Tipsters, there's nothing about Tom's original request for help that suggests that he thinks that equal access for his student is a nuisance he would rather avoid. He just asked for suggestions about how to meet his student's needs. That's all. Perhaps we could turn away from temptation to discuss some other point and just give Tom suggestions about how to accommodate the needs of a blind student.
My suggestion is that I put all my overheads and visual lecture support material on a course web site. We have assistants available in our student support area and, when appropriate, our special needs students have paid assistants that can read and reread the material on the web during study sessions. Our web services are adding features to increase accessibility, so it may become easier to add audio versions of online content in the near future. I also thought Cheri's idea of talking with the student at an early opportunity was a good one. Best wishes, Warren ------------------------------------------ Warren R. Street Professor and Chair, Department of Psychology Central Washington University 400 E. University Way Ellensburg, WA 98926-7575 Phone: 509-963-3674, Fax: 509-963-2307 E-mail= [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web= http://www.cwu.edu/~warren/ >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 07/23/03 08:44AM >>> Gary, also as a past chair of the university's special student needs committee ( a mouthful), I always liked that "backdoor" "wiggle out" word, reasonable. It was amazing how the administration would use that word to resist such accommodations as curb cutting, builoding temporary ramps for graduation, refusing to move classes or offices. What no one really told me was: reasonable to whom. If a student is there to learn and if we are to serve, it would seem reasonable to do whatever it took for that student to learn however inconvenient and uncomfortable it might be for us. It would do us good to think of how to teach in a different. My criteria, as I just told Tom, is what would I expect if I was blind. I remember once I had the members of my committee spend one day in a wheelchair and another with their eyes covered. Boy, did that open their eyes! (pun intended) Make it a good day. --Louis-- On Wed, 23 Jul 2003, Gary Klatsky wrote: > Having spent a few years on our committee for students with disabilities, > the law is that we make REASONABLE accommodations. Your ADA representative > should provide information on how your institution has defined reasonable > and what you should be expected to do. > > Gary J. Klatsky, Ph. D. > > Department of Psychology [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Oswego State University (SUNY) http://www.oswego.edu/~klatsky > 7060 State Hwy 104W Voice: (315) 312-3474 > Oswego, NY 13126 Fax: (315) 312-6330 > > From: Louis_Schmier [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2003 10:26 AM > To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences > Subject: Re: Blind student > > Tom, you have no choice but to find a way to accommodate your visuals to > the needs of this student. It's the law of the land. > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
