Guide for Accommodating Students with Disabilities

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This guidebook has been developed to assist students, faculty and staff in understanding the principles of accommodation, as well as the procedures practiced by the Student Accessibility Centre in advocating for and supporting students with disabilities. It offers suggestions in techniques of instruction and accommodations that will help students achieve their full potential. Above all, it calls on all of us to approach our tasks with a positive attitude. We are not alone in our desire to assist persons with disabilities in their search for independence, self-respect, and hope for a better future. Those goals are closely related to access to education and to the ability to earn a living. It is reassuring to know that there are many government and private agencies, as well as informed individuals, who are ready to help.

Information published by Statistics Canada indicates that in 2001 there were 3.6 million Canadians (12.4% of the population) who had a disability. With the closing of special schools and institutions and the integration of students with disabilities into the public school system, the number of students with disabilities entering the university community will continue to grow. Adults with disabilities have the right to live a full and meaningful life. To do this, they require appropriate education and training to meet their unique needs. An adult with a disability who lacks academic, technical, social, and marketable skills will need further instruction in order to maximize future productivity and independence. The same is true of all adult learners.

During the last decade, universities and community colleges across Canada and the United States have worked with students with disabilities to establish and promote educational accommodations that are appropriate for postsecondary settings. In the following pages such types of disabilities as deafness and hard of hearing, learning disabilities, blindness and visual impairments, mobility impairments, psychological /psychiatric disorders, and other "invisible" disabilities will be described briefly. Accompanying the descriptions will be a list of reasonable accommodations that could be made to the classroom/lab setting and to test/exam formats, as well as procedures that will facilitate learning for students who have these disabilities. Only those accommodations that have been widely accepted for use by postsecondary institutions in North America have been included.

These accommodations are intended to help students with disabilities to have an equal chance to participate and learn in a postsecondary setting. They should not be considered nor used to lower academic standards.