Get Your Students Hired
Tim,
Unfortunately, what you describe is not uncommon among students who are of traditional college age and have come through the K-12 Special Education system. THEIR system is set up so that they modify things until the student succeeds. That is very different than our system of providing accommodation so that they will have access. The best you can do is keep saying the same (right) things over and over!
Dr. Jane Jarrow
The quote is exactly what we follow when we come across students with disabilities and are requesting some kind of accommodatoins. However, it seems that some students do not understand this, and trying to explain it to them can be challenging. Last quarter, we had a student who was provided with accommodations, but whenever she did poorly on an exam or assignment, she claimed that the instructor was not giving her accommodations.
When she gets a good grade, everything is fine... when she gets a poor grade, she claims that no accommodations were given. In this case, she thinks that accommodations have to be given until she succeeds, which is the total opposite of the quote.
Erica,
I am not sure in what context you are using the word "understandable" here. But, certainly, access is the expectation!
Dr. Jane Jarrow
betty,
It sounds like you are not teaching "the same to everyone" so much as you are providing instruction "each according to their need". That is pretty much the textbook definition of "just", and it is the Department of JUSTice that oversees the ADA. Good for you!
Dr. Jane Jarrow
This statement is true as it pertains to higher education. With a special needs child, I expect for the school system to make accomidations to ensure success. As in higher education, we are not holding anyone's hand; access is understandable.
i really have not changed my teaching strategies. I give everyone the same attention, disability or not. If some need more instruction i give it to them. Everyone is treated equally
Laura,
I have to disagree. The purpose of accommodation is NOT to facilitate success. They are given to provide ACCESS. If the student has full access, then what they DO with the opportunity is up to them. We HOPE all students will be successful, but it is not our intention to assure that they are. Rather we want to give them an equal chance to show us that they can be.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
I think accommodations are ways of facilitating success. Without our such allowances no success could be met because, no chances for success would have been given.
miranda,
There is nothing you can do to make them "not disabled" -- and sometimes students (all students!) need to find out for themselves what they can and cannot do so they can be more realistic in the future. Our goal is to give support but let them try and discover on their own. Otherwise, they could spend a great deal of time saying, "I could have done it if she'd let me!"
Dr. Jane Jarrow
I feel very empathic for students with a disability. I am very thankful that we have accommodations for these students, however it still is hard sometimes to see them realize that somethings they may not be able to accomplish because of their disabilities even with the accommodations.
Theresa,
Not quite. The idea is that the purpose of accommodations is NOT to assure success, but only access. It isn't that they won't succeed without effort (which, obviously, they must put in). The problem is that they will not have a chance to succeed unless we first provide equal access.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
This quote is comprable to providing accomidations because you can give a person all the accomodations in the world, but if they are not willing to do the work needed to succeed, then the instructor or school cannot be held accountable.
Linda,
That's a tough one, Linda. There is a LEGAL definition of disability (given in 504 and restated in the ADA) that would have gotten the student accommodations for the state board exam but you are right -- he can't get that without formal diagnosis. Perhaps the next time you find a similar situation, while you are helping the student by giving the appropriate support for his classes with you, you can also help explore community resources that can provide the formal diagnostic statements needed for others. First stop would be the nearest college with a Psych clinic (where students-in-training have to gain practice hours while in training), as they often operate on a sliding scale for pay. Next, you might try to contact a local chapter of LDA (Learning Disabilities Association), to ask for a referral for someone with limited means.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
What constitutes a "disability"? There are obvious, documented, diagnosed disabilities that many students have but what about the un-diagnosed disability? I had a student who could read and process text book information with some difficulty but with enough comprehension to verbally answer questions and do quite well on practical exams. The problem occurred during written testing. Giving this student oral exams got him through school but since his "disability" was undocumented K-12 we could not get him an accommodation for the state board exam.
Marsha,
Well... I was with you right up to the last sentence! The whole point is that students with disabilities WHO HAVE GRADUATED FROM YOUR PROGRAM are no more or less likely to "be successful" than any other student. If they are not able to function with reasonable accommodation while in school, then they don't graduate. If they DO function well with reasonable accommodations in school, there is no reason to believe they will be less likely to be successful when they get out than any other student!
Dr. Jane Jarrow
This makes sense to me. A college really can not be responsible for the success of any student. It is up to the student, disabled or not, to be successful or not. It would be difficult for a college to be responsible for the success of any student and would even pose greater difficulties in the case of a disabled student who perhaps was unable to succeed in a specific field because of their disability.
Amy,
Again, those are good strategies to suggest. But it concerns me that you don't seem to be getting any support from your administration in terms of clear direction as to how best to accommodate. The fact that you gave everyone partial credit for answers spelled wrong does not mean it is OK to penalize the student with a disability equally if his spelling problems were a direct result of his disability.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
I have not had to personally provide accommodations to students with disabilities as of yet.
I had 1 student who told me he had a learning disability. I told him that tests were not timed so he could take as long as he needed (but never needed any extra time). He did have difficulty with spelling in the "Fill-in the blank" sections of tests. For him (and everyone else), I would give partial credit if I could figure out what he was trying to say. I also suggested to him to attempt to find the answer already written in the test somewhere.
Crystal,
Being prepared to read as needed, and watching for issues of architectural access are a great start. There are other simple things that you can do as an instructor that are helpful, too, like being careful about describing things fully ("The equation 2x4" instead of "the equation here", for example), which helps students with visual impairments, and being careful not to turn your back to the class (to write on the board or ???) when you are giving important procedural information that might be lost for someone who is lipreading.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
I am actually a school psychology student and ive worked in k-12 for the past 3 years so I have a lot of experience seeing accomodations made for students with disabilities. I was a substitute teacher so I wasnt necessarily providing any technology accomodations but while subbing for special and regular ed classes many times I have had to read assignments for some of the students so that they can understand what is required to complete the assignment. If I had any wheelchair bound students I made sure I had the door wedged open wide enough so that they can fit through and enter the classroom.