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Universal Design
A Note To Faculty
As a public institution, Fitchburg State College is
committed to the principles of equity, access and excellence in
higher education.
Meeting the needs of our diverse spectrum of learners may require
some flexibility or adaptability on the part of instructors. However,
this does not require that faculty alter their teaching objectives
or compromise academic standards. It simply means that we must provide
all qualified students with equitable opportunities to engage in
and benefit from their college experience at Fitchburg State .
Academic accommodations insure equitable access to the teaching
and learning environment for all qualified students. Providing accommodations
to a student registered with our office is an obligation of the
college, as well as an obligation of faculty members at the institution.
Although federal and state laws mandate this obligation, our shared
values as a college community also embrace the spirit of access
and equity for our diverse spectrum of learners.
We would like to challenge you to lead by example. Consider moving
beyond access and reach for excellence by incorporating aspects
of universal design into the teaching methods and activities that
you elect to use in your course. Since we all learn differently,
the universal design approach promises to maximize learning outcomes
for all.
Universal design is based upon the premise that alternatives to
traditional instruction and assessment should be made available
and accessible to all students. This serves to enhance
the learning opportunities for individuals from diverse backgrounds,
those with varied learning approaches, and individuals with a range
of abilities and disabilities.
Many of you already incorporate aspects of universal design into
your courses. Examples include:
- Posting course materials and lecture notes on Blackboard for
all students to access throughout the semester
- Providing feedback on essays and then allowing students to resubmit
their materials after improvements have been made
- Using several shorter length exams throughout the semester as
opposed to one or two high stakes tests
- Creating podcasts so that students can replay lecture material
to capture important points that they might have missed in class
- Using multiple modalities to teach complex constructs (video/audio,
text, drama, the internet, etc.)
- Reading aloud anything that is written on a whiteboard of posted
on a PowerPoint slide
- Providing verbal descriptions of diagrams or pictures used to
convey a concept
As a college community, we value diversity, especially in the way
that it enhances learning. Let us continue to work together in creative
ways to reflect this value in all that we do. We look forward to
hearing your success stories!
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AHEAD Article
Making Accommodations:
The Legal World of Students with Disabilities
Everybody benefits when colleges serve students with disabilities
By Paul D. Grossman
Note: The author grant's permission to copy, reproduce, distribute
and post this article for any not-for-profit educational purpose
provided that the article is reproduced in its entirety. Any reproduction
must include citation to Academe and the notation that the article
was not reviewed or approved by the U.S. Department of Education,
Office for Civil Rights. Cite as: Paul D. Grossman, Making Accommodations:
The Legal World of Students with Disabilities, 87 Academe: Bulletin
of the American Association of University Professors, 41-46 (November-December
2001).
The law requires colleges and universities to make special arrangements
for students with disabilities, but not by lowering academic standards.
For more than twenty years, Paul Grossman has been the chief regional
attorney of the San Francisco office of the U.S. Department of Education's
Office for Civil Rights. He is also adjunct professor of disability
law at the University of California 's Hastings College of Law.
Recently, for his work in the field of students with disabilities,
the author received honors from the Department of Education, the
Association for Higher Education and Disability, and the California
Association of Post-Secondary Educators of Persons with Disabilities.
He wrote this article entirely in his private capacity. Neither
of his employers reviewed or approved the text.
BY PAUL D. GROSSMAN
My brother sat in the wheelchair he had used for the past five
years, ever since cancer had reached his spine in 1991. As a teacher
and a disability lawyer, I was curious to find out whether he regretted
entering and persevering through law school well after he understood
that his cancer would never remit. His response to my query was
remarkably clear. Attending law school had been one of the wisest
choices in his life. As his body gradually lost the physical indicia
of life-eating, sex, and mobility-he remained a human being, affirmed
by his ability to think, learn, and persuade. Only his deep faith
matched the opportunity to learn in sustaining his spirit through
an otherwise terrible journey to the end of his life.
My brother entered Rutgers School of Law in 1992 and died shortly
after his 1996 admission to the New Jersey Bar. Had he wasted a
seat at a fine, competitive law school, or had he exemplified for
students and faculty alike the most inherent and fundamental value
of engaging in higher learning? Had his exclusive reliance on the
Internet and computers to conduct legal research, without being
able physically to bring a book down from a shelf, demonstrated
the irrelevance of paper media or merely lowered academic standards?
In the competitive environment of law school, was it unfair that
he got extra time to complete his examinations? Had his class discussed
whether the law was an effective tool for addressing the biggest
barrier he faced to completing his internship: snow?
Before adoption of America 's antidiscrimination statutes related
to disability, most institutions of higher education were conforming
participants in a society that, by indifference, prejudice, or structure,
excluded individuals with disabilities from nearly every aspect
of human endeavor. The questions raised by my brother's circumstances
were not even available for observation or discussion in the classroom.
Equal Access
Several federal laws protect students with disabilities from discrimination
by institutions of postsecondary education; the primary ones are
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504), which
applies to all colleges that receive federal financial assistance,
and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, which applies
to three primary groups: employers; government entities, such as
state universities; and private entities that serve the public.
Those who see the connection between disability law and federal
civil rights laws will find the path to understanding disability
law a great deal easier to follow. We desegregate our schools to
remove the stigma that comes from enforced separation and to bring
to all students the advantages of diversity in the classroom.
