More Resources for Writers and Teachers

Campus Resources for Writers with Disabilities

University Counseling Center offers services for undergraduate and graduate students.

Stress Free Zone allows students to practice self care.

Life Solutions offers counseling services for faculty and staff at the University of PIttsburgh.

Disability Resources and Services primarily serves students but can also advise University employees with disabilities.

Pitt's Office of Diversity and Inclusion has a mission of fostering diversity and inclusion throughout the University.

Pitt Active Minds is a national nonprofit with a Pitt chapter. It is dedicated to support, advocacy, and raising awareness around mental health conditions.

Mental Health Resources

2U has put together a collection mental health resources for African Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, Latinx Americans, and Native Americans. The page directs readers to organizations, directories, websites, podcasts, and blogs about mental health by and for people of color.

The website of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America offers a variety of materials, resources, and webinars.

Staying Mentally Healthy is a guide with some useful strategies from Mental Health America, a community-based nonprofit.

sarah currie from the University of Waterloo prepared a guide to wellness checks.

Resources for Teachers of Disabled Writers

Equal Access: Universal Design of Instruction provides an overview of Universal Design as well as helpful information about how to incorporate Universal Design principles into the classroom.

Jay Dolmage (University of Waterloo) has put together a useful guide called Universal Design: Places to Start.

Accessible Syllabus is a website designed to help instructors "build a syllabus that plans for diverse student abilities and promotes an atmosphere in which students feel comfortable discussing their unique abilities."

Communication Design Quarterly created a best practices guide to accessible document design.

The Composing Access Project has suggestions for making presentations more accessible, as well as suggestions for conference participants and organizers which can also be applied to student and faculty presenters in the classroom.

The University Center for Teaching and Learning can help you to make your courses more accessible for all your students. 

Pitt has created a guide that offers some strategies for supporting students who are having difficulties: Faculty and Staff Guide for Helping Distressed Students.

Avoiding Ableism 

Disability justice advocate Lydia X.Z. Brown is keeping a growing list of ableist words and phrases.

Academic Resources for Students with Disabilities

The article "Academic Supports for College Students with an Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Overview" offers useful advice. It is published by the Indiana Resource Center About Autism. 

Articles on Mental Health and Graduate Students

From Nature: “Evidence for a Mental Health Crisis in Graduate Education

From Research Policy: “Work Organization and Mental Health Problems in PhD Students

From AAAS: “Graduate Students Need More Mental Health Support, Study Highlights

From Inside Higher Ed: “Mental Health Crisis for Grad Students