There are exemptions to the copyright laws that allow for reproduction of purchased materials into alternate formats for use by people with print disabilities. Any material copied for this purpose must not be sold. It is important to make the material available only to the student requesting it and not freely available as on a web page.
Henry is a sophomore with a disability that affects his health and mobility. He is taking evening classes at a community college.
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:
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.
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.
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:
The following functional limitations related to psychiatric disabilities may affect academic performance and may require accommodations (Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, 1997).
John has a severe learning disability that affects his ability to read. He uses a text-to-speech system to read computer screen text to him. He is attending his first semester at a small, private college. Each student at the school is given an email account for academic use. The directions for establishing and using the email account are available in printed format and on the computing services website.
John was having difficulty accessing the electronic information at the computing services website with his screen reading software.