Access vs, success
This unit helped me understand the distinction between providing accommodations for access and providing accommodations for success. I posed a question in Forum 2 regarding a current student that has not been successful in passing exams. Nobody on campus is aware of any documented disabilities. So, based on my understanding now of the difference between accommodating for access vs. success, the other instructor that allowed this student to take an exam in a more private, quiet setting was accommodating for success. Is this correct?
Dawn,
Not exactly. The other instructor wasn't accommodating this student's disability at all -- because you don't know that she HAS a disability. Accommodations (as we are using the term here) are ONLY those arrangements or supports that are provided for a student with a disability. Anything else is an arrangement that the instructor is perfectly entitled to make for any student, any time (under academic freedom), but has nothing to do with disability status.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
It is importnt that a student with disabilities is forthright in informing the school. A student may have a history of a disability, but unless we have documentation, we can not assume the studnet has the said disability.
darlene,
Documentation of disability is a tricky thing, in that there is no "standard" either across schools or across disability categories. What is acceptable as verification of eligibility for support will vary greatly. The institution's responsibility to to be clear in their expectations.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
