Have you seen this in action, Melissa? Have you seen students with disabilities, provided accommodation, who are able to accomplish what would otherwise not have been possible?
Dr. Jane Jarrow
Accommodations work to minimize the effect of a disability. Students receive accommodations so that they can be affored the opportunity just as any "nondisabled" student in the class.
Roderick,
Sometimes making accommodations just means individualizing your instruction to support the individual learner -- and it is always nice to hear of instructors who are prepared to do that for ALL students, including those with disabilities.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
Well in my experience, this quote align very well to my experiences both as a student and as an instructor. Higher Education is designed to pull the best out of individuals to provide the best individuals to advance society whether its in the workforce or community. Providing educational access to everyone with the willingness and spirit should always be the goal of any institution. In other words giving a chance to people who want to be there verses the ones who are forced. Now whether those individuals are going to successful is just as of a chance as with anyone.
Now in my experience, I have had instructors who simply was not available for tutoring or coaching beyond lectures, which is something I do not incorporate in my courses. However, for a student with a disability he did; however, reserved a more forward seating in the class, checked to see if his volume level was significant enough for the student, and/or assure the text/graphic font on written material/displays was large enough. So a lot of the same practices I thrive to incorporate as well.
Christopher,
The good news is that the same laws that we follow, in higher education, apply to certification and licensure boards as well. The answer to your question is that if the accommodation you made for the student was reasonable at the college level, it will be reasonable at the higher level, too. And, of course, Title I of the ADA is all about employment, so reasonable accommodations are the law of the land within the job setting as well.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
Oh! I see. You are saying that accommodations do not give students an unfair advantage -- they still have to learn the same things (know the same things)to be successful. In that case, I couldn't agree more!
Dr. Jane Jarrow
Great hands on skills and enthusiasm for the career field is not always enough. We accomodate the individuals to provide them equal access but what about the rest of the industry they have chosen for their careers?
How much accomodation are the various certification agencies and state licensing boards willing or required to do for those with disabilities when taking their certification or licensure exams? We, as educators, can do our part to prepare our students for success but their disabilities are still with them. How much accomodation are the certifying bodies willing or required to do to give these students and graduates equal access to certification and licensure so they may have an equal opportunity for success?
I was meaning that even though they have which ever accmodations does not mean that those accmodations will make them understand which ever subject they are in.
Christopher,
And THAT is what accommodation is all about. It would have been a shame to deny these students, so talented with the hands and so enthusiastic about their field, simply because their reading skills were impacted by their disability. Glad to hear it worked out!
Dr. Jane Jarrow
I've had several students who, because of dyslexia asked that we read the quizes and tests to them. We did this and there were no complaints from other students or from my other instructors. The hardest part for me was to read each multiple choice option without any inflection that would disclose it as the correct or incorrect selection.
We found these students who easily performed the hands on skills and enthusiastically participated in classroom discussions but performed well below expectations, took their failing test scores and brought them into alignment with the rest of the students in the class.
With the excepion of one student who is currently in my class, the others have all graduated and are employed in their new career field and doing exceptionally well.
Heather,
I am not quite sure what you are saying here. Are you suggesting that making accommodations does not mean focusing on success? In that case, I agree with you. At the postsecondary level, our intent is simply equal access. Or are you suggesting that you don't believe accommodations can be useful because they remove an element of learning from the student (your example of someone else measuring and describing in a chemistry class)?
Dr. Jane Jarrow
I agree. There are many different types of accomodations that can be offered that doesn't mean that just because they have these accomadations that they will be successful. For instance if a blind person has someone measure and describe things in a chemistry class that doesn't not mean they will be able to understand chemistry any better.
Dennis ,
That's kind of the point -- you shouldn't NEED to change what you teach for students with disabilities. You teach that content for a reason, and you have found a method that is effective for most students. The idea is simply to adapt the delivery, IF NEEDED, so that that student with a disability is presented with the same information and experiences as others in a format they can use.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
I have been teaching for 6 years and I do not recall having a student with a disability had me change my teaching method.
Agreed! That is really what accommodations are all about -- "Each according to his/her need."
Dr. Jane Jarrow
Thank you for helping to clarify my thoughts! The accommodations will be different for every student therefore the path to success will be different for each student.
Jessica,
OK... I think I have it now. It isn't so much that the accommodation "hinders" their academic success as it is that the means of achieving accommodation (equal access) needs to be re-thought. Certainly, you never want to compromise the academic integrity of the experience by lowering expectations. Well said.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
Specifically, I was thinking of an experience I had with a student who had to leave the classroom every once in awhile due to a disability and would miss important information.
I've also had students who have had to miss numerous classes due to a disability and would again miss class time.
In both instances, the students would meet with me and discuss their plan for success and things worked out well.
Jessica,
I'm confused. How would an accommodation hinder the learning experience?
Dr. Jane Jarrow
Students need to define what success means to them. I believe this is true for all students, disability or not. If an accommodation is hindering the learning experience, then the student and teacher should make other arrangements. This is what I have done in the past. In my experience, students with disabilities usually want to find that route to success no matter what.
