Frederic Fovet argues that while Universal Design for Learning (UDL) has been embraced to rethink pedagogy through the social model of disability, there is reluctance to apply this approach to mental health issues in academia. He notes that many mental health issues are exacerbated by the university environment. Fovet provides examples of how UDL principles of multiple means of representation, action/expression, and engagement can be applied to course design to avoid triggering mental health issues and better support neurodiverse students. He calls for disability studies programs to play a greater advocacy role in promoting a social model approach to mental health within universities.

1. Academia, the Social Model and Mental
Health: Say it like you mean it!
Frederic Fovet, Faculty of Education, UPEI
Lancaster Disability Studies Conference 2018

2. Personal Introduction
• Currently Assistant Professor in Education at UPEI
• Previously Director of the Office for Students with Disabilities at
McGill for 4 years
• Continue to act as consultant to colleges and universities on
matters of accessibility and Universal Design for Learning
• Regularly called in to plan the strategic adoption and development
of UDL on campuses
• Was part of CWGHR’s advisory committee on ‘episodic conditions’
and HE

3. Context
• UDL has become increasingly appealing to HE campuses
• What this symbolises is that campuses are increasingly using the Social Model of
Disability to rethink pedagogy
• And yet…
• 10% of students are registered with Accessibility offices on many campuses across
North America
• One third of these students identify as being affected by MH issues
• Some of these MH issues are preexisting when students arrive in HE, but many HE
issues are actually created by the HE environment itself.
• Much of the support is clinical and aims at providing access to therapeutic resources.
• There is a fierce reluctance to examine accessibility through the lens of UDL or the
Social Model when it comes to MH
• Link to the conference theme: What role does/can/should the academy play in
supporting disability activism

4. Friction: UDL and Mental Health in
Academia
• The Social Model of Disability is admittedly difficult to apply in the area of
neuro-diversity because, from a sociological perspective, we are so inclined in
HE to pathologize mental health.
• We must consider the impact of the clinical field as an industry, the cultural of
referral in education, the omnipresence of the DSM-V, etc.
• There are also other factors which hinder this process: fears, taboos,
prejudices and insecurities around ‘lack of competency’ from accessibility
staff, faculty and campus administration.
• Even amongst Disability Studies scholars and advocates there is a tangible
reluctance to embrace Social Model practices when it comes to accessibility
in HE

5. Examples of this ‘friction’ around Mental
Health and UDL
• Even well intentioned faculty and accessibility staff will often recommend students affected
by MH ‘take leave and return when they are better’
• CWGHR’s advisory committee on ‘episodic conditions’ and HE found that many faculty
members and administrator query the MH conditions disclosed by students on the basis
‘there seemed to be nothing wrong with them just recently’
• Faculty and campus staff often insist on much more external documentation when the
difficulty disclosed relates to HE
• This is in turn is highly discriminatory since access to these diagnoses is limited and expensive
• Campuses are often intrusive in the use they make of diagnostic information when it relates
to MH (recent OHRC guideline to Ontario colleges and universities)
• Even amongst UDL advocates there is fierce reluctance to use the model to examine
accessibility and inclusion in HE when it comes to students affected by MH
• It is not rare to see even faculty who work in Disability Studies Department adopt a medical
model approach when their students disclose a MH issue.

6. Practical relevance of UDL in MH
• And yet, social model approaches like UDL are shown to
considerably reduce the ‘lack of fit’ between expectations from
faculty and students’ ability to demonstrate their skills and gains,
in a landscape of increasing neuro-diversity.
• We will now have a look at the three UDL principles and explore
some hands-on practices which can be ‘redesigned’ in order to
avoid exacerbating MH issues
• This is a good illustration of how the social model must be
adopted to examine MH within HE in order to place the focus on
the redesign of campus practices rather than on the learner
seeking ‘treatment’

8. Multiple means of representation
• How might we offer more flexibility in the way we provide information to students
and how might this avoid exacerbating MH issues?
• Posting PPT to Moodle before class – Enables students with episodic conditions to
remain engaged with the course material
• Avoiding participation points – These often become ‘attendance’ points and
inherently penalize students with MH issues who may suffer from episodic setbacks
• Always reinforcing key messages given orally in class through other formats (Moodle
or email) in case the learner has been absent for reasons beyond their control or in
case they have missed the key information due to fluctuating attention
• Being aware that attention of learners fluctuates when students are on medication
such as antidepressants. Offering multiple reinforcement of key messages and
notions in diverse formats.

