Disability Discussion Experiences Low Turnout
November 28, 2018
Barely anyone decided to show up as Director of Student Disability Services Joanne Milke began talking about the benefits of professors integrating the guidelines for Universal Design for Learning (UDL) into their classrooms.
Rocio Fuentes, a Spanish professor, and Elena Koulidobrova, a professor of linguistics, were the only two individuals in attendance of the demonstration. With the incredibly low turnout, the discussion was planned to be canceled, but then instead transitioned into a formal conversation.
Milke began talking about how 405 students with various disabilities and needs were registered with Student Disability Services. Milke also stated that, even though students are not required to register, accommodations are usually made for those who need them.
Milke also recommended that when professors have students who have not disclosed what their disabilities are, they should not ask what they have and instead ask if that specific student has received services in the past. In the event the student discloses what they have, then it would be best for the professor to then refer them to the SDS office, Milke stated.
“We don’t provide accommodations for English as a second language, but it would be nice to consider,” Milke stated.
Professors could do more to help students with disabilities, Milke stressed, such as by being more willing to allow certain students to record classes or to allow the integration of Blackboard Ally, a program which helps students who are unable to see images by providing a description of the image; it works for PDFs as well.
Another point that Milke brought up was that “teachers should understand that some students will have trouble advocating for themselves.” Possible methods of helping students were discussed, such as allowing students to request PowerPoint slides from teachers, though Milke understood that some would be unwilling to do so.
Milke thanked the two professors who came and encouraged them to, in the event another meeting was held, come in and discuss further integrating UDL into classrooms.
