Teaching Strategies for Students who have a physical disability

A wide range of conditions may limit mobility and/or hand function. Among the most common permanent disorders are such musculoskeletal disabilities as partial or total paralysis, amputation or severe injury, arthritis, active sickle cell disease, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis and cerebral palsy.

Additionally, respiratory and cardiac diseases that are debilitating may consequently affect mobility. Any of these conditions may also impair the strength, speed, endurance, coordination and dexterity that are necessary for proper hand function. While the degree of disability varies, students may have difficulty getting to or from lectures, participating in lectures and managing out-of-lecture assignments and tests

Getting to and from lectures
Physical access to lecture rooms is a major concern of students who are physically disabled. Those who use wheelchairs, braces, crutches, walking sticks or prostheses or who fatigue easily, find it difficult moving about especially within the time constraints imposed by lecture timetables. Occasional lateness may be unavoidable. Tardiness or absence may be due to transport problems, inclement weather or lift or wheelchair breakdown. Getting from lectures may pose similar problems, especially in cases of emergency. The following points are worth bearing in mind.

Considering the accessibility issues before the course and discussing it with the student and appropriate College authorities.

Being prepared to change lecture venue if no other solution is possible.

Familiarisation with the building's emergency evacuation plan and ensuring that it is manageable for students who are physically disabled.

In lectures
Some courses and lecture rooms present obstacles to the full participation of students who are physically disabled. In seating such students, [every effort should be made to ensure that students are not seated in front of a doorway, a side aisle or the back of the room]. Even such apparently insurmountable barriers as fixed seating may be overcome by arranging for a chair to be unscrewed and removed to make room for a wheelchair. Laboratory benches too high for wheelchair users to reach or transfer to, or with insufficient under-bench knee clearance, may be modified or they may be replaced with portable benches. Otherwise, the assistance of an aide to follow the student's lab instructions may be necessary. Students with hand-function limitations may have difficulties with in-laboratory writing (as in lectures). The following strategies may help.

· Allowing the use of a note taker or tape recorder.

· Teaming the student with a laboratory partner or assistant.

· Allowing in-laboratory written assignments to be completed with the assistance of a scribe or out of the session if necessary.

Out-of-lecture assignments
For students who are physically disabled or who have hand-function impairments, the use of the library for reading or research assignments may present obstacles. Arrangements for assistance with library personnel may have to be made for access to card catalogues, book shelves, microfiche and other equipment, or for manipulating the pages of publications. Because the completion of required work may thus be delayed, the extension of deadlines may be appropriate.

Off-campus assignments and fieldwork may pose similar problems of access to resources. Lecturers should consider such expedients as advance notice to students who rely on special transport, the extension of deadlines and the provision of alternative assignments.

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