Austin, A., Herrick, H., Proescholdbell, S., & Simmons, J. (2016). Disability and Exposure to High Levels of Adverse Childhood Experiences: Effect on Health and Risk Behavior. North Carolina Medical Journal, 77(1), 30–36. https://doi.org/10.18043/ncm.77.1.30
Citation/Abstract/Full-Text Free Retrieved from National Library of Medicine/PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26763241/
Health disparities among persons with disabilities have been previously documented. However, there is little research specific to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in this population and how ACE exposure affects health outcomes in adulthood. Methods: Data from the 2012 North Carolina Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey were analyzed to compare the prevalence of ACEs between adults with and without disabilities and high ACE exposure (3-8 ACEs). Adjusted risk ratios of health risks and perceived poor health by disability status were calculated using predicted marginals. Results: A higher percentage of persons with disabilities (36.5%) than those without disabilities (19.6%) reported high ACE exposure. Among those with high ACE exposure, persons with disabilities were more likely to report several ACE categories, particularly childhood sexual abuse. In adjusted analyses, persons with disabilities had an increased risk of smoking (relative risk [RR] = 1.29; 95% CI, 1.10-1.51), poor physical health (RR = 4.34; 95% CI, 3.08-6.11), poor mental health (RR = 4.69; 95% CI, 3.19-6.87), and doctor-diagnosed depression (RR = 2.16; 95% CI, 1.82-2.56) compared to persons without disabilities. Limitations: The definition of disability derived from the BRFSS survey does not allow for those with disabilities to be categorized according to physical disabilities versus mental or emotional disabilities. In addition, we were unable to determine the timing of ACE exposure in relation to disability onset. Conclusions: A better understanding of the life course associations between ACEs and disability and the impact of exposure to multiple types of childhood adversity on disability and health is needed to inform research and services specific to this vulnerable population. 

Burgstahler, S., & Cory, R. (2008). Universal design in higher education: From principles to practice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
Universal Design in Higher Education is a comprehensive guide for researchers and practitioners on creating fully accessible college and university programs. It is founded upon, and contributes to, theories of universal design in education that have been gaining increasingly wide attention in recent years. As greater numbers of students with disabilities attend postsecondary educational institutions, administrators have expressed increased interest in making their programs accessible to all students. This book provides both theoretical and practical guidance for schools as they work to turn this admirable goal into a reality. It addresses a comprehensive range of topics on universal design for higher education institutions, thus making a crucial contribution to the growing body of literature on special education and universal design. This book will be of unique value to university and college administrators, and to special education researchers, practitioners, and activists.

Conley, S., Ferguson, A., & Kumbier, A. (2019). Supporting Students with Histories of Trauma in Libraries: A Collaboration of Accessibility and Library Services. Library Trends 67(3), 526-549. doi:10.1353/lib.2019.0001.
This paper explores methods for building relevant, accessible academic services in the context of a liberal arts college with a growing population of students with psychological disabilities. This work is situated in a learning commons, where academic-support programs, including accessibility services and library services, work collaboratively with a shared goal of getting students to access support earlier and more often in their college careers. The college is home to many students who identify as holding marginalized identities, including those who are LGBTQ+, disabled, students of color, and/or international students, and are thus particularly susceptible to discrimination (Roberts et al. 2010; Seng et al. 2012; Ellis, n.d.; Harrell 2017; Coulter and Rankin 2017; Polaris, n.d.; Proctor, Semega, and Kollar 2016). In consultations with staff, students often name past academic experience as an underlying cause for academic struggle. Exploring this connection, staff observed that histories of trauma and marginalization can make it difficult for students to trust staff and have positive academic experiences. Through action research, the authors developed methods to better support students, including those with histories of trauma. The authors share their methods and suggestions to support readers interested in bringing this work into their communities.

DeNigris, D., Brooks, P. J., Obeid, R., Alarcon, M., Shane-Simpson, C., & Gillespie-Lynch, K. (2018). Bullying and Identity Development: Insights from Autistic and Non-autistic College Students. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 48(3), 666–678. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-017-3383-y
Reduced cognitive empathy may put autistic people at risk for bullying. We compared interpretations of bullying provided by 22 autistic and 15 non-autistic college students. Autistic (and non-autistic) students reported less severe bullying in college relative to earlier in development. Chronic bullying was associated with improvements in self-descriptions and self-acceptance. Autistic students who were chronically bullied were more likely to self-identify as autistic when asked to explain their disability. Autistic and non-autistic students demonstrated similar levels of cognitive empathy, providing no evidence that a “double empathy problem” contributes to bullying for all autistic individuals. Findings suggest that recovery from bullying can contribute to resilience and that autistic people gain insights about bullying and how to overcome it with development.