"Academic adjustments and reasonable modifications" and
the provision of "auxiliary aides and services" are important
tools for desegregating institutions and extending equal educational
opportunity to the disability community. These devices, commonly
called "reasonable accommodations," have had a considerable
impact on who participates in higher education. Academic adjustments
include classroom and testing modifications, such as extra time
on examinations. Auxiliary aids and services include practices that
create access to information for persons with sensory impairments,
such as providing signers for students who are deaf and readers
for students who are blind. Students may not be charged for accommodations
to which they are entitled by law.
Section 504 and the ADA require that students with disabilities
have equal access to information and to the avenues of communication,
including Web sites operated by colleges, other Internet resources,
distance education programs, and the like. When the educational
institution involved is a government entity, the ADA requires that
the students with disabilities are to be provided communication
"as effective as" that provided to nondisabled students.
"Communication" has been defined as the "transfer
of information."
In construing the conditions under which communication is as effective
as that provided to nondisabled persons, the U.S. Department of
Education's Office of Civil Rights has held that the three basic
components of effectiveness are timeliness of delivery, accuracy
of the translation, and provision in a manner and medium appropriate
to the significance of the message and the abilities of the individual
with the disability.
Under certain circumstances, the failure to provide a reasonable
accommodation to a student with a disability is a violation of law,
putting in jeopardy, among other things, an institution's receipt
of federal financial assistance. On the other hand, misunderstanding
what the duty to provide reasonable accommodations means is a source
of suspicion and fear. Some, for example, worry that providing accommodations
will force colleges and universities to lower academic standards
and foist onto society a generation of unqualified professionals,
or simply compel faculty to violate their own concepts of fair treatment
of all students.
Properly understood and implemented, however, disability laws will
lead to none of these feared outcomes. In fact, students with disabilities
are required to meet the "essential" "academic"
and "technical" standards of the college or university,
with or without reasonable accommodation.
The term "essential" serves to ensure that colleges and
universities need never "fundamentally alter" their programs
of instruction to accommodate students with disabilities. Federal
courts have readily upheld insistence that such students meet "academic"
standards (for example, a requirement for all students to maintain
a certain GPA) and "technical" standards (for example,
a requirement that all dental students demonstrate fine motor dexterity).
Moreover, persons whose disabilities manifest a "direct threat"
to the health and safety of themselves or others may be excluded
from an educational program. On the other hand, a student with a
disability may be permitted a year longer to earn a degree than
is accorded to students under the published rules of the college.
By instructing colleges to distinguish carefully between what is
essential and what is tangential, the courts have used Section 504
and the ADA to create equal educational opportunity for the disability
community without lowering academic standards.
Degree of Deference
A college may deny a student's accommodation request for several
reasons. First, an institution can decline requests that represent
a fundamental alteration in the nature of an academic program, such
as excusing a premed student from laboratory classes. Second, a
college may offer less costly but effective alternatives to the
accommodations proposed by students. Third, an institution need
not incur an undue economic or administrative bur-den in accommodating
students with disabilities. Fourth, it need not bear the expense
of personal services. But, when needed, postsecondary colleges must
allow individuals to use "personal attendants" for activities
such as feeding, dressing, or bathing. The courts and the Office
of Civil Rights accord colleges considerable deference in determining
which accommodations will or will not entail a fundamental alteration
in the nature of a program. Several factors affect the degree of
deference accorded a college in any given instance. Courts are unlikely
to accord any deference to a college's decisions when there is prevailing
evidence of overt bias or retaliation. Similarly, little deference
is accorded individuals in academia who reach conclusions they are
not qualified to reach, such as a mathematics teacher deciding that
an individual is not really disabled.
On the other hand, considerable deference is accorded to institutions
that promulgate well-developed procedures for considering and implementing
requests for accommodations. Such a procedure should define responsibilities,
draw on appropriate expertise, and make careful and deliberate distinctions
as to when accommodations constitute a fundamental program alteration
and when they do not. The Office of Civil Rights encourages ongoing
communication between student and college at every step of the accommodation
process. This "interactive process" is consistent with
the duties the courts and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
have widely required of employers.
Colleges that automatically, without analysis, implement every
documented request for an accommodation may contribute to prejudices,
lower academic standards, and fuel backlash by students and faculty
that cannot be easily dispelled. The decision to deny an accommodation
should not, however, be taken lightly. Highly respected institutions
have found themselves in serious legal straits for devoting insufficient
thought to the conclusion that a requested accommodation should
be denied.
On several occasions, the courts and the Office of Civil Rights
have offered guidance on what the accommodation process should entail.
In a lawsuit under Section 504, a medical student sought, as an
accommodation, substitution of essay for multiple-choice examinations.
Defending itself in court for having denied the student's request,
the college was required to demonstrate to the court that "the
relevant officials of the institution considered alternative means
[of examining the student], their feasibility, cost and effect on
the academic program and came to a rationally justifiable conclusion
that available alternatives would result either in lowering academic
standards or requir[ing] substantial program alteration." In
effect, the court concluded that colleges were entitled to deference
in academic decisions, but only after such deference was earned
by engaging in an affirmative and thorough consideration process.
The court's reference to "relevant officials" is also
important. The court used this term to highlight its expectation
that both faculty and academic administrators would be involved
in this process.
I am unaware of any case in which a postsecondary institution lost
in court for failing to implement a particular requested accommodation
after it had engaged in the interactive process, provided the plaintiff
several other accommodations, and denied the contested accommodation(s)
on the basis of thoughtful deliberations by qualified individuals.
Accommodation Process
Legally, the accommodation process begins when a student identifies
himself or herself as an individual with a disability and asks for
assistance. As long as the college or university gives reasonable
notice of how to request help, the courts and the Office of Civil
Rights have been fairly consistent in placing the responsibility
on the student to initiate the accommodation process. Only under
very limited circumstances is there retroactive consideration of
how a student was treated prior to requesting accommodation. Thus,
students are generally "stuck" with the grades they received
before asking for an accommodation.
An effective accommodation process begins at a central point, usually
the disabled student services office or provider. The college or
university should clearly identify in student handbooks and similar
publications the location and title of the person whom students
should contact. All faculty, adjunct teachers, counselors, and administrators
should be able to recognize a request for accommodation and know
where to refer students for consideration of their concerns. It
is not unlawful for faculty members to informally accommodate students
without involving a disabled student services office. But such professors
run a risk of learning the true meaning of the phrase "no good
deed goes unpunished." Faculty members are well advised at
least to inform their disabled student services providers of whatever
arrangements have been established.
Students need not use "magic words," like reference to
the ADA , to commence the accommodation process. Revelation of a
disability and concern about its relationship to academic performance
is the most common way in which students raise issue that need to
be referred to a disabled student services office. Faculty members
are not required to discover or point out to a student that academic
deficiencies may reflect the impact of a disability. Students should
be treated as adults with concomitant privacy rights. They should
never be coerced into engaging in the accommodation process. No
laws are violated, however, when a faculty member suggests to a
student that he or she consider engaging in the disability assessment
and accommodation process.
Documentation
The next step in the accommodation process ordinarily is for the
student to document that he or she has a disability and needs an
accommodation. This leads to the single most complex and litigated
question in disability law: who is an individual with a disability?
Since this subject is best left to the disabled student services
providers and diagnosticians, I will not cover it extensively here.
Although this article focuses on students whose disabilities make
them eligible for accommodations, it is important to know that Section
504 and the ADA are antidiscrimination statutes and provide protection
even to students who may not be eligible for accommodations. Specifically,
Section 504 and the ADA cover individuals believed by the college
to be disabled and individuals with a record of a disability. A
student meeting either of these definitions, as well as a student
with a current disability who may be eligible for an accommodation,
is protected from intentional discrimination, such as a hostile
environment on the basis of disability, and from exclusion from
a program on the basis of stereotypes.
For the purposes of obtaining an accommodation, the regulations
implementing Section 504 and the language of the ADA contain the
same definition of an individual with a disability. These laws provide
that a "disability" is a physical or mental impairment
that substantially limits a major life activity. "Impairment,"
"major life activity," and "substantial" are
all terms of art, and each must be documented.
Colleges may require a student seeking accommodation to provide
sound documentation for each element of the definition of disability
as well as for the need for any proposed accommodation. Documentation
can be test results, clinical observations, psychoeducational histories,
standard medical diagnostic reports, or any other written materials
provided by someone with pertinent expertise. With the consent of
the students, a telephone call from a disabled student services
officer to a diagnostician may also be a quick and productive way
to resolve conflicts, ambiguities, and shortcomings in written data.
The evidence of disability and the need for a specific accommodation
should be logically connected. (For example, it is not self-evident
why an individual with lower-body mobility impairment needs double
time on an examination.)
Qualified professionals should prepare the documentation, whose
age should be appropriate to the disability. Persons with disabilities
that change frequently may have to update their documentation every
few years. Persons whose disabilities are relatively stable would
not be expected to update it as often.
Arbitrary, unnecessarily costly, poorly explained, or last-minute
changes in the documentation required raise concerns for the courts.
Further, privacy interests must be respected. Although meeting the
standards of Section 504 and the ADA may demand considerable documentation,
care must be taken not to seek documentation beyond the scope of
what is necessary to make an accommodation determination. For example,
to establish the impairment of depression, it is not necessary for
the college to know that the depression was originally induced by
child abuse.
Obtaining documentation, the costs of which the student must almost
always bear, can be expensive. Institutions can help by providing
students and their diagnosticians with reasonable notice of what
documentation is expected. When the institution rejects documentation,
the student should be told why so that he or she can determine whether
it makes sense to seek further testing and additional documentation.
Unfortunately, many secondary schools do not explain to their students
that the documentation that established their eligibility for services
from elementary and secondary schools may be insufficient to establish
a disability with a postsecondary institution. Faculty should therefore
respond to the initial expectations of new students with some flexibility
and promptly refer them to the disabled student services office.
With regard to effective accommodation, the expertise of both faculty
members and the disabled student services office should be made
available to the student. Accommodation expertise is not easy to
come by. In academia, the classroom teacher or department chair
will often be uniquely in control of information essential to identifying
an accommodation that will not fundamentally alter the nature of
an academic program, reduce academic standards, or place an undue
burden on the college.
Types of Accommodation
Most students who document their disability and need for an accommodation
will receive one without conflict or dispute. But no absolutely
accurate statement can be made about whether a particular accommodation
is required by law. The best I can do is provide what are admittedly
broad generalizations based on considerable experience in the field.
For students who have given notice and provided sufficient documentation,
the following accommodations are likely to be sustained: time and
a half to double time on examinations; moderately reduced course
loads; extra time to complete a degree program to the extent curricular
continuity is not unreasonably impaired; limited leaves of absence
for medical treatment and recovery; registration assistance; assistance
in applying for financial aid; classroom modifications, such as
preferential seating, taping, and note-taking assistance; priority
in housing for students who need a single or a large room; and priority
in parking for students with mobility impairments and certain psychological
disabilities.
Accommodations less likely to be sustained, but within the range
of accommodations that may be required in a particular set of circumstances,
are more than double time on examinations, long-term leaves of absence,
course substitution or waiver, and reduced participation and attendance
in the classroom. Accommodations unlikely to be sustained are unlimited
time for examinations, unlimited time for degree completion, unlimited
leaves of absence, permission to entirely avoid attendance expectations
applied to students in general, reassignment to another teacher,
provision of examinations or instructional services off campus except
when generally provided to students, individualized instruction
or tutoring except when commonly provided to students, and restructuring
of the curriculum to address the student's individual learning style.
In my experience, modifications to examinations, particularly extra
time to complete them, rank first in triggering faculty concerns
about treating all students fairly. The objective of providing individuals
extra time on examinations is to mea-sure what students have learned
rather than the impact of their disability. When a student's performance
speed is a skill a professor intends to measure, extra time on an
examination would not be an appropriate accommodation. Thus one
federal court held that a medical student with a disability may
be required to demonstrate emergency room skills under the same
rigorous timed conditions as anyone else.
A recent federal district court decision concerning an individual
with a learning disability who was denied extra time on a bar examination,
has faced up to the issue of fairness more directly than any preceding
opinion. The court wrote:
[M]uch of the [Bar's] bias appears to arise from the assumption
that giving extra time to applicants with learning disabilities
gives them an unfair advantage over other applicants. . . . [T]his
assumption is belied by research showing that extra time does not
have a significant impact on the performance of individuals who
do not have learning disabilities. . . . Further, as [the Bar] concedes,
the bar [examination] is not a reading rate test. [The court is]
convinced that extra time provided to learning disabled applicants
merely levels the playing field and allows these individuals to
be tested on their knowledge; it does not provide them with an unfair
advantage.
It is instructive to look at how the Supreme Court recently approached
the subject of fairness and accommodation when the issue arose in
one of the most high-stakes, competitive, and prestigious events
in the public eye: a golf championship. Professional golfer Casey
Martin, who has a debilitating mobility impairment, challenged a
long-standing rule of the Professional Golfer's Association (PGA)
prohibiting the use of carts in championship tournaments. After
reviewing expert testimony, the Court concluded that the essence
of golf was "shot-making," not walking, and that providing
Martin with a cart did not give him a competitive advantage. The
Court was particularly troubled by the fact that the PGA had rejected
Martin's request out of hand, failing to take an individualized
look at the impact of his disability on endurance and mobility in
comparison to other players.
Benefits to the Academic Community
No doubt, Martin's case has served as the source of lively discussion
in law schools, but more important is its coverage in the popular
press. His presence on the fairway juxtaposes the condition of disability
with the achievement of athletic excellence. He is a "stereotype
buster." In so many instances, we need only give the disability
community an opportunity to cross the threshold, and disabled individuals
will teach us ways we never envisioned to accomplish critical tasks
and professional responsibilities. My brother taught me how to use
the computer as a "virtual" law library. A student, whose
speaking facility was limited by advanced multiple sclerosis, showed
me how he could "speak" by using a keyboard and a scrolling
electronic sign board placed in the front of the classroom.
Section 504 and the ADA should be welcomed for the opportunities
they offer to postsecondary education for rewarding self-examination.
No other set of laws so entreats academia to take its own temperature,
examine its traditions, and thoughtfully deliberate about which
of its standards are essential and which are merely unexamined habits.
Whether from the insights we achieve from integration or from self-reflection,
the unconventional, nontraditional, innovative ways in which individuals
with disabilities accomplish tasks place us on new paths that benefit
us all. The term "universal design" signifies inclusive
planning, structures, tools, and methods of teaching that take into
account the range of physical and mental characteristics that spans
human diversity. Because flexibility and pro-vision of alternative
approaches to the same objective are an inherent element of universal
design, it gives all individuals, disabled or not, the freedom to
choose the paths that best serve them without marginalizing them
through "special" or segregated treatment.
In architecture, universal design yields ramps that help every
person pushing a stroller or pulling a suitcase on wheels. Universal
design has also fostered Web authoring tools that allow us simultaneously
to communicate on the Internet through the visual, auditory, and
tactile senses. More universal benefits are on the horizon. In instruction,
universal design unsettles the assumption that every-one who is
qualified to attend a particular college is identically and evenly
endowed across all of their intellectual domains. Our colleges are
composed of auditory, visual, linear, and intuitive thinkers. Some
students are most adept at accessing and retaining information,
while others' greatest strength is in how they process information,
however it is acquired. How many of us can say that our teaching
methodologies are sufficiently broad to address these forms of human
variation? Inclusion of individuals with disabilities crystallizes
these issues and entreats us to revisit time-honored teaching methodologies.
For example, facing attrition by bright students with learning disabilities,
some mathematics professors were inspired to develop new ways to
teach mathematics that benefit all students.
And there is more with regard to the content of our curricula.
The rich literature, art, and history of the disability community
are ripe for addition to academia's exploration of the human condition.
Creating equal educational opportunity by providing reasonable accommodations
to students with disabilities is a journey we need not fear. Indeed,
it may be embraced for the opportunities it presents to us all.
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Coordinating Internships for Students
with Disabilities
Internships in Higher Education: Promoting Success for
Students with Disabilities
Disability Studies Quarterly
Winter 2001, Volume 21 No. 1
www.cds.hawaii.edu
Copyright 2001
Lori W. Briel & Elizabeth Evans Getzel
Virginia Commonwealth University
Abstract
This article examines how internships in higher education can benefit
all students as they prepare
for their careers beyond graduation and particularly students with
disabilities. Under Section 504
of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act,
universities have a
responsibility to insure equal access and accommodation for students
with disabilities during the
internship process. Two particular issues faced by students with
disabilities that have been
identified through a review of recent case law include (1) meeting
academic and technical
standards for a program and (2) disclosing their disabilities and
requesting accommodations. Key
principles and support strategies which address the issues and concerns
of internships for
students with disabilities, developed as part of a comprehensive
career-planning program for
postsecondary students with disabilities at Virginia Commonwealth
University, are discussed.
Internships in higher education are gaining in popularity. Both
students and faculty recognize the
potential value of internships as a significant part of preparation
for careers beyond graduation.
In the current job market, employers are not only looking for workers
with a college degree, but
workers who can apply their academic knowledge. Ideally, the workers
also have practical work
experience in which they demonstrated their abilities (Reardon,
Lenz, & Folsom, 1998). Students
in post secondary education are finding that participation in applied
learning experiences such as
internships and cooperative education programs provide opportunities
to build a network of
contacts, which become invaluable in the job search process, as
well as gain the necessary
practical experience to eventually be successful in their careers.
(Cates-McIver, 1998).
Impact on Career Development and Academic Performance
Internship experiences can have a positive impact on the career
development of participants.
These opportunities enable students to test their career interests,
enhance their career goals, gain
transferable skills that are sought by employers, and increase their
networking opportunities
(Chambliss, Rinde, & Miller, 1996; Carter & Franta, 1995;
Davis, Steen, & Rubin, 1987).
Internships can also assist students when seeking employment after
graduation (Getzel, Briel &
Kregel, 2000). Students who engage in several career related work
experiences while in college,
including internships, are able to secure employment more quickly
after graduation, are more
likely to be employed within their field of study, and are generally
more satisfied in their current
work positions than graduates with no career related experience
(Kysor & Pierce 2000).
Participation in work experience or internship programs can contribute
to students' academic
performance. For secondary students, work-based learning has been
found to motivate most
students and has had a positive effect on students' academic performance,
graduation rates, and
enrollment in post-secondary education (Jackson & Wirt, 1996).
Results from an evaluation of
the Boeing Company's Summer Internship Program for juniors, seniors,
and first year college
students indicated that the internship motivated students to stay
in school (Wang & Owens,
1995). In addition, a comprehensive review of trends and effects
of paid employment among
college students revealed that student employment has a positive
correlation with academic
performance as long as the job is closely related to career interests
and aspirations (Stern &
Nakata, 1991.
Impact on Future Employment Opportunities
Job related work experience has been identified by employers as
being very important when
recruiting college graduates for entry-level employment (Reardon,
et al., 1998). Participation in
internships also positively influences the ability to obtain an
interview through resume screening
(Perry & Goldberg, 1998). Further, with technological changes
in the economy and corporate
trends supporting downsizing and restructuring, many businesses
actually use cooperative
education, internships, and part-time jobs to provide an economical
way to screen, train, and
develop potential full-time employees (Brooks & Greene, 1998;
Carter & Franta, 1995.
The business sector is becoming more invested in the outcomes of
higher education to prepare a
future workforce to meet their recruiting demands. As business environments
advance
technologically and respond to globalization, employers look for
individuals who can solve
problems, work as a member of a team and be proactive in their work.
Higher education is being
challenged by the business community to include more opportunities
for undergraduate students
to gain practical experience through internships, be actively engaged
in the learning process, and
address the needs of the current and future business environment
(American Council on
Education, 1997; Oblinger & Verville, 1998).
Career Related Experiences for Students with Disabilities
Significant numbers of college students with disabilities have little
or no meaningful work
experience or have difficulty recognizing the influence of their
disability on the career decisionmaking
process (Luzzo, Hitchings, & Howland, 1995). Although many college
students with
disabilities understand how their disabilities impact their learning
in education, a large number of
students are unable to explain how their disabilities could affect
them on the job (Hitchings et al.
as cited in Aune & Kroeger, 1997).
Internships and cooperative work opportunities can facilitate career
preparation and development
for students with disabilities (Baggett, 1993; Mazurek & Shoemaker,
1997). These experiences
are particularly helpful to students who may be undecided about
their career choices and may
enhance the students' confidence in their own capacities to select
appropriate careers (Enright,
1996). By providing ample opportunities to acquire work experience
prior to graduation, while
still in the protected environment of internships, students can
confirm their career preferences,
develop employment histories, and identify the possible services
and supports that will maximize
their opportunities for employment success (Getzel & Kregel,
1996). Furthermore, internship and
cooperative education programs can help students to address some
of the barriers they will face
when seeking employment. Simultaneously, the attitudes of employers
about the potential of
individuals with disabilities can be influenced, and even changed
(Burgstahler, 1995a).
Internships provide an excellent opportunity to assess the current
and future support needs for
individuals with disabilities (Getzel, et al, 2000). It is important
that students with disabilities
have access to necessary supports as they transition to an internship
setting to acquire their
professional skills. University faculty, disability support services,
career advisors, rehabilitation
counselors, and site supervisors must work with students and assist
them with the identification
of immediate and future support needs. Ideally, they coordinate
the provision of services during
this critical period.
Internship Access and Accommodations
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973, with its civil rights provisions
in Section 504, mandates colleges
and universities receiving federal funds to insure equal treatment
for individuals with disabilities
during the recruitment period, the admission process, and the term
of enrollment (29 USCA
Sec.794). Section 504 imposes a responsibility to reasonably accommodate
an otherwise
qualified student with a disability unless such an accommodation
would fundamentally alter the
program or constitute an undue burden. Passage of the Americans
with Disabilities Act in 1990
also prohibits discrimination against qualified people with disabilities
and has extended coverage
to include places of employment, state and local government, public
accommodations,
transportation, and telecommunications (42 USCA sec.12101).
An internship site suggests some overlap regarding coverage under
the ADA and Section 504 of
the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Varying views exist regarding how
employers and universities
share responsibility to ensure that the civil rights of students
with disabilities are not violated.
Scott, Wells, & Hanebrink (1997) outline specific responsibilities
for employers, students and
universities, and conclude that the institution has primary responsibility
for students who are
participating in its programs (whether on or off campus). The institution
has the ultimate liability
for the provision of reasonable accommodation and is responsible
for ensuring auxiliary aids for
students with disabilities. However, from their experiences within
the occupational therapy
profession, these authors have found that the internship site generally
assumes the duty for
providing accommodation on the site. Provision may also be made
through vocational
rehabilitation services or other community resources. The university
is responsible for providing
guidance to the internship site regarding the provision of academic
adjustments or
accommodations, and must monitor what happens in that environment
to ensure that no
discrimination occurs against students and that students are provided
with all necessary
accommodations.
Career advisors have expressed interest in the clarification of
responsibility for the provision of
accommodations for students with disabilities at internship settings.
Preliminary efforts to
delineate the separate and distinct roles and responsibilities of
university representatives and
prospective employers have been developed by the University of Minnesota's
General Counsel
(LRP Publications, 1999). According to these administrative guidelines,
the university is
responsible for providing accommodations with "for-credit"
internships or off-campus workstudy
jobs. The employer is responsible for providing accommodations for
non-credit, non-paid,
and paid internships. With the exchange of money, the employment
relationship between the
student and the internship site takes precedence over the student
relationship with the university.
However, if the internship is both paid and "for-credit,"
it is recommended that the student,
disability service provider, and a representative from the internship
site agree up front who will
pay for accommodations.
Institutions of higher education are required to provide admission
to those individuals with
disabilities who are otherwise qualified. When applying this definition
for admission to an
internship site, field placement sites should develop standards
and procedures for determining
qualified interns that will be used as a basis for admission for
all students who apply. Technical
standards are defined as "all nonacademic criteria that are
essential to participate in the program
in question" (Scott et al., 1997, p.17). These standards and
requirements are to be determined by
each institution and in collaboration with the university department,
institution, office of services
for students with disabilities, and legal counsel. Standards are
to be applied to all students
equally. Institutions must be able to establish that the standards
are necessary and essential. In
addition, consideration should be given to the position that the
university takes with respect to
third-party intermediaries to assist persons with disabilities in
meeting the requirements of the
curriculum (Association of American Medical Colleges, 1993). In
other words, when does the
use of a third party to observe or interpret information potentially
compromise the standards that
the student must meet, to perform the essential functions of a program?
While the process to disclose a disability and request accommodations
from faculty is
sufficiently established in most post secondary settings, the process
at an internship site is less
clear. The very nature of an internship usually involves an additional
site supervisor and possibly
a field liaison to coordinate the internship program. In some instances,
students must contact site
supervisors, complete applications, and interview for positions.
The internship situations are very
similar to the ones students are likely to experience in competitive
employment settings. Students
with disabilities must be familiar with the responsibilities for
disclosure that are outlined in the
Americans with Disabilities Act. This may be a student's first experience
with disclosing a
disability in a community setting. College students with disabilities
are often not prepared to
arrange job accommodations or environmental modifications (Brodwin,
Parker, & De La Garza,
1996). Too often, disclosure occurs after a student receives a failing
grade (Ashland Regional
Technology Center, 1997).
Strategies for Creating Internship Experiences
Many students with disabilities will require little or no assistance
as they complete their
academic programs and enter the workforce. For those students, specialized
work site assistance
is not required. Other students may benefit from the workshops or
ongoing programs sponsored
by a college or university's office of career planning and placement
for the university community
at large. For some individuals, specialized assistance may be essential.
It is important that each
student have access to the amount of internship or work experience
assistance and support that
they feel is necessary to attain their long-term career goals (Getzel
& Kregel, 1996).
Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) has designed a program to
enhance employment
opportunities for individuals with disabilities prior to graduation.
Students with disabilities are
able to access services and supports to acquire internships in their
field and maximize the use of
university and community services. Students self-identify their
need for assistance and direct the
implementation of the services provided. To ensure that students
with disabilities are able to
maximize their internship experience, the VCU Career Connections
Program staff emphasizes
placement assistance, on-site strategies to facilitate learning,
and the coordination of community
supports. Examples of the range of supports provided to students
are highlighted below.
Placement Assistance
Many students with disabilities benefit from the workshops and ongoing
programs that the
university's Office of Career Planning and Placement sponsors for
the university community at
large. Other students require specialized assistance, including
referral to and placement services
provided by the state or local rehabilitation agency, to secure
and successfully complete an
internship experience. It is important for universities to provide
an array of services for students
with disabilities, and in particular to consider site selection
and student requests for
accommodations.
Site Selection
The selection of an internship site may be a key factor in providing
an optimal environment for
learning for some post secondary students with disabilities. Differences
in potential placements
occur based on the nature of the work environment, the personality
and management style of the
site supervisor, and the responsibilities agreed upon between each
site and academic supervisor.
The university generally issues specific provisions for fulfilling
academic requirements, and
provides guidelines for site supervisors to develop work assignments
and evaluate the on-site
work of the students. Often, university faculty have established
relationships with the site
supervisor, are familiar with the style of supervision that is provided,
and have approved the
facility as an acceptable setting. This information can be very
useful in determining a positive
match between a student with a disability and a placement site.
It is important to choose an internship site that maximizes the
strengths of each individual with a
disability and can accommodate the student's learning style. Students
must identify the most
critical factor or factors in determining their ideal placements.
For example, one student with a
mental health disability functioned optimally in the morning hours
and prioritized his site
selection with one that offered this time slot. Although this factor
limited the student's options,
taking this particular factor into account was important for the
student's growth, and his ability to
learn and be successful. Another student with a traumatic brain
injury selected a smaller setting
that had a basic daily routine. This regular routine established
a structure, which provided a solid
foundation to develop professional skills.
Requests for Accommodations
If a student knows that he or she will require accommodations at
the internship site, it is best to
encourage the student to disclose to the site supervisor early in
the process, or to give the field
placement coordinator permission, in writing, to disclose after
the placement has been made
(Scott et al, 1997, p.46). One student, Susan, was majoring in mass
communications and was
seeking an internship with a radio reading service. Susan uses a
wheelchair and also has a
learning disability. The VCU Career Connections staff initially
contacted the Director of the
Reading Service to inquire about accessibility of the building.
The student made arrangements to
visit the internship site and found she was able to maneuver within
the recording studio with
minimal adjustments to the work setting and continued with the application
process.
Recommendations for accommodations from the university can be made
to the site supervisor
and ample time provided to coordinate access to assistive technology
if necessary, make
modifications in the work schedule, or make adjustments to assignments.
For example, one
student with a visual impairment requested a 17" computer monitor
to increase his efficiency
when using the Zoom Text software. An internship setting can be
an optimal time to develop
self-advocacy skills that will ensure success in future employment
opportunities. The opportunity
to practice disclosing a disability and requesting accommodations
helped prepare this student for
future employment (Getzel et al, 2000; Burgstahler, 1995b).
For those students requiring specialized support to secure an internship,
the VCU Career
Connections staff assisted students with developing resumes, contacting
professional
organizations, arranging informational interviews with identified
companies, and attending job
fairs. Staff provided extensive information regarding student rights
and responsibilities under the
ADA and also addressed individual disclosure concerns. For example,
program staff worked
with Steve, a student with an Attention Deficit Disorder, who expressed
an interest in pursuing
an internship in photography. He experienced difficulties with reading
and writing and elected to
not disclose his disability to employers. Staff assisted Steve in
searching and identifying
opportunities available through local classified ads and the Internet
and recorded Steve's
responses on several applications. An internship was secured at
a local newspaper and the
student took full advantage of the networking opportunities. The
newspaper printed some of
Steve's pictures, which he used to develop a portfolio for other
photography jobs.
On-Site Strategies
A wealth of strategies can be utilized to facilitate improving the
rate of success of students with
disabilities with regard to completing their internships. Supervising
faculty should request initial
feedback from site supervisors in the first several weeks of the
internship, be familiar with
optional instructional strategies to recommend, and be aware of
additional resources to access, in
order to support skill acquisition for students with disabilities.
Initial Assessment
The first 2-4 weeks of an internship provide an excellent opportunity
to assess the need for future
supports at the site, particularly for those students who are uncertain
if any modifications at the
site will be needed (Getzel et al, 2000). The site supervisor can
be instrumental in identifying key
areas in which the intern may benefit from supports. The university
faculty and intern should
receive initial feedback about the intern's attendance, organizational
skills, initiative, professional
coworker interactions, time management, and performance skills.
During this initial period of the
internship, relevant instructional strategies can be recommended,
accommodations requested, or
community supports arranged to ensure that the student is receiving
effective training, and is also
performing at the level expected at the internship site.
For example, one student with a traumatic brain injury was arriving
late to his placement or
reporting to the site on unscheduled days at a local hospital. Support
was provided to explore
alternative ways to follow a schedule, including use of a daily
calendar, a two-alarm watch that
displays days of the week, and a monthly wall calendar at home.
A second example concerns a student with a learning disability who
was having difficulty
completing written reports in a timely manner. The VCU Career Connections
staff assisted this
student with exploring effective compensatory strategies to enable
her to organize material,
synthesize details, and write using proper grammar. Some strategies
that were implemented
included the use of graphic organizers, writing software programs,
and developing a framework
for several reporting styles.
The use of a team approach is recommended for employers, faculty
or students who are uncertain
about how to address support needs. Having prior connections with
vocational rehabilitation
specialists to identify effective compensatory strategies or counselors
familiar with assistive
technology may have a positive impact on the successful completion
of internship
responsibilities. Often, assistive technology equipment can be loaned
on a short-term basis or
technology can be purchased that can move with the student from
job to job as his or her career
progresses.
Instructional Strategies
Students often begin their internships with a period of observation
and then move on to assume
greater responsibilities. For many students, this transition to
increased responsibility is an
acceptable process, and a useful progression toward skill development.
Other students with more
significant disabilities may need additional support with skill
acquisition. While the natural
tendency of a site supervisor may be to extend the observation time
for a student who is having
difficulty, a more effective method is to modify the instructional
approaches (Getzel et al, 2000).
Effective instructional strategies are dependent on the learning
style of the student, the targeted
skill, the work setting, and availability of the site supervisor.
