Accommodations are needed to ensure equal access to education for all members of an educational community. However, these accommodations are not to become a hinderance for the institution, or its members. Therefore the accommodations may not protect an individual from their actions. They are not a free pass to chaos, rather a door to the same platform given to the rest of the educational community, disabled or not.
Interesting to learn about the laws governing service animals vs emotional support.
I have been in Higher Education for about 15 years and have had students with accommodations. I think what stood out to me in this first module is that it is not necessarly a right of the disabled person to have an accommodation. I think we get hung up on request of students sometimes and that we have to grant it even if they have equal access to something. There seems to be an uptick on the amount of students requesting "quiet" space for testing and getting their PCP to write a note. To the point that having enough space for "individual room" testing has become a burden on the institution. I would like to see more training on the medical practitioner side regarding who and what criteria must be met to write such a note for a student. At times, it seems like they are provided just because they are asked for and not because of a true disability.
There is a difference between a service animal and an emotional support animal.
I learned specifically what is covered under the law 504
I learned about the federal laws that protect those with disabilities against discrimination. The purpose of providing accommodations is to give all students an equal opportunity. Students must have medical documentation of their disability and be willing to share that information with the institution to receive reasonable accommodations.
It is imperative that the student also understands their responsibility in acknowledging, as soon as practical, that they have a disability for which reasonable accommodation is required. It is not the responsibility of the institution to seek out the information, but rather that of the student to provide it.
It is also important to remember that there is to be equal access, and this equal access isn't designed to be special, or more than what the typical student is afforded. In other words, as was described in the educational content, the accommodation levels the playing field. It is not designed to give one group of people an unfair advantage over another group.
As educators, it is important to recognize that we seek understanding of all the potential disabilities that might require accommodation. This is especially true of those disabilities that might not be visible in an obvious way.
Ii believe that everyone should be provided an equal opportunity to succeed in life regardless of having a physical or mental disability. Hence. The Section 504 and ADA alleviates many types of perceived disadvantages by offering a somewhat level playing field which fortunately can be further developed as technology advances and society/cultural changes are more readily accepted as the norm.
To give all people the same access to the learning material regardless of their disability.
How to accomodate students with disabilities and provide an equal opportunity to learn the course subject matter as well as everyone else.
I have a better understanding of the lasws in place to protect students with disabilities. Moreover, this module has clarified expectations for reasonable accomodations.
Identifying what constitutes a reasonable accommodation as well as the students responsibility in the process.
Defineing the disctinctions between emotional support and a service animals and where they are provided access in public spaces is informative.
The phrase that providing accomodations is a floor, not a ceiling, stood out to me. It's important that accomodations be tailored to each student's request and are designed to 'raise the floor' the this student is level with their peers. It's not designed to provide advantages.
Accommodations must be insured for any and all students who meet the criteria. Institutions can be held liable if all ADA and 504 offerings and protections are not made readily available.
I have learned that accomadations help remove barriers to learning and provide opportuniteis to achieve the same outcomes as people without disabilities. I have also learned more about the law and regulations and how it started.
Accomodations are important for those who qualify for them according to the ADA guidelines. It is important to remember that reasonable accomodations in a reasonable time frame.
It is required by higher education institutions to accomodate students with disabilities so that they may have to same educational experience as the rest of our students.
I learned that the law is very open ended and can be interpreted in many ways. However, the law gives freedom to instead of limits to the types of accommodations that can be provided. The law applies to educational institutions, private or public. Students still have to meet all the criteria set by the institution but they may need some specific accommodations to reach those goals.
Students are responsible for requesting accomodations for their disabilities.
By law, the school should have policies in place that define the process for students to request accomodations and the college to provide "reasonable" accomodations for students. Schools should also have the resources to be able to provide those accomodations.
