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Welcoming and Including Students with Disabilities

As an instructor at Wichita State, chances are good that you will have students with disabilities each semester you teach. In addition to accessibility and accommodations concerns, it is also important to ensure a welcoming and inclusive classroom atmosphere.  The following recommendations have been taken from the United Spinal Association's Disability etiquette manual:

General Etiquette

  1. Ask before you help: Don't assume someone needs help simply because they have a disability. If you would like to offer help, ask what you can do rather than assuming what is best.
  2. Be sensitive about physical contact: Don't assume it's okay to touch someone, including their wheelchair or other assistive device, without permission or invitation.
  3. Speak to the student directly and not to their interpreter or assistant.
  4. Don't make assumptions about what the student can or cannot do. Remember, even if you "can't imagine" how someone with a disability may be able to perform a task, that doesn't mean they can't do it.
  5. Make any accommodations required by the Office of Disability Services.

Students Who are Blind

  1. If a student needs to be guided somewhere, it's fine to offer your arm, but do not grab or touch the student without permission.
  2. Give specific directions that include information like possible obstacles.
  3. Greet the student when coming in a room and say good bye when leaving.

Students Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

  1. Always speak to the student and not to their interpreter if they have one.
  2. Take care to look at the student and not cover your mouth when you are speaking.
  3. If you have trouble understanding something your student has said, ask them to repeat it, and then repeat what you heard back to them to check it.

Students With Epilepsy or Seizure Disorders

  1. Be aware that strobe lights and other flashing lights can trigger a seizure.
  2. If a student has a seizure in class, there is nothing you can do to stop it. Protect their head and, as much as possible, their privacy. Try to keep calm.
  3. After a seizure, your student may feel disoriented and possibly embarrassed. Give them space and time to collect themselves.

Students With Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS)

  1. Spray cleaning products are especially bothersome to people with MCS. Try to avoid using whiteboard cleaner, for example, if you have a student with MCS.
  2. Good ventilation and fresh air can be very important for people with MCS.  Students may do better closer to an open window or the classroom door.

Students With Autism

  1. Many people with autism prefer to be called autistic people. Rather than encouraging people-first language with your student, simply refer to them in the way they prefer.
  2. Noisy environments and environments with distraction can be especially problematic for people with autism.  Consider this when planning classroom activities, for example.
  3. Be patient in waiting for responses to questions.
  4. Do not insist on eye contact or assume that a person who does not make eye contact is not listening.
  5. Changes in routine can be upsetting. If you are going to change due dates or other classroom expectations make sure to communicate these changes clearly and with as much notice as possible.