Attention to the social nuances of
the work environment and clear behavioral expectations may be needed.
The strategies described
in Table 1 proved effective for students participating in the VCU
Career Connections Program.
Table 1: Effective Strategies for Students with Disabilities
Participating in Internship Programs
* Rearrange observation time to include short assignments within
a demonstrated task.
* Involve the student in a task and give direct feedback on his
or her contribution.
* Restructure routine to have repeated practice of a targeted skill.
* Model task and have student immediately repeat the same task.
* Assist student with breaking task into smaller components, rather
than assigning one large
project.
* Extend the learning time for initial skill acquisition.
* Role-play leadership activities or social interactions.
* Ensure student writes out steps to a skill.
* Identify stress management strategies and encourage use at the
work site.
* Provide clear boundaries for coworker relationships.
* Videotape intern performance, review with intern, and provide
constructive feedback.
These strategies are designed to provide increased structure for
the student and to actively
engage him or her in the learning process. Opportunities are also
built in for the supervisor to
give specific, immediate feedback to the student.
One-on-One Coaching
Several students with disabilities participating in the VCU Career
Connections Program
benefited from extensive, on-site supports in all areas of the internship
process. The staff
modified techniques and strategies used in supported employment
to assist the students in
successfully completing their internships and preparing them for
employment. Support is given
on site to facilitate communication between site supervisor, co-workers,
and intern. In addition,
staff members conduct task analyses to identify various skills,
and eventually provide the
necessary one-on-one training until skill acquisition is met. Assistance
is also provided with
identifying and coordinating effective accommodations for those
students with no previous work
history.
Bill, a senior majoring in exercise science, needed to complete
a 400-hour internship to finish his
bachelor's degree. In high school, Bill was diagnosed with anxiety
and depression and
experienced debilitating mood swings. His college advisors did not
anticipate Bill's challenging
work behaviors because he completed his academic requirements with
a solid GPA. These
behaviors included fear of getting out of the car to report to the
internship site, leaving the work
site when feeling stressed and reporting that he did not feel well,
lack of communication with coworkers
and the general public, and difficulty appropriately applying academic
information when
at the site. The VCU Career Connections staff provided one-on-one
on site support to identify
and practice stress management strategies, develop appropriate social
skills, and facilitate
learning through task analyses, modeling, and repeated practice.
Bill was able to successfully
complete his internship hours and became employed in his field of
study.
Linkage with Community Resources
Establishing connections with community resources can be an important
and often essential
component for successful placements for some students with disabilities.
Knowing how to access
assistive technology at the work site or obtain support to address
behavioral issues related to
disability can be critical issues that need to be resolved in order
for students to fulfill their
requirements. It is recommended that university personnel work closely
with the Services for
Students with Disabilities Office and Career Center counselors to
establish relationships with key
agencies for consultation. Contact with local vocational rehabilitation
service directors provide a
solid link to potential community resources.
For example, a deaf student was completing her final requirements
at an internship site in the
field of business and was working with colleagues who were unfamiliar
with sign language.
Program staff contacted the State Department for the Deaf and Hard
of Hearing and a TTY was
loaned to the agency. In addition, sensitivity training sessions
were conducted for coworkers.
The non-profit employer had not anticipated the need for a TTY answering
machine and the
expense involved in the installation of the private telephone line.
Coordination with the
Department of Rehabilitative Services proved successful for addressing
this concern.
Conclusion
Internship and work experience opportunities can be instrumental
in shaping the career path for
individuals with disabilities. Opportunities for students to explore
areas of interest, experiment
with effective accommodations, and make valuable connections with
employers must be
integrated into the college career planning process. For many students
with disabilities, the first
work experience paves the way for future career growth and advancement.
It is critical that
students with disabilities have access to individualized supports
that will promote their learning
and preparation for a professional career (Getzel & Kregel,
1996).
Work experience programs for students with disabilities provide
opportunities for students to
apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired to a work environment.
The VCU Career
Connections staff found that for a majority of the students participating
in the program, their first
real professional working experience occurred during their internship.
Staff was able to work
with students to resolve such issues as technology, disclosure of
a disability, and work
accommodations. In some cases, students who had successfully completed
their academic studies
were in jeopardy of not graduating because they were experiencing
difficulties completing their
internship program. In large part, this was due to the lack of exposure
to work environments. The
internship enabled these students to develop and implement strategies
to determine what methods
were most effective to successfully complete their requirements.
As a result, the students were
more prepared to begin a career in their chosen field having the
knowledge and experience
gained through their work experience.
Internship programs provide a critical link between the academic
setting and the work
environment to enable all students, particularly students with disabilities,
to apply their
knowledge and determine the appropriate work environments that best
match their skills and
abilities.
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Acknowledgement
The development of this manuscript was supported in part by University
of Hawaii RRTC Grant
No. H133B98003 from the U.S. Department of Education (NIDRR). The
opinions expressed are
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> Commentary : Mike Hoenig
> University Hospital School; Iowa City, Iowa
Internships in Higher Education: Promoting Success for Students
with Disabilities does a very
good job of framing the importance of internships to students in
general. The importance of
networking and work experience to students with disabilities was
very well recognized. The
discussion of how best to help students with disabilities identify
their accommodation needs is
very helpful because it is important for the student to become self-confident
enough to research,
and then advocate for, the best solution. The discussion of responsibility
for costs of
accommodations was informative and the listing of support strategies
was very good. The
"troubleshooting" which the organization provides is particularly
impressive.
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