|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Classroom modifications make learning more accessible
June 23, 2005 | |||||
|
Medical proof of disability required KOKOMO, Ind.—Students seeking assistance or modifications in the classroom because of a disability must have medical documentation of their disabilities. IU Kokomo's University Division, which arranges such modifications, will no longer accept IEPs—Individual Education Plans—as proof of a disability. Since January 2005, students have had to present the University Division with a written statement of disability from a medical doctor, psychologist, psychiatrist, or other health specialist. The statement should describe the disability and any limitations that the disabilities poses on the person's life functions, said Rikk Terhune, the division's coordinator of services for disabled students and an academic counselor. The statement should also recommend how to modify the student's educational setting to assist the student in meeting the goals and objectives of a class. Once a student's disability is verified and a determination has been made that the student meets the guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the University Division can provide a letter outlining classroom modifications that the student needs. The student should present the letter to each of his or her instructors. As an example, Terhune said, such a letter might ask an instructor to allow a hearing or visually impaired person to sit closer to the front of a classroom. Students with certain physical or learning limitations might request more time to complete in-class assignments or quizzes and tests. Instructors typically “allow whatever time is requested, based on the student's needs,” Terhune said. Instructors might also be asked to permit students to take monitored tests in a separate location with fewer distractions, such as the campus's Learning Enhancement Center. This is often helpful to college students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a life-long condition characterized by impulsiveness, excessive restlessness, and poor sustained attention to tasks. “During the 1980s and '90s, the United States had so many children diagnosed with ADHD,” Terhune said. “Colleges today are seeing a great influx of these students.” Some disabilities make it difficult to write class notes or test answers by hand. To address this, IU Kokomo will hire students to be “notetakers” and “scribes” for disabled students. Generally, notetakers are enrolled in the same class as the disabled students. Notetakers take lecture notes on a “Notewriter Pad,” provided by the university. The special paper of the “Notewriter Pad” allows the notetaker to take class notes and make a copy simultaneously. This allows the disabled student to receive the copy immediately after the class without the use of a copier machine. A scribe listens as a disabled person answers test questions orally and writes out those answers word-for-word. Scribes cannot be enrolled in the same class as the student they are assisting because the assisting student may not take the test for themselves and for the disabled student at the same time, Terhune said. All students seeking modifications in the classroom are expected to meet the same standards, goals, and objectives as their classmates, stressed Director of University Division Gerry Gunnings Stroman. “Students seeking assistance are just requesting modifications due to their disabilities to meet those standards, goals, and objectives,” she added. Students requesting notetakers and scribes are initially asked to report to their classes during the first week on classes and identify students in the class or outside of their class to be their notetakers or scribes. If students are not successful in selecting their own scribes or notetakers, then Terhune will assist them in this process. Interpreters for students who are hearing impaired are also hired by the coordinator of disabled services, if needed. University Division provides several other forms of modifications for students, including books in electronic form, computer software for laptop and desktop computers, and use of and assistance in using a TTY/TDD (Teletype/Telecommunications Device for the Deaf) telephone. Rikk Terhune joined the IU Kokomo staff in December 2004. He previously worked in child welfare and more recently as an academic advisor at Wichita State University in Kansas, while obtaining his master's degree there in educational counseling. “You can't get anywhere without a college degree today,” said Terhune, “We need to accommodate students with disabilities so they can pursue higher education.”
For more information on IU Kokomo services for disabled students, contact Terhune at rmterhun@iuk.edu or (765) 455-9309.
|
|
||||