The Fifth Annual Chronic Illness and Postsecondary Education Symposium

I received the following information via email from Lynn Roster, Director of the Chronic Illness Initiative.  Please forward this information on to your employer, employees, students – anyone you can think of.

DePaul University’s Chronic Illness Initiative Presents:

The Fifth Annual Chronic Illness and
Postsecondary Education Symposium

April 28, 2009
DePaul University
Chicago, Illinois

After Graduation: Creating Opportunities for Employment, Education, and Community & Family Involvement

Students with chronic illness, like other students, look forward to their future careers. Many, particularly in adult education programs, are already employed. However, employees and prospective employees with chronic illness face not only issues shared by other employees with disabilities but also many that are unique to them. They may ask themselves questions such as: Will I be able to be self-supporting? Will I be able to fit into the workplace? What kinds of accommodations are possible for me? What protections does the law grant me? What should I share about my illness and with whom? Which careers are likely to have more open doors for me? Should I seek a graduate degree? If so, what graduate programs will be best for me? What effect will working have on governmental disability supports?

Students are not the only ones with questions: Employers wonder how to manage chronic illness in the workplace; college faculty and staff wonder how to advise their students so as to help them succeed; vocational counselors wonder how to help people with chronic illness find work.

This interdisciplinary conference will provide opportunities for students, employers, counselors, faculty, and others to consider these questions together and to develop creative answers to them.

The 2009 Chronic Illness and Postsecondary Education Symposium welcomes presentations on the following:

• Understanding the career aspirations and concerns of students with chronic illness
• Empowering students with chronic illness to make good choices about their futures
• Improving the skills of those who advise students with chronic illness
• Utilizing college, community, workplace, and social networks to create opportunities for students with chronic illness
• Advocating for students with chronic illness
• Educating employers regarding reasonable accommodations for workers with chronic illness
• Helping students with chronic illness to develop strategies to successfully combine work and school.
• Understanding the ADA, SSDI rules, insurance, and other legal benefits and constraints
• Educating students about postgraduate educational opportunities
• Educating students about work opportunities, particularly in this age of technology.

Proposals addressing this year’s theme are welcomed. Please visit the Chronic Illness Initiative website here to download the application package and for additional information.