Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Valaire,
Under the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) students with identified disabilities are to receive "reasonable accommodations" on the post secondary level. What "reasonable accommodations" meanings is handled on a case by case basis by most schools. For example a reasonable accommodation for a student with cognitive processing issues might be the extension of time for taking quizzes. For another student it might be provision of guided notes. The accommodation is not to distract from the learning of others while providing support to the student with the disability. Also, if the reasonable accommodation involves assistive technology where considerable cost might be incurred by the host institution then other human services agencies can be brought in and hopefully help with the cost. The main one that I work with is Vocational Rehabilitation. VR is very focused on providing support to adults with disabilities so they can be successful in completing a career preparation program and go into the workplace.
Gary

Gary Meers, Ed.D.

Valaire Casto

Thank you so very much! I think our campus does a fantastic job of providing accomodations not only to those identified as having a disability but to those who may struggle. I see this campus as a great example of Universal Design that leads to accomodations already built into the curriculum. I appreciate your in response it was extremely helpful :)

Duane Fuller CHEP

Gary,
Soon I will have a student that does have "mental" disability (lack of common sense to safety is our fear). Other instructors report that this person does reasonably well in class, but when it comes to "shop time" he can consume the majority of the instructors time, leaving the other students with lack of attention.
All of the instructors have adopted an "it takes a village" approach to working with this person while in the shop.
Any suggestions?