9. Multiple means of action and expression
• How might we offer more flexibility in the way we receive information from students
and how might this avoid exacerbating MH issues?
• Avoiding anxiety inducing activities if the skills required to be demonstrated are not
those taught and evaluated, in particular class presentations.
• Allow some flexibility with submissions and deadlines. Notion of a ‘bank of days as a
universal grace period’ = non intrusive, respectful and efficient.
• Avoid forcing students into group activities and instead allow non face to face
methods of collaboration: virtual chat rooms, collaboration through Apps, etc.
• Avoid forcibly calling out students in class and placing the spotlight on them without
warning.
• Reflect on the rigidity of our expectations and norms with regards to behaviour,
interaction, extrovertedness, etc. of learners

10. Multiple means of engagement
• How might we offer more flexibility in the way we engage students and how might this avoid
exacerbating MH issues?
• Be sensitive to triggers and reflect on the impact of trauma informed care on the
management of a classroom environment.
• Offer flexibility in terms of topics, questions and themes – whenever this is possible- in order
to allow learners to use their own autonomous strategies to avoid triggers.
• Embrace the fact that motivation – like attention – will fluctuate for students affected by MH
issues, but that this does not mean they are not committed to completing their course or
demonstrating they have acquired the relevant skills.
• Reflect on how we define ‘engagement’ and how we allow students to demonstrate this to
us: the class expands well beyond the 4 walls in 2018.
• Allow students the space to use their own experience as individuals with MH issues in the
classroom, through the exploration of curriculum co-creation, where and when possible.

11. Quick take aways
• The way we design learning experiences has the capacity of ‘enabling’ or ‘disabling’
students.
• This is true in the area of Mental Health
• Designing with neuro-diversity in mind means we reduce the amount of friction
between our expectations and the learners’ desire to demonstrate skills and
knowledge.
• With ‘design thinking’, we avoid exacerbating MH issues, but perhaps also avoid
creating anxiety and decreasing well-being.

12. Discussion: Advocating for a social model
approach to MH in Academia
• How do we break this last frontier in HE accessibility when it comes to MH?
• How do we force accessibility services to operate a shift in mindset?
• How do we support faculty in confronting their fears, taboos and preconceptions?
• How do we encourage senior administration to strategically embed social model
concepts and UDL in campus mission statements?
• Striking contradiction: The campuses struggling with this friction often have stromgb
Disability Studies department
• Why do they not play a greater role in advocacy when it comes to the social model
and MH?
• How can we break this isolationism and encourage Disability Studies Departments to
embrace a role of advocacy within their own campus?
• How do we trigger this change and this advocacy without forcing students to ‘out
themselves’? (Zlomislic, 2016)

13. References
• Flanagan, T., Benson, F.J., & Fovet, F. (2014) A multi-perspective examination of the barriers to field-placement
experiences for students with disabilities. Collected Essays on Learning and Teaching, 7(2)
• Fovet, F. (2017) Access, Universal Design and Sustainability of Teaching Practices: a Powerful Synchronicity of
Concepts at a Crucial Conjuncture for Higher Education. Indonesian Journal of Disability Studies (IJDS), 4(2),
118-129
• Fovet, F., Jarrett, T., Mole, H., & Syncox, D. (2014) Like fire to water: building bridging collaborations between
Disability service providers and course instructors to create user friendly and resource efficient UDL
implementation material. Collected Essays on Learning and Teaching, 7(1)
• Fovet, F. (2014) Social model as catalyst for innovation in design and pedagogical change. Widening
Participation through Curriculum. Open University 2014 Conference Proceedings, 135-139
• Lowrey, K.A., Hollingshead, A., Howery, K., & Bishop, J. (2017) More Than One Way: Stories of UDL and
Inclusive Classrooms. Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 42(4), 225 - 242
• Mole, H., & Fovet, F. (2013) UDL - From disabilities office to mainstream class: How the tools of a minority are
addressing the aspirations of the student body at large. Collected Essays on Learning and Teaching, 6, 121-
126.
• OHRC (2016) New documentation guidelines for accommodating students with mental health disabilities.
Retrieved from: http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/news_centre/new-documentation-guidelines-accommodating-
students-mental-health-disabilities
• Zlomislic, D. (2016, Jan 12) York University student wins mental-health fight. The Toronto Star. Retrieved
from: https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2016/01/12/york-university-student-wins-mental-health-fight.html

14. Contact details
• Frederic Fovet (PhD.)
• Assistant Professor, Faculty of Education, University of Prince Edward Island
• ffovet@upei.ca
• @Ffovet
• www.implementudl.com