Australian Disability Clearinghouse on Education and Training

Background

Laura was 29 and was experiencing agoraphobia. She was undertaking study in an arts faculty. She was shy and retiring and sat in the back of the class on her own. She wore a floppy hat that covered her face. She did not mix with the other students. She was not aware that flexible arrangements could be made for students with disabilities.

Laura was academically capable.

Interaction with Laura

The tutor was unaware of Laura's disability until just prior to the tutorial presentation that Laura had to give. Until that time Laura had been able to manage without disclosing her disability, but the tutorial presentation sparked off a major crisis for her. Immediately before Laura's presentation tutorial the tutor received a letter from the subject coordinator telling her about Laura's disability. In desperation Laura had approached the subject coordinator.

The tutor then approached Laura and Laura told her about her disability. She understood Laura's situation particularly well because she had also experienced agoraphobia. At this point Laura was in a state of considerable distress and was talking of dropping the course because she could not face the tutorial presentation. The tutor explained to Laura that there were ways of circumventing the problem, that it was legitimate to be flexible regarding the way student presentations were made.

To overcome Laura's fear of giving her presentation in front of the class she suggested that Laura make a videotape of her presentation. The tutor supplied a videocam for Laura and Laura's husband filmed her at home giving her presentation.

Prior to showing the video, the tutor explained to the class that the university recognised that different students had different needs and that Laura would do her presentation by video (Laura was present during this explanation).

As the video was shown, Laura sat at the back of the class with her hat on and took no part. However, as the video progressed and students asked questions, she gradually began to participate, to answer questions and to elaborate on the video. She ended up at the front of the class openly discussing it.

There were no queries from other students about Laura's different mode of presentation but the tutor thought that this might have been because the quality of the presentation was very high.

Laura did not participate in any discussion resulting from the presentations of the other students. She did not mix with other students but talked only to one, who was a friend. The tutor made initial attempts to get Laura involved in participation by asking her for input but she did not respond. She did not put her under further pressure in this regard because she understood how Laura felt.

Because the tutor had discussed Laura's situation with her, she was prepared for occasions when Laura had to leave the class suddenly. The tutor would make a passing comment to the class that Laura had been feeling queasy and continue straight on with the work.

Resources used

A video-camera was made available to Laura to film her tutorial presentation.

Assessment

Laura met the same assessment criteria as the other students. The only modifications made were in mode of presentation. Content was unchanged.

Five percent (5%) of the mark was for participation. Because Laura’s other marks were high her lack of participation did not affect her overall mark.

Tutor comments/observations

In terms of time, accommodating Laura’s disability involved some long discussions and some counselling sessions when Laura was considering giving up the course. There were also some phone calls when Laura was in need of reassurance and support. In all, the tutor did not find this onerous.

The tutor was aware of the equal opportunity office and the university's disability policy. Her preparedness to provide the support and attention that Laura needed was a result of her personal approach to teaching. She felt that all students were individuals and that they all faced different obstacles to learning. She mentioned that the difficulties faced by another student of hers, a mature-age woman with a full time job and two children, who was going through a divorce, also justified the same kinds of supports and considerations.

The tutor expressed some reservations about whether what she was prepared to do for students was fair. She was not sure whether it constituted advantaging certain students over others.

The tutor felt that her capacity for understanding the difficulties faced by students was largely due to her experience with her own difficulties in the past, that this gave her a particular empathy for all student difficulties, whether or not they were labelled as having a ‘disability.’

Background

Vicki was in her 30s and was undertaking study in an arts faculty. She had multiple personality disorder, with five major personalities operating. This interfered with her attendance as she did not come to the university when she was under the medication which was necessary for the management of some of the manifestations of her disability.

Vicki was a persistent, committed and capable student.

Interaction with Vicki

In the first week of the course the lecturer allocated the topics for the tutorial presentation. Vicki asked to see the lecturer afterwards and told her that she had multiple personality disorder. She said that she would be able to participate in class if she was in an appropriate personality at the time but on other occasions she would not be able to attend. The lecturer was unsure as to how to take this but listened and took Vicki seriously.

She showed that she was interested in Vicki's situation and this seemed to be important to Vicki. A good rapport was established between the two right from the start.

Vicki did not require significant extra time or attention. However, the lecturer did worry about her welfare and was naturally solicitous as to how she was feeling and how she was coping.

Assessment

The lecturer gave extensions for Vicki's written work as she had some trouble with her writing. Her oral work was not affected, however.

Due to her disability, Vicki's attendance record was poor. Apart from a few occasions when Vicki did not appear to be her usual self, she was always able to function normally when she did come to class. The lecturer believed that she stayed away at the times when she was not fit to attend and that was why her persona in class was consistent. Consequently the lecturer was flexible in her approach to Vicki's attendance, even though her absences caused some problems with group work.

Exams in the course were ‘seen’ exams. The paper was given out two weeks beforehand, but the exam was sat in the fixed time, under exam conditions. Vicki was allowed a little extra time for exams.

Reasons for Vicki's success

Vicki passed the course with distinction due to her innate ability, her attitude and her careful management of her disability. In the lecturer's view, had Vicki's natural ability not compensated for the difficulties that resulted from her disability she might not have been able to succeed as she did.

The flexibility and sensitivity with which the lecturer handled the issues relating to Vicki's situation also contributed to Vicki's success.

Chris was 22 and had attention deficit disorder. He was undertaking study in a social sciences faculty. He had had negative experiences in his earlier education, due to his disability, but was motivated to persevere with this access course. He was a part-time student.

Interaction with Chris

The lecturer found that information had to be given to Chris in small bites. She provided short readings for Chris.

Chris was restless in class and would get up and walk around. After negotiations with Chris the lecturer seated him at the side of the room near the door and allowed him to take a quick walk outside when he needed to. Chris always left the class immediately it was over. The lecturer always ensured that she had dealt with everything he needed before the end of the class.

She observed that Chris had to be kept under close rein and she made sure that he was always given plenty of direction. She provided Chris with templates for his written words and suggested that Chris make short videos as part of his presentation. When setting work the lecturer gave Chris extended lists of questions and, in discussion with him, broke a task into smaller segments for him. The lecturer asked for Chris's written work to be done in point form first, and then filled out. She looked at all the drafts of his work and followed up his written work with oral tests.

Chris was given time extensions for his written work.

The lecturer liaised with other staff teaching Chris to ensure that there was a coordinated approach and sharing of strategies.

Resources used

Chris used a cassette recorder and a videocam to tape parts of his presentations.

Assessment

The lecturer accepted work in a variety of forms from Chris. She also accepted work in smaller units.

Problems identified

The lecturer observed that Chris needed one-to-one attention from staff. She commented that the learning skills unit was no longer allowed to give one-to-one attention to students, but they had to be part of a small group. She believed that this was not suitable for students like Chris.

Reasons for Chris's success

Chris passed the first subjects of his course. There had been no exam. The lecturer felt that his success was due to his perseverence and also the considerable flexibility of his teachers in accommodating his learning preferences.