As educators and as institutions, we want to make sure that our classrooms and colleges are accessible and welcoming places for all students. Your institution has policies in place to make sure that students from all backgrounds have equal opportunities and access to education, including students with disabilities. As the number of students with disabilities in our institutions rises, we all need to take action to make sure that barriers to participation are removed and students with disabilities have equal opportunities to other students, without discrimination or privilege.
This lesson will outline the legal duty to accommodate students with disabilities and discuss what this means in practical terms for instructors and disability support staff.
By the end of this lesson you will be able to:
- Identify the concepts of duty to accommodate, reasonable accommodation, and undue hardship
- Recognize the difference between accommodation and modification
- Adapt the general process involved for students to access accommodations in the post-secondary environment
- Recognize that the accommodation process is a partnership between disabilities service staff, faculty, and the student
- Access resources and support at your institution for accommodating students with disabilities
- Develop an understanding of specific issues related to confidentiality i.e. what information can be shared with faculty and why some students with disabilities choose not to disclose their disability
- Discuss how working and learning environments can be designed to maximize accessibility for all students