Meredith College hosted the North Carolina Association on Higher Education and Disability’s (NC AHEAD) annual conference, Equity & Excellence: Access in Higher Education, on October 9-10, 2023.

The keynote session, “Teasing Out Academic Barriers from Personal Challenges” was delivered by Adam Meyer, director of student accessibility services at the University of Central Florida. The presentation centered on properly identifying academic barriers and determining effective accommodations.

“Identifying and removing academic barriers for students with disabilities is becoming increasingly challenging as more and more students come to college with complex lives and personal situations,” said Karen Coffey Hager, Meredith College disability counselor. “The session allowed us to walk away with new strategies to incorporate into our practices.”

Attendees also had the opportunity to attend other sessions at the conference that included topics such as dealing with compassion fatigue, supporting neurodiverse students, working collaboratively with parents, and more.

“Meredith is a member of NC AHEAD because they are the best source of accurate information regarding best practices in the field of disability services in higher education. Networking with other members and having access to the archives and research on the AHEAD website has been invaluable,” said Carolyn Koning, assistant director of disability services at Meredith.