Biography:
Dr. Trevi B. Freeze, B.A., P.B.D.E., M.Ed., CCC., Ph.D., is the Director of the award-winning Campus Life Program at the University of Manitoba. Through Campus Life, students with intellectual, developmental, and multiple disabilities are included and supported as auditing students in undergraduate courses at the university. Trevi has published in professional and academic journals and books and presented at professional and scholarly conferences on topics such as post-secondary inclusion, counselling, social emotional learning, and behaviour in Canada and overseas. Through her work with Campus Life students, Trevi has developed, adapted, and employed a wide variety of effective strategies to support students with learning, intellectual, developmental, and multiple disabilities to engage academically and socially on campus. In addition to her work with Campus Life, Trevi works as a psychotherapist and clinical supervisor in private practice and educational settings. In her work with clients and students, she is a strong advocate for person-centered, emotionally focused, and cognitive-behavioural methodologies. Her expertise in clinical skills training and supervision programming has been highly sought after by many students and therapists in fields such as social work, education, and counselling psychology.
Presentation: Carving the Ivory Tower: Campus Life at the University of Manitoba
People with intellectual and developmental disabilities are often subject to devaluation both individually and collectively. Attempts to “find” valid and valued social roles for this population too often result in fabricated and less than meaningful positions within society. One solution to is to create opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities and developmental disabilities that are more in line with those of their peers without disabilities such as going to university after high school.
The Campus Life program at the University of Manitoba is for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities looking to further their education, social skills, and be a part of the larger campus body. Campus Life creates and accesses the supports necessary for our students to audit courses and participate in academic and social opportunities on campus.
In this presentation, the valued social role of being a university student is explored through the stories and personal experiences of Campus Life students. Campus Life students and graduates will share the “good things” that have happened to them while being students. In many ways, these students are pioneers who are not only changing their own lives and the perceptions of others but also shaping the university for the better.
