Non-Burdensome Process: An Argument in Support of Reframing What Constitutes Necessary Disability Documentation

Institutions of higher education and their respective disability offices have been challenged with determining how to apply the 2008 Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) in our present-day work settings. Prior to the amendments, third-party documentation was considered essential almost to the point of being non-negotiable in need for most disability offices to facilitate accommodations for disabled students (The authors have made an intentional choice to utilize identity-first language to challenge negative connotations associated with the term disability and highlight the role that inaccessible systems and environments play in disabling people). The ADAAA questioned this mindