IUPUI

Adaptive Educational Services

The Faculty Lounge

We encourage faculty and staff at IUPUI to continually improve their understanding of disability issues. The Faculty Lounge is an excellent resource for furthering that education. This area of the AES site provides practical information regarding disability-related rights, responsibilities, and strategies for success.

We are constantly adding new content areas and updated information to the Faculty Lounge site. Please use the navigation links to the left to access more information. Those looking for quick information may find the following common questions or issues to be a good place to start:

Document QuickLinks

• Things to Remember
• I have a student in my class who might need your services
• Working with students with a disability in Your Class
• Finding help for students

Things to Remember

AES will proctor quizzes and exams for registered students (i.e.clients) with documented disabilities who require extended time. We cannot proctor quizzes and exams as a courtesy to professors, unless the student is a registered client of our office.

Due to the high number of clients that our office serves each semester, we will not remind students of quizzes and exams, nor can we schedule quizzes or exams for them. Our office emphasizes growth, development, and personal responsibility among students. We feel scheduling a quiz or exam is the student's responsibility.

If you will be emailing a quiz or exam to our office, please use the following address: aes@iupui.edu

I have a student in my class who I think might need your services; what should I do?

As you strive to be a great educator for your students...keep in mind that two of the most effective ways to help your students learn: Make yourself available to your students and also take time to observe how they learn.

Obviously this can be difficult if you teach 3 different classes, in three different building, with 30 in one class and 130 in the other. But nonetheless the more open, observant, and reachable you are, the more connected your students will be.

No doubt as an educator, you would like to see each student in your class performing with academic excellence. Unfortunately, as you know, this is often not the case.. Inevitably, one of the downsides to teaching is that some of your students understand everything, some understand it just enough to pass, and then a small portion of students simply are never able to make connections. Unfortunately, such students don't perform well for a variety of typical reasons. They may lack the preparatory knowledge or the motivation and commitment that's required of your course.

But for a small minority of students, learning is an arduous and often frustrating task despite their motivation, commitment, or intellectual capacity to learn.

Reaching out

As you are aware, there may be several different reasons behind poor student performance. Frustrating the issue further, is that many students are reluctant, for myriad reasons, to reach out to the course instructor for assistance. This is especially true for campuses like IUPUI, with high numbers of non-tradiional and disconnected students. Typically, the onus for reaching out for assistance is placed on the student. This is especially true for students who 1) know they have a learning-related disability but may be afraid of ridicule, retaliation, or perception, or 2) aren't doing well in your class and don't know why they're having trouble. Of course there will be the student who isn't prepared for your course, but that is of course another issue.

However, the good news is that often students are amenable to talking about their difficulties in your course if you:

1. Make yourself available to students
2. Include a statement regarding disability accommodation in your syllabus
3. Look for trends or patterns in learning course material

If you choose to reach out to the student, keep the following tips in mind:

• Because the topic may be a sensitive issue for the student, talk with the student after class or ask that they meet you in another location.
• It's best to avoid asking a student directly if they have a disability. There's a fine line between having the student's best interests in mind, and there is inadvertent, or perhaps intentional use of disability knowledge as a criteria for successful academic performance.
• Talking with a student about poor performance in your class, or learning-related difficulties related to your course is acceptable.
• If the student has a documented disability, sharing information with you specific to the disability is voluntary. Even if you have the student's best interests at heart, it is their right to disclose information regarding their disability.
• If the student voluntarily discloses disability information to you, respect that information and limit your assistance to how the disability impacts learning in your course.

If after talking with the student, you feel as though poor performance may be due to a learning problem, refer them to our office. We will talk with the student and, if appropriate, make a referral for educational testing.

Working with students with a disability in Your Class

Here are a few things to consider when you interact with students with a disability in your classroom:

• The diagnosis and nature of a student's disability is considered private information. Some students don't mind sharing and others prefer to keep things "close to the chest." Don't force a student to disclose disability information. This is a voluntary process.
• While you are not privy to sensitive personal information about a student's disability, you may ask the student how learning is impacted by their disability. Based on the information shared, you may make referrals, course adjustments, or additional accommodations that you feel are appropriate. If an accommodation or modification requires the assistance of AES, please contact us as soon as possible.

Finding help for students

Above all, make sure students know about our office and the importance of connecting with us EARLY in the semester. Insert a statement into your syllabus or on your department's website.

Helping the student participate

If a student requires a partner for hands-on course work or a personal assistant to help manipulate class materials, please have the student contact AES to make the necessary arrangements.

Helping the student learn

Some students will benefit from the assistance of a Note Taker . A note taker is simply a fellow classmate who agrees to supply the student with a legible copy of lecture or class discussion notes. While often this can be done on a volunteer basis, our office will compensate the note taker if they provide copies of course notes throughout the semester.

Although many students are capable of speaking with classmates about note taking, others are simply inexperienced, shy, or unable to talk with potential note takers. In this case, you may need to make a BRIEF announcement to the class: similar to the following:

"We have a student in this class that will need some help taking notes. If you're interested in helping, please see me after class. As I understand it, you can be compensated for agreeing to be a note taker for this fellow student."

Proving alternative methods of assessing knowledge

Many students move out of the classroom during testing simply because they require an enlarged copy of the quiz or test. While AES can make an enlarged copy for the student or provide a CCTV in our lab, the student may prefer to stay in the class if you were able to provide an alternative enlarged font test. This can be done in several ways. For example: you can enlarge a single copy of the test using your printer or your department's printer. Or, when writing your exam on a word processing program (e.g. MSword), save a second copy with enlarged font. If you have questions, contact our Client and Technology Support Analyst or you may refer to our Course Development section.

Securing a different type of desk, chair, or table

If your student needs a special seating arrangement in the classroom, please have the student contact Adaptive Educational Services to arrange accommodations.

If you notice adaptive furniture (e.g. padded chairs, adjustable tables, etc) that is available and not in use by a student with a disability in your classroom, please direct the student accordingly. Every semester, our office installs adaptive furniture into classrooms across campus. IUPUI is committed to providing equal opportunities for students to learn. Making the campus accessible to all is a major priority.

As AES places furniture into classrooms, we affix a small label stating that that furniture is reserved for use by a student with a disability. Unfortunately, this furniture is oftentimes "borrowed." We appreciate any informal "policing" you can provide to ensure that students who need that furniture are in fact the ones who have access.