accommodations, we ask for an overhaul of institutional policies, infrastructures, and curricula so that the academy is inclusive of neurodiverse bodies and appreciates their difference.

Chapter 6: Technical Communication Reimagined Through a Socio-Technical Problem-Solving Lens

“…The research project at this point takes a turn toward an additional component of Kruse's composing of an autoethnography of the academic accommodations of a person with bipolar disorder diagnosis, and this project now becomes the focus of a joint research project for publication where Kruse becomes the lead author due to her expertise with the lived experiences of a mental disability in the academy. Equally significant is the role she begins to play in the design of the manuscript for publication, which by no means resembles the shape of a typical scholarly article as the readers of this chapter might discover in their perusal of the end result (Kruse & Oswal, 2018) of this participatory collaboration.…”

Developing an Ecological Approach to the Strategic Implementation of UDL in Higher Education

“…The funding model in disability service provision, more generally, also relies on a diagnostic approach (Kruse & Oswal, 2018). Funds are linked directly to diagnostic categories.…”

Reframing Neurodiversity as Competitive Advantage: Opportunities, Challenges, and Resources for Business and Professional Communication Educators

“…Equally helpful is connecting with the student disability office on campus in order to identify what support and resources are available to faculty and to their neurodiverse students. Specialized programs often include group mentoring and peer mentors/social coaches to aid in the development of effective social skills and self-advocacy skills (standing up for oneself, leading others, better adaptation to college and career, communicating their needs to peers and professors), which can have a positive effect on academic performance and social interaction (Gillespie-Lynch et al., 2017; Kruse & Oswal, 2018).…”

“…There are a number of barriers to providing better support for neurodiverse students, including issues around funding, faculty training, adequate resources, and curricular support (Kruse & Oswal, 2018; Saggers, 2016). Yet programming and curricular focus may be less important than providing the right opportunities for neurodiverse students to interact and build relationships with peers and faculty, exercise their ability to self-advocate, and participate in designing the curriculum that supports their learning.…”