Jane Jarrow

Garry, You are right. Someone in a wheelchair may need extra time for maneuvering around the kitchen, but no extra time on a written exam. Someone with a learning disability may need extra time on a written exam, but no extra time for maneuvering around the kitchen. "Each according to his/her need"! Dr. Jane Jarrow

Garry, In the circumstances you describe, access is provided with a little bit of creativity and some special furnishings. That's great. It shows that making accommodations has nothing to do with watering down (or even CHANGING) the curriculum. It has to do with changing the logistics! GRIN Dr. Jane Jarrow

LE, The bottom line, as you have noted, is to deal with the behavior that you see, not what you THINK the cause behind it might be. It is not the instructor's job or responsibility to "treat" the student in some way, but rather to consider the student with a disability as a member of the class, with the same potential anticipated from others. If they cannot perform, that will become apparent as time passes. We should EXPECT that there will be problems. Dr. Jane Jarrow

Freda, You are right. I am a big proponent of having a "dedicated" staff member whose responsibility it is to facilitate accommodations for students with disabilities, serving both the students AND the institutional staff. Dr. Jane Jarrow

Freda, I don't know much about employment law, but I am guessing that unions don't often get involved with ADA related issues. In fact, if memory serves me right, the unions have generally been unhappy with the provisions of the ADA because the right to accommodation can sometimes trump the union's seniority system. Nothing is ever easy! GRIN Dr. Jane Jarrow

Judy, Just keep in mind that not all students who are unmotivated are students with disabilities, and not all students who succeed have no disability. Disability is (or, at least, should be) a neutral in this circumstance. Dr. Jane Jarrow

Judy, It is always good to arrange your educational activities to mirror the responsibilities of the world of work, not only so students get a realistic picture of what will be expected, but so that they can learn adequate coping strategies while they are still in school, and still have a more complete support network in place. Dr. Jane Jarrow

Judy, I suppose my first (and last?) question is whether you think this student's performance (and attitude) was tied in any way to her disability. There are LOTS of reasons why students may be unmotivated. And, just for the record, it is our WISH to see our students succeed, but we only need to see that they have access. Dr. Jane Jarrow

Judy, The nice thing about this kind of assessment (color personality test) is that it has nothing to do with disability. It allows you to compare interests and results for all students equally. Dr. Jane Jarrow

Darrell, I think you may have missed the point. Universal design isn't about something being AVAILABLE to all -- it is about something being USABLE by all. Video isn't usable by someone who is deaf unless some alternative (like captioning) gives access to the sound track. It is likely that much of the video is also unavailable to someone who is blind unless there are appropriate accommodations (such as audio description) provided. Dr. Jane Jarrow