Hamilton, Lorna G. and Stephanie Petty.  “Compassionate pedagogy for neurodiversity in higher education: A conceptual analysis.”  Frontiers in Psychology Vol. 14 (2023). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1093290 
The neurodiversity paradigm challenges pathologising accounts of neurodevelopmental differences, including autism, attention deficit disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, developmental language disorder (DLD) and others. From a neurodiversity perspective, these differences in the way people perceive, learn about and interact with the world are conceptualised as naturally occurring cognitive variation, akin to biodiversity in the natural environment, which may bring unique strengths and challenges for individuals. An implication of this approach is that interventions designed to create contexts in which neurodivergent people can thrive are needed, in addition to those that seek to ameliorate individual-level difficulties. In this conceptual review, we consider how higher education can offer a context in which cognitive diversity can be noticed, welcomed and accepted with warmth. In universities, neurodiversity is one dimension of difference within an increasingly diverse student population, which overlaps – but is not synonymous – with disability. We argue that improving experience and outcomes for neurodivergent students should be a priority for universities aiming to produce graduates equipped to tackle the complex problems of contemporary society. Drawing on the foundational principles of compassion-focused psychological therapies, we consider how compassion can be enacted within interpersonal interaction, curriculum design, and leadership culture in universities. We apply the insights of double empathy theory to the problem of overcoming barriers of difference in the classroom. Finally, we make recommendations for Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and strengths-based pedagogical approaches, which create a fit-for-purpose educational environment for the widest possible range of learners. This realignment with the neurodiversity paradigm offers an antidote to bolt-on provisions for students who differ from the neuro-normative, and might enable neurodivergent thinkers to flourish within and beyond higher education.

Harrison, DaShaun L. Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness. North Atlantic Books, 2021.
To live in a body both fat and Black is to exist at the margins of a society that creates the conditions for anti-fatness as anti-Blackness.  Hyper-policed by state and society, passed over for housing and jobs, and derided and misdiagnosed by medical professionals, fat Black people in the United States are subject to socio-politically sanctioned discrimination, abuse, condescension, and trauma.  
Da-Shaun Harrison—a fat, Black, disabled, and nonbinary trans writer—offers an incisive, fresh, and precise exploration of anti-fatness as anti-Blackness, foregrounding the state-sanctioned murders of fat Black men and trans and nonbinary masculine people in historical analysis.  Policing, disenfranchisement, and invisibilizing of fat Black men and trans and nonbinary masculine people are pervasive, insidious ways that anti-fat anti-Blackness shows up in everyday life.   

Kafer, A. “Un/Safe Disclosures.” Journal of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies 2016. Vol. 10, Issue 1, 1-20. doi: 10.3828/jlcds.2016.1
The article begins with a discussion of how debates over “trigger warnings” require a re-evaluation of the place of trauma in disability studies, arguing that our failure to engage the traumatic effects of disability constricts our work. Next, the article examines three scenes of disability disclosure that are entangled with questions of tragedy and trauma. These were settings that presumed one kind of disclosure but compelled another and, as a result, competing notions of safety and accessibility bumped up against one another. The first scene, a BDSM workshop, raises questions about which traumas are recognizable in different settings, while the second, the Society for Disability Studies annual conference, challenges assumptions about the very possibility of “safe” spaces. The article moves to a third scene, the disability studies classroom, in order to complicate the intertwinings of disability disclosure, trauma, and their effects. Throughout, there is an argument for the necessity of disability theories of trauma, mourning, and loss; trigger warnings are one entry point for developing such theories

Tobin, T.J. and K.T. Behling.  Reach Everyone, Teach Everyone: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education.  Morgantown, West Virginia: West Virginia University Press, 2018.
Universal Design in Higher Education is a comprehensive guide for researchers and practitioners on creating fully accessible college and university programs. It is founded upon, and contributes to, theories of universal design in education that have been gaining increasingly wide attention in recent years. As greater numbers of students with disabilities attend postsecondary educational institutions, administrators have expressed increased interest in making their programs accessible to all students. This book provides both theoretical and practical guidance for schools as they work to turn this admirable goal into a reality. It addresses a comprehensive range of topics on universal design for higher education institutions, thus making a crucial contribution to the growing body of literature on special education and universal design. This book will be of unique value to university and college administrators, and to special education researchers, practitioners, and activists.