Get Your Students Hired
Nick,
I think that is true, Nick. The first questions is always, "Am I treating students with disabilities differently BECAUSE of their disability?" There is nothing wrong with being up front and honest with students about the problems you foresee in their future so long as you would do the same for any student who PERFORMED the same way (rather than for a student who you ANTICIPATED would have problems -- because of disability).
Dr. Jane Jarrow
I think it depends on how you approach the issue. I am lucky enough to have faculty that take constructive criticism very well. The best way to approach it would be to ask the question "Are we limiting participation in a discriminatory manner?" If the answer is yes, then we need to work on how to accommodate without giving undue help towards success.
I agree, Linda. You will want to make sure that faculty from the given area of study have some background regarding the legal issues. My experience is that such discussions are dicey to begin with, though, as faculty may fear that you are criticizing them directly, and dig their heels in regarding the necessity for maintaining the status quo. I think folks would do well the approach the discussion from the perspective of "making these standards tighter, to be sure they say exactly what you mean" instead of "what you have here is discriminatory and will have to be changed."
You always want to explain to your team, the WHY for what are are asking them to do. Get them onboard by making the assignment crystal clear. You will get better results.
I would agree, Amy. I'll give you another hint. In my experience, if you are going to offer up examples of barriers, use barriers to someone who is blind, deaf, or in a wheelchair. If there is no lingering doubt about whether or not the individual has a disability, it is easier to demonstrate how a rule creates a barrier, and the change that is needed is often pretty straightforward. Once you have established that barriers exist, it is easier to introduce the topic of barriers to students with less noticeable or recognized disabilities.
Dr. Jane Jarrow
I agree - you definitely get more flies with honey! I would also approach it from an educational perspective - most individuals(collegues) like to learn and what better way then to use an example of a technical standard that creates barriers.
Acknowledging the deficits is certainly the most direct way to approach this, but it may not be received very well. Faculty may become defensive if they feel you are only seeing the mistakes they have made. You don't want to get their backs up and have them defending the wrong thing just out of principle. I think I might approach things by saying, "I was looking over your technical standards. I'm concerned about how to explain some of the pieces with students who inquire about admission to your program. It seems to me that there are some barriers there to inclusion -- and I know you want to open up the possibility for as many students as possible. Can we talk?"
You get more flies with honey... GRIN