AccessSTEM

Background

Henry is a sophomore with a disability that affects his health and mobility. He is taking evening classes at a community college.

Access Issue

Without a ride between buildings, Henry cannot arrive on time to classes and without pain, because of his health and mobility status. Without transportation, Henry cannot access classes that are not offered during daytime hours. The campus typically provides transportation only during office hours of disabled student services.

Although each situation is different and the student is the best source of information regarding useful accommodations, the following accommodations are typical for a student with a mobility impairment:

Accommodations for a lab may include the following:

"Mental illness" refers to the collection of all diagnosable mental disorders causing severe disturbances in thinking, feeling, relating, and/or functional behaviors. It can result in a substantially diminished capacity to cope with daily life demands.

A mental illness is a hidden disability; it is rarely apparent to others. However, students with mental illness may experience symptoms that interfere with their educational goals and that create a "psychiatric disability." These symptoms may include yet are not limited to the following:

Disclosure of a disability is a personal choice. In a job interview, employers may inquire only about the prospective employee's ability to perform essential job functions. However, some individuals with obvious disabilities prefer to address the issue in the job interview to assure the potential employer of their ability to complete job functions. A request for a job accommodation can be made after the job is offered.

Talk with the student to see of you can modify your course delivery to make it accessible. For example, providing alternative text descriptions for graphic images can make the content of images accessible to a student who is blind using text-to-speech technology that translates only text. Consulting with the distance learning technical design staff on campus may be helpful for the immediate need, as well as for ensuring that future courses offered through this program are more accessible to students with disabilities.

Entry Point! is an internship program for college students with disabilities majoring in computer science, engineering, mathematics, or physical science. Entry Point! is sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). To inquire about becoming a part of this program, contact Entry Point! at 202-326-6649 (voice/TTY), 202-371-9849 (fax) or email addressed to LSummers@aaas.org.

Be sure that the library's web pages and other electronic and information resources are designed to be accessible to people with disabilities. Consider these items in ensuring accessible information technology.

There is a myth that if you have a college degree, you have a job. The fact is that approximately 53% of college graduates are unemployed or working in a job that doesn't require a bachelor's degree. It takes the average college graduate three to six months to secure employment after graduation. A student benefits from having a career-seeking strategy and previous work experiences. Otherwise, her resume might be lost in a stack of hundreds for a specific job.

Although each situation is different and the student is the best source of information regarding useful accommodations, the following accommodations are typical for a student with a health impairment: