Planning An Inclusive Syllabus
Scenario Content:
At the beginning of the semester, when reviewing the syllabus with students, an instructor encouraged students who needed special accommodations to approach her in person to talk about those accommodations during classroom break or to ‘catch her’ before or after class. Nervously, a student approached her while on break and said that she had accommodations in place that documented the need for additional testing time, reduced distractions during testing, and allowing her to stand during class periods. The instructor repeated these needs aloud while taking notes. While trying to gather information about the needs, the instructor offhandedly noted to the student that she ‘really looked like she was doing great’ and the teacher wondered what could be going on with the student that prompted the need for such accommodations.
Reflection on scenario:
1). It’s great that the instructor encouraged students to contact her—but she should have asked any student with needs for accommodations to contact her privately to set up an appointment to discuss expectations and logistics for successful course completion. While it’s ideal that this conversation take place in the first two weeks of class, it can take place through the first 60% of the course.
2). The instructor should not have repeated the needs for accommodations aloud for the other students in the class to hear.
3). The kind of comment that the instructor made to the student related to her lack of visible disability can be very damaging to students who have what are known as “invisible disabilities”. This practice should be completely avoided. While instructors may often struggle with how to discuss disabilities, we’ve provided some links to help you with this. Remember that even though you may not see a disability does not mean it does not exist, and you may never ask a student about the nature of their disability, or to provide you with individual medical documentation. If their documentation paperwork has been processed through AAAC, then it has been verified.
4). It is the student’s right and responsibility to self-disclose disability status. Please do not approach a student with a visible disability. Please promote the use of AAAC to all students and further promote our desire to help all students through having an inclusive climate in the classroom.
Resources for this scenario:
Disability Etiquette and Awareness:
- How To Talk To A Person With Disabilities Without Sounding Like An A-Hole
- Tips for Disablity Awareness
KU policies on academic accommodations for disabled students: