Information for Faculty
The following information and suggestions may be helpful when you have a student with a disability in your class. However, it is important to remember that not all disabilities are obvious. When the disability is obvious, the question becomes, "What degree of accommodation and assistance is necessary?" Students who have "invisible" or non-obvious disabilities may choose not to mention his or her condition to the professor. For example, a student with epilepsy who is on medication, may not expect to require any adaptations or accommodations, and may not disclose their condition to you.
Because each student with a disability will have a different ability, even within the same disability category, the information presented here should be seen as general guides, not as specific instructions.
Disability-Specific Accommodations
Disability-Specific Accommodation Suggestions
Discipline-Specific Accommodations
Discipline-Specific Accommodation Suggestions
Legal Guidelines
Both the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 state that a university shall provide academic accommodations. Auxiliary aids must be provided which are necessary to ensure that students with disabilities are not "denied the benefits of, excluded from participation in, or otherwise subjected to discrimination in" the program. That is, the University is required to make accommodations to the known physical and cognitive limitations of otherwise qualified students with disabilities, unless it can be demonstrated that either of the following two exceptions pertains:
- The University can demonstrate that the accommodations are not necessary to ensure nondiscriminatory participation by a student with a disability; or
- The University can demonstrate that the academic requirement for which an adjustment is requested is "essential to the program of instruction being pursued by the student."
The intent is to provide an equivalent academic experience and learning opportunity, not to guarantee the outcome of the student's educational endeavor.
Resources from the University of Washington's DO-IT Prof Project
- Brochure: Working Together: Faculty and Students with Disabilities
- University of Washington's DO-IT Website
- Faculty Room Webpage
