Advising
Students with Disabilities
Leslie
L. Hemphill
University of St. Mary
Advising
students with disabilities presents many challenges to the college
advisor. However, skilled advising can go a long way towards insuring
the success of a student with a disability. To effectively advise
a student with a disability, it requires a thorough understanding
of the student's goals as well as the student's disability, the
barriers the institution may have inadvertently created and the
resources the college provides that can be used to assist the
student in pursuing his or her educational aspirations.
Advisors
who become familiar with the difficulties imposed by a particular
disability can logically deduce the importance of some advising
practices. For example, if the student is taking medication, are
there certain times of the day when the student is less alert?
This could have important implications when developing a class
schedule. In a similar fashion, students experiencing clinical
depression often have more difficulty in the morning.
Information
concerning the impact of various disabilities is particularly
important in attempting to determine if the college poses structural,
educational or bureaucratic barriers for a student. Many colleges
have buildings that were constructed before federal laws regarding
accessibility were implemented. Awareness of the campus could
prevent enrolling a student who uses a wheel chair in a class
that can only be accessed by a stairway. Depending upon the amount
of time allowed to pass from one class to another, any student
with a mobility issue might have difficulty with classes scheduled
back to back in different buildings.
Educational
barriers are less visible but no less demanding for students with
disabilities. Students with learning disabilities often have difficulty
with structure and organization. Instructors who break material
down into small sequences and then present it in a logical step-by-step
fashion serve them well. Advisors should attempt to learn something
about the teaching style of various instructors and enroll students
with disabilities accordingly.
It
is also important for advisors to know the rules and regulations
of their institution. Only if you know the rules are you in a
position to take advantage of them for the benefit of the students
with whom you are working. Financial aid and course substitutions
are two obvious examples of areas that can be used to a student's
advantage. A student with a disability can receive a full Pell
Grant even though the student is enrolled in less than twelve
hours, if their disability warrants it. Other students may qualify
for a course substitution. Advisors need to know the procedures
on their campus for such things as obtaining a course substitution
if they hope to assist students who qualify.
Finally,
when working with a student who has a disability, an advisor would
be wise to develop collaborative relationships with faculty, financial
aid, counseling and other organizations within the college. This
can be one of the most important tasks an advisor can undertake.
Earlier it was suggested that a knowledge of the campus could
prevent enrolling a student in a class they could not physically
access. A working relationship with those in the college who schedule
classes can preempt such a problem by insuring that additional
sections of the course are available in classrooms that are accessible.
In the unlikely event that only one section of a required course
is being offered and the classroom is not accessible, strong allies
can help to persuade the administration to move the course to
an accessible classroom or create an additional accessible section.
There
are two important allies an advisor should network with for assistance
with such problems. The first is the individual designated by
the college to enforce compliance with the Americans with Disabilities
Act. The second ally is the person or persons at the college responsible
for establishing eligibility for accommodations, determining the
nature of the accommodations needed by a particular student and
helping to insure that the student receives the accommodations
for which they are eligible. While the titles for these two potential
allies may vary from one campus to another, federal law requires
that they exist and that they be readily identifiable on any campus.
Advising
students with disabilities may present many challenges, but meeting
these challenges can provide long term rewards for you and the
students you serve.
Read
More About It! Annotated bibliography dealing with this issue
Disability
Resources web links
Leslie L. Hemphill
Cloud County Community College
785-243-1435
lhemphill@cloud.edu
Cite
the above resource using APA style as:
Hemphill,
L. L. (2002). Advising students with disabilities.
The Academic Advising News, 25( 3). Retrieved -insert
today's date- from NACADA Clearinghouse of Academic Advising
Resources Web site: http://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Clearinghouse/AdvisingIssues/disability.htm
Listed
resources are member suggested; as such, listings are not
comprehensive in nature. Members are encouraged to suggest
resources they find helpful to their advising practice. Listing
of commercial sites does not imply NACADA endorsement.
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