Sample Accommodations

Situations and Solutions for

Students with Disabilities

Fact Sheet Series
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JAN’S ACCOMMODATION FACT SHEET SERIES

SAMPLE ACCOMMODATION SITUATIONS AND SOLUTIONS

FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) receives accommodation questions about

students with disabilities in classroom environments, such as public schools, postsecondary schools (including college or technical school), continuing education,

vocational schools, and internships/employment. These questions come from the

students themselves, academic advisors, instructors, and family members. These

callers want to know about accommodation ideas that will work in educational

environments. JAN provides basic educational and training instructional strategies that

facilitate learning among students with disabilities in classroom or training sessions.

Primarily, JAN consultants provide information on accommodations that assist with

inclusion, equal opportunities, and transitioning from school to work. Nearly one million

students with disabilities attend undergraduate college courses and nearly 90,000

attend graduate school (U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education

Statistics, "The 1995-96 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study" at

http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2002/digest2001/tables/dt212.asp).

The most common type of disability for school-age children is specific learning

disabilities, but individuals who are working and attend training or extended learning

courses, may also need accommodations. Students with disabilities are of all ages and

have a variety of impairments. Students may have difficulty performing certain functions

due to motor, mobility, cognitive/neurological, psychiatric, and sensory impairments.

JAN consultants provide this publication as a way to share accommodation situations

and solutions from educational settings. For a more in depth discussion, access JAN's

publications at http://askjan.org/media/atoz.htm. To discuss an accommodation

situation with a consultant, contact JAN directly.

Situations and Solutions:

A middle school student with cancer experienced fatigue and nausea during the

afternoon. As an accommodation, JAN suggested transferring the student to core

subjects like math, science, and reading that were scheduled in the mornings, allowing

afternoons off. Another accommodation idea was to let the student complete his lessons

at home while listening on the telephone or Internet.

A high school student with muscular dystrophy had difficulty moving to the front of

the room to write on the board. As an alternative to writing notes on the board, JAN

suggested providing an LCD pen-tablet system that allowed the student to make

comments from her desk and project them to the front of the room.
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A technical and vocational education student with a sleep disorder experienced

problems managing his internship and other responsibilities, such as working and

classroom assignments. As an accommodation, JAN suggested scheduling classes on

M-W-F or T-TH and using the non-school days for his internship.

An architecture student with quadriplegia had difficulty using the computer for

computer-aided design (CAD) and mathematics. JAN provided information on speech

recognition programs for CAD and illustrating equations.

A high school junior who had difficulty speaking due to a stroke had difficulty

communicating verbally with other students. JAN suggested using a portable

communication aid.

A computer tech student is deaf. To best communicate with his instructor, JAN

suggested providing a sign language interpreter during class sessions and lectures. To

communicate with classmates during class sessions or activities, JAN suggested using

a communication board, such as the Alpha Smart, so the students can type responses

among each another.

A student with dyslexia is taking classes at the local junior college. She has difficulty

reading print material, such as textbooks, written class assignments, and the syllabus.

As an accommodation, JAN suggested ordering textbooks on tape from Recordings for

the Blind and Dyslexic. JAN also suggested the instructor provide class assignments

and syllabus on tape.

A student with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder was taking a GED preparation

class at the night school in his town. He had difficulty paying attention to detail and was

easily distracted when taking timed practice test drills. JAN suggested relocating this

student to an area of the classroom where visual distractions are minimal (i.e., front of

room, away from window, at a study carrel). JAN also suggested restructuring the test

drills to be untimed or providing the student with his own timer so he could mark time

without watching the teacher. For taking the GED, JAN suggested providing

accommodations such as: allowing extra time and providing a private or semi-private

environment in which to take the test.

An undergraduate student with expressive writing disorder had difficulty writing

class assignments such as journal entries, reflective papers, and research papers. JAN

suggested using the word processing tool Inspiration to help the student organize, draft,

and write his papers or other assignments.

A student in medical school who had a learning disability in reading was also a poor

speller. She had difficulty reading and spelling medical terminology and prescription

names. JAN suggested using the Franklin eBookman handheld, loaded with the PDR,

the Merck Manual, and a medical dictionary.
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A student with dyscalculia was studying cosmetology. She had difficulty measuring

liquid products to color clients’ hair. She also had difficulty reading a clock, and was

unable to mark time as it passed. JAN suggested modifying the bottles the student used

to mix the liquid (e.g., making a red line on the bottle indicating a “fill to here”

measurement) and using a talking timer available from Maxi-Aids to tell her what time it

was, or how long the timer was set.

An electrical technician student who was colorblind had difficulty discerning red,

yellow, and orange electrical tape and wire caps. JAN suggested labeling the tape

dispensers and cap containers so the student could read the colors of the products

instead of identifying the product by color.

A student with a back injury was enrolled at a truck driving school. The individual had

difficulty sitting for long periods. JAN suggested providing the student with a truck that

had a vibration-absorbing driver’s seat, which had heavy duty air suspension and

adjustable shock dampening, and a portable lumbar cushion for driving exercises. While

in the classroom, the student was allowed to walk around. In addition, he was provided

an adjustable desk that adjusted from a sitting to standing position with an electric

button.

A student studying air conditioning repair had a knee injury that made training

activities involving cleaning an AC unit difficult. Typically, individuals accessed ACs

from a standing position, which was painful for the student. The individual was

accommodated with an adjustable worktable, and anti-fatigue matting was placed at the

student’s workstation.

A student who had one arm amputated was studying woodworking. The individual

had difficulty manipulating a vise with one hand. The individual was provided a footcontrolled vise that allowed him to hold the wood with one hand and use the foot pedal

to tighten and loosen the vise.

A journalism student with carpal tunnel syndrome had difficulty entering text into the

computer and administering telephone interviews simultaneously. JAN provided

information on speech recognition software and a headset with a switch that integrated

speech computing and traditional telephony applications. The individual was then able

to switch between talking on the telephone and entering text into the computer with the

touch of a button.

A student studying to be an x-ray technician incurred a cervical injury that caused

pain when wearing a protective apron. JAN provided information on lightweight lead

aprons.

A middle school student enrolled in a computer class was deaf and typically

communicated using American Sign Language (ASL). To effectively receive the lecture

from the instructor, JAN suggested providing an ASL interpreter during class and using

an Internet or Intranet Instant Messaging (IM) service to communicate. To

communicate with classmates, JAN suggested using index cards for writing notes, the
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computer as a communication tool, IM, or a portable augmentative communication

device.

Resources Specifically for Students with Disabilities

American Council on Education

One Dupont Circle NW

Washington DC 20036

Direct: (202) 939-9300

Comments@ace.nche.edu

http://www.acenet.edu/

Association of Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD)

107 Commerce Center Drive, Suite 204

Huntersville NC 28078

Voice and TTY: (704) 947-7779

Fax: (704) 948-7779

ahead@ahead.org

http://www.ahead.org

HEATH Resource Center

George Washington University

2134 G Street NW

Washington, DC 20052-0001

Tool Free V/TTY: (800) 544-3284

Direct: (202) 973-0904

Fax: (202) 994-3365

askHeath@gwu.edu

http://www.heath.gwu.edu

U.S. Department of Education

400 Maryland Avenue, SW

Washington, DC 20202

Toll Free: (800) USA-LEARN or 872-5327

TTY: (800) 437-0833

http://www.ed.gov

Updated 3/23/10.
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This document was developed by the Job Accommodation Network, funded by a

contract agreement from the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment

Policy (DOL079RP20426). The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the

position or policy of the U.S. Department of Labor. Nor does mention of trade names,

commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of

Labor.