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Faculty Learn Role of Office of Accessibility at Seminar Luncheon |
| By
Kimyette Finley |
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Nov 7, 2003 |
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| Dr. Kendra Johnson talked about the Office of Accessibility at last week's Center for Teaching and Learning faculty luncheon. |
Do students with disabilities receive reasonable accommodations or an unfair advantage? Faculty and staff had the chance to ask questions and voice concerns, and they received an in-depth overview of how UT accommodates students who have learning disabilities during the Center for Teaching and Learning’s faculty luncheon seminar last week.
“Every year, we receive calls from faculty members who think we rubber stamp accommodations,” said Dr. Kendra Johnson, director of UT’s Office of Accessibility. “That’s not true. Everything for us starts with a clear connection between the disability and the accommodation. We are constantly pulling back layers and looking to see if we can accommodate something. What we think compared to the student, the Office of Civil Rights, and faculty may not be the same.” In order to advocate on behalf of a student, Johnson explained the office must first have documentation of the disability from a qualified professional.
“Our office believes in promoting independence, not dependence. We strongly advocate and communicate to a student that just because they have a disability does not mean that they don’t have a right to be there or that they can’t do it,” Johnson explained. However, she added the office has adopted the philosophy that college is not for everyone, and the staff advises students that a disability is not an excuse or free pass. In addition, the Office of Accessibility promotes the difference between “equal outcome” and “equal opportunity,” where the goal is not to create an unfair situation for other students in a classroom, but instead “we’re trying to level the playing field so students [with disabilities] can equally compete with their peers. We’ll ask for accommodations when they are reasonable.”
In addition to advocating for students, the office is responsible for ensuring that classroom accommodations for students with disabilities maintain academic integrity, as well as institutional compliance with federal disability legislation.
Johnson posed several examples. If a student with a learning disability is taking a medical course and requests extra time to perform a critical procedure, it could fall under the guidelines of not being a reasonable accommodation because the request for extra time could be the difference between life and death for the patient.
Another issue Johnson cleared up was about course selections. “We’re not academic advisers, nor do we try to be.” Instead, the Office of Accessibility does secondary advising where the staff identifies possible mismatches in class assignments, Johnson said.
Johnson offered faculty tips on instructing students with learning disabilities that she said could be beneficial for all students, including:
• Provide guided notes/PowerPoint printouts;
• Use universal instructional design techniques that incorporate a multi-sensory approach to teaching: visual, auditory, tactile and kinesthetic;
• Distribute samples of finished papers as examples or post a model at the front of the class;
• Write key points on the board or overhead and read them aloud; and
• Make copies of your notes readily available.
Johnson said faculty are encouraged to contact the Office of Accessibility at 419.530.4981 if they believe an accommodation for a student with a disability fundamentally alters the nature of the course or they have additional questions or concerns.
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