As part of our summer and online activities, one of our Scholars shared the list of accommodations approved by the college where she is enrolled. It generated a great deal of discussion and comparison. We are sharing it here as an example, understanding that disability accommodations are unique to the individual and institution. This Scholar has mobility impairments, is a wheelchair user, and has some special learning issues.
First, the school listed accommodations approved by the Office of Disability Services for all courses:
- Early registration
- Assistance with notetaking
- Lecture taping
- Copies of overhead transparencies
- Flexible exams-quiet room, extended time (time-and-a-half), scribe
- Early notification of writing assignments
- Potential for scientific laboratory safety assistance
- Priority snow removal (assurance of an accessible route and route map where all the noted accessible routes will be clear by 8:00 a.m.)
- Special classroom furniture (mainly a wheelchair-accessible desk)
- Elevator outage response (if an elevator goes out and the Disability Services Office knows soon enough, they will move the classroom to a wheelchair-accessible location)
In addition, instructors are encouraged to provide:
- Outlines, study guides, and practice tests to focus study
- Repetition of key concepts
- Structured lecture format
- Important information provided in both oral and written form