Office of Educational Accessibility:

Accommodations and Beyond

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Kelly Deasy, Director of OEA

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Topics

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• Office of Educational Accessibility
• Background and Context
• Accommodations and Course Access Memos
• Student Support
• Shifting Perspective toward UDL

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Office of Educational Accessibility

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• Facilitates accommodation plans in accordance to laws
• Helps determine what is reasonable and appropriate according to course standards/design

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• Promotes self-advocacy among students
• Communicate student responsibilities in accommodation process

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• Keeps current around changes in disability services field

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• Provides academic support to students

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• Collaborates across departments to foster a culture of inclusion

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Student registrations

• Approximately 29% of student population

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• Psychological, emotional
• Learning disabilities (written expression; reading; processing)
• ADHD
• Physical, medical, chronic health conditions
• Autism spectrum disorder

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• Not the whole picture
• Our general population of diverse learners

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Legal Background

Equal access in accordance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, The Americans with Disability Act of 1990 amended

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Reasonable modifications unless doing so will fundamentally alter the nature of the services or program – or pose an undue administrative or financial burden

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Otherwise qualified: Student must be able to meet technical and academic standards of program regardless of disability. (504)

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Legal requirements → with a look toward an inclusion framework

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About Disabilities

A person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.

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Medical, physical, psychiatric, learning-based, ADHD, Autism, deafness/hard of hearing, visual impairment/blindness

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Disabilities are temporary or permanent; acquired or at birth; hidden or apparent

• 84% of disabilities are acquired

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Common Difficulties Students Encounter

• Perceptions of not trying hard enough or unmotivated/lazy
• Unpredictability of symptoms
• Magnification of typical transition to college
• Feeling caught between desire for independence and needing support
• Family involvement or lack of involvement
• Cultural differences around disabilities and stigma
• Difficult previous school experiences and bullying
• Hidden disabilities and assumptions

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High school versus college

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About Accommodations

• Determined by
• 1) diagnosis 2) functional limitations 3) recommendations in academic setting
• Reasonable and appropriate according to law
• Can be requested at any time, but not retroactive
• Levels the playing field without lowering course standards
• Provides one aspect of student support
• Ongoing efforts to address coping strategies and self advocacy

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• Includes legal information and accommodations

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• Must remain confidential

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• Does not include the student’s disability

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• Instructors and students negotiate terms

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• Students encouraged to reach out -instructors may initiate conversation

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• Some accommodations do not really apply in remote environment.

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Additional Absences

• The number of allowable absences depends on the interactive or participatory nature of a course

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• the amount of flexibility is determined by faculty at the university or dept level.

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• Students are told that additional time or absences are not a blanket accommodation.

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• An accommodation in attendance past a certain point is not reasonable if regular attendance is essential to the course and/or curriculum.

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Additional Time on Assignments

• A reasonable accommodation when a student has a disability with random or cyclical acute episodes. Allows for flexibility in making up work.

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• Assignments with more than one week to complete can be done successfully with proper planning and management

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• Accommodation is warranted when an unexpected disability-related episode occurs or an assignment is not listed on the syllabus and has been given a short turn around.

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Additional Time on Assignments…

Appropriate when:

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• An assignment was not listed on the syllabus initially

and is given to students with one week or less to complete.

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• An unexpected medical or physical episode interferes

with the student’s ability to complete the work in the expected timeframe.

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Note-taking and Recording

We utilize an outside service called Note-taking Express

• Student is given an account
• Student records lectures and uploads notes
• Receives outline and transcript within 24 hours

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Recording lectures - “Use of a digital recorder”

• Students with this accommodation are permitted to record
• OEA Guidelines for Recording

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Not the whole picture

Some students are registered and choose not to have Course Access Memo distributed

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Some students don’t have adequate documentation, but have known disability

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Some students don’t have protectable disability, but would benefit from accommodations

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Circumstances of our environment

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Shifting Perspective

From a medical model to a social model of disability (looks to environment as the problem, instead of the individual)

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To inaccessibility as a problem caused by inaccessible design

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Toward recognizing variability and diversity in learning

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Inclusion and the Social Model of Disability

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Universal Design Benefits Everyone

• Clear, explicit instructions and objectives
• Multiple modes of presenting information
• Recordings, transcripts, subtitles
• Multiple ways of assessing student learning
• Repetition and summarization
• Checks for understanding and feedback early
• Verbal and written instructions
• Preview/ forecasting of the lecture topics
• Options in meeting learning outcomes

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Easy UDL Strategy

• Consider where you deliver content in a single stream approach

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• Where are your pinch points?

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• Apply plus-one thinking

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“Reach Everyone; Teach Everyone” (2021)

Thomas Tobin and Kirsten Behling

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Faculty Rights & Responsibilities

• Maintain the rigor and the fundamental nature of their course content
• Negotiate accommodations with the student
• Request verification of a student's eligibility for an accommodation
• Implement best practices in teaching to reach a diversity of learners
• Have an awareness of campus resources available for students and faculty
• Maintain confidentiality
• Provide all course materials in an accessible format

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In Summary

• Accommodations must be “reasonable and appropriate “
• Reasonableness determined based on the course standards
• Students are responsible for meeting with faculty to discuss accommodations

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• Avoid over-accommodating, and work with OEA
• Think UDL -- what works for one student with deepest set of needs, can work for everyone
• Plus-one thinking and pinch points

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Support for Faculty

Office of Educational Accessibility

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• Guidelines for Faculty - New

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Center for Teaching and Learning Design

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• “How to” Guides for Accessible Materials
• Universal Digital Practices
• Resource Center (log-in credentials)

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Additional Resources

•Disability Etiquette Guide United Spinal Association

•How to speak respectfully about Autism

•National Deaf Center – Resources, videos, guides

•Article: We Have All Been Disabled

•Lillian Nave’s Think UDL and Learner Variability podcast

•University of Washington’s Do-It Center

•Elise Roy – When We Design for Disability, We All Benefit (TedX)

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