Teaching College Students with Disabilities

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. Relevant Legislation

1. The Americans with Disabilities Act
2. The Rehabilitation Act
3. Reactions and Opinions

III. Faculty and Student Guidebooks

IV. Online Articles on College Students and Disabilities

1. Articles on Educational Strategies
2. Information on Disabilities

1. Assistive Technology Resource Agencies and Databases
2. Web Accessibility
3. Disability-Related Freeware and Shareware

I. a. THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT

The Americans with Disabilities Act
This is the full text of Public Law 101-336, July 26, 1990, 104 Stat. 327.

Disabled Students in Higher Education: Admiministrative and Judicial Enforcement of Disability Law
Since The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law on July 26, 1990, a number of administrative and court decisions interpreting these vague phrases have clarified the rights and responsibilites of both students and schools. This article by Adam A. Milani examines how these decisions have built on the statutes and regulations prohibiting disability-based discrimination to produce a clearer definition of what students may ask for and schools must provide in the areas of admissions, academic adjustments, auxiliary aids, access and other issues facing colleges and universities. (Originally published in the Journal of College and University Law, 1996).

U.S. Department of Justice ADA Home Page
The ADA gives the Department of Justice authority to issue regulations for Titles II and III of the ADA and to provide technical assistance and enforcement. The Department also has authority to certify that a State or local accessibility code is equivalent to the ADA's requirements for new construction and alterations. This site provides access to a collection of helpful documents, including regulations and technical assistance materials.

The Americans with Disabilities Act Document Center
This site provides the ADA statute, regulations, Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines, federally reviewed tech sheets, and other assistance documents

I. b. THE REHABILITATION ACT

Code of Federal Regulations on Reasonable Accommodation
Title 29, Section 1613.704 of The Rehabilitation Act.

Section 504 & Postsecondary Education
This article by Deborah Leuchovius of The PACER Center summarizes the key issues involved in the rights of college students with disabilities.

Access to Higher Education for Students with Disabilities:
What Is Reasonable? What Is Fundamental? & Who Is Qualified?
This review by L. Scott Lissner explores the key federal legislation and court interpretations that guarantee access to higher education for individuals with disabilities. (1992).

I. c. REACTIONS AND OPINIONS
 

What If the Requested Accommodations Appear to Compromise the
Integrity of my Class or Academic Program?
Answers to this question, as well as many others that are frequently asked by faculty and staff members, are provided by the Disabled Students' Program at UC Berkeley.

II. RESOURCE AGENCIES AND SITES
 

The Association on Higher Education and Disability
AHEAD is an international, multicultural organization of professionals committed to full participation in higher education for persons with disabilities. The Association is a vital resource, promoting excellence through education, communication and training. The Association's numerous training programs,workshops, publications, and conferences are planned and developed by its elected officials and governing board and carried out by the full-time Executive Vice President and staff. AHEAD was founded in 1977 to address the need and concern for upgrading the quality of services and support available to persons with disabilities in higher education.

Cornucopia of Disability Information
CODI serves as a community resource for consumers and professionals by providing disability information in a wide variety of areas.Areas include education, directories and databases, statistics, government documents, computer access, legal, publications, WWW, bibliographic references, aging, politics, universal design and announcements.

Disability Access Information and Support
DAIS is a resource to the higher education community, providing contracted services for those concerned with disability and access in higher education. The growing list of DAIS publications includes resource materials to assist in interpreting legal mandates, reviewing policies and procedures, and understanding the philosophical underpinnings of providing quality service to people with disabilities in the postsecondary
environment.

disABILITY Information and Resources
This is acomprehensive collection of categorized links by Jim Lubin, who is a C2 quadriplegic, completely paralyzed from the neck down and dependent on a ventilator to breathe. He uses a keyboard/mouse emulator with a sip and puff switch to type morse codes.

The Disability Management Page
This is a massive site by Steven sell containing a wealth of resources on various topics, such as early intervention; medical management; return to work; rehabilitation; reemployment; job accommodation; the Americans with Disabilities Act; short- and long-term disability; workers' compensation; and related issues.

DSPA Internet Resources
This is a listing of major postsecondary resources, available on the Internet and World Wide Web, which help students with disabilities, educators and other support personnel, provided by the Disability Services Providers Alliance, a cooperative postsecondary effort to provide academic and work supports for students with disabilities

The Family Village
"A Global Community of Disability-Related Resources" that integrates information, resources, and communication opportunities on the Internet for persons with mental retardation and other disabilities, their families, and those that provide them services and supports. Stop in, stroll around, and visit some of the Family Village's attractions. Click on a place to go inside and reveal "a cornucopia of useful information." Funded by The Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation.

Landmark College
The only fully accredited college in the country designed exclusively for students with dyslexia, attention-deficit disorder, or specific learning disabilities, located in Putney, Vermont.

The National Rehabilitation Information Center
NARIC, an information resource for 20 years, offers a web site that provides keyword-searchable access to five databases that together include 60,000 records. You can search: REHABDATA, with over 51,000 articles, books, videos and other resources spanning over 40 years of disability and rehabilitation research, The NIDRR Program Directory and Compendium, for the latest in federally funded disability and rehabilitation research, and The NARIC Knowledgebase, which describes more than 1,400 organizations, 400 journals and magazines, and 700 "content deep" Internet sites and discussion groups.

Postsecondary Demonstration Projects
This is a list of the projects funded by the U.S. Department of Education to design and implement model programs of postsecondary, vocational,
technical, continuing, or adult education for individuals with disabilities. It includes contact information and abstracts. Many of these projects have produced informative print and online resources.

Untangling the Web: Where Can I Go to Get Disability Information?
This comprehensive list of disability-related Web sites is maintained by Steven L. Fullmer at the West Virginia Rehabilitation Research and Training Center.
 

III. FACULTY AND STUDENT GUIDEBOOKS

Faculty and Student Handbook: Policies & Procedures Pertaining to the ADA & Section 504
This handbook by the Specialized Resource Center of Manhattan College highlights the policy and procedural guidelines for students covered by the mandates set forth in the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. All members of the college community are required by federal law to be aware of, and adhere to, the basic policies and procedures pertaining to these laws

IV. ARTICLES ON COLLEGE STUDENTS AND DISABILITIES
  Return to Top

IV. a. ARTICLES ON EDUCATIONAL STRATEGIES
 

Muskingum College's Learning Strategies Database
This collection of learning strategies, compiled over a 15- year period and prepared by the Center for Advancement of Learning, is intended for use by students, teachers, service providers, and parents. It contains general-purpose and content-specific learning strategies applicable to postsecondary, secondary, and even elementary curricula.

Secondary to Postsecondary Education Transition Planning for Students with Learning Disabilities
This is a position paper of the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities. (1994).

 

Learning Disabilities - Strategies
 

• Services for Learning Disabled Students
   

IV. b. INFORMATION ON DISABILITIES
 

Disability Awareness: Myths
This is a concise response to the many common myths about persons with disabilities.

Beyond Affliction: The Disability History Project
This is a rich and extensive interactive production by National Public Radio (NPR) online.


Attention Deficits

• Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder
   

V. TECHNOLOGY

V. a. ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES
 

Services for Users with Disabilities
This site describes the services at the Morris Library of the University of Delaware and includes: The Assistive Technology Center in the Morris Library, Closed Captioned Video Stations for Students who are Hearing Impaired, Photocopy Services, Library Staff Assistance Services for Users with Disabilities, Disabilities Information, and Selected Web Sites on Assistive Technology.

ABLEDATA
ABLEDATA is a rich electronic database of information on assistive technology and rehabilitation equipment available in the United States, funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research of the U.S. Department of Education. With more than 23,000 product listings, ABLEDATA covers everything from white canes and adaptive clothing to low vision reading systems and voice output programs. Each product record provides a detailed description of the item, complete company contact information, and distributor listings (where applicable). In addition to commercially available products, the database also lists non-commercial prototypes, customized products, and one-of-a-kind products. This site also provides a collection of assistive technology fact sheets and consumer guides.

Managing Information Resources for Accessibility
This is a popular and widely distributed primer with a comprehensive overview of universal access policy from Federal perspective. This handbook was designed to provide guidance to Federal managers and other personnel who are unfamiliar with the policy and practice of information accessibility to accommodate users with disabilities and provide for their effective access to information resources. The issues that are reviewed represent "lessons learned" by agencies and GSA's Information Technology Accommodation Division. (December, 1991).

Apple Computer Worldwide Disability Solutions Group
Apple provides a series of disability-related information resources that include a comprehensive online database of access products for the Macintosh called the Mac Access Passport, creative and entertaining videos, moderated "chats", and disability resource sheets. This site also explains the Universal Access features that are built into the Macintosh operating system.

Microsoft Accessibility and Disabilities Web Site
This site describes Microsoftâs accessibility efforts, accessibility features on all of its products, and accessibility aids produced by other companies, along with a listing of articles on accessibility and other related information.

The National Center to Improve Practice In Special Education Through Technology, Media and Materials
NCIP, funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs, promotes the effective use of technology to enhance educational outcomes for students with sensory, cognitive, physical and social/emotional disabilities. The site is replete with helpful resources.

The Trace Research & Development Center
The Trace Centerat the University of Wisconsin, Madison is one of the premier federally-funded research centers in the area of technology, disabilities, and accessibility.

Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America
RESNA is an interdisciplinary association for the advancement of rehabilitation and assistive technologies (AT). Its coordination of The Tech Actâs Technical Assistance Projects provides links to a wide variety of assistive technology resources.

Center for Applied Special Technology
CAST is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to expand opportunities for individuals with disabilities through innovative uses of computer technology. They pursue this mission through research and product development that further universal design for learning. CAST serves a national population of children and adults who have learning disabilities, physical challenges, sensory deficits, and who represent a wide variation in socio-economic status, including those who have been traditionally underserved.
 

V. b. WEB ACCESSIBILITY
 

The Web Accessibility Initiative
"The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect." -- Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the World Wide Web. The WAI at the World Wide Web

Consortium (W3C) addresses accessibility on many levels, in partnership with the many other organizations around the world which are committed to ensuring that this new technology is accessible to allthrough five primary areas of work: technology, guidelines, tools, education & outreach, and research & development.

Could Helen Keller Read Your Page?
This brief article explains the rationale behind careful consideration of the features that web authors design into their pages. The article is part of the All Things Web site, which includes many very interesting and informative articles, tip sheets, and guidelines.

Key Issues In Assuring that the National Information Infrastructure (NII)
in Classrooms is Accessible: A 2-Page Quicksheet
This is a brief summary prepared by Gregg Vanderheiden of the Trace Research & Development Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

EASI
Equal Access to Software and Information, an Affiliate of the American Association for Higher Education. EASI's mission is to serve as a resource to the education community by providing information and guidance in the area of access-to-information technologies by individuals with disabilities. They stay informed about developments and advancements within the adaptive computer technology field and spread that information to colleges, universities, K-12 schools, libraries and into the workplace. Currently, EASI is the recipient of a National Science Foundation grant to disseminate information on access for disabled persons to science, engineering and math. Their membership is composed of people from colleges, universities, businesses and other institutions, and includes include computing staff, disabled student services staff, and faculty. People with disabilities must have the same access to information and resources as everyone else. EASI is dedicated to helping that happen.

WAI Accessibility Guidelines: Page Authoring
This document is a list of markup guidelines that HTML authors should follow in order to make their pages more accessible for people with disabilities and more useful to indexing robots. Following the list of guidelines is a checklist that authors and Web masters should use to verify page accessibility. Tools that generate documents in HTML (authoring tools, file conversion packages or other products) should produce documents that follow these guidelines. This is a work in progress. This document is part of a series of accessibility documents published by the Web Accessibility Initiative.

Designing More Usable Web Sites
This site provides a master set of links to sites that include development tools, guidelines, articles, and collaborative programs on accessible web design.

 

V. c. DISABILITY-RELATED FREEWARE AND SHAREWARE
 

The Adaptive Computing Software Project
This is a service intended to serve and supply individual consumers and educational institutions with low cost, reliable software and hardware solutions available through the Internet for DOS and Windows users. To that end, they search out shareware, freeware and commercial vendors whose products are reviewed in the SuperAdaptoid Column.

Bytes of Recreation
This site provides freeware and shareware computer games adapted for people with disabilities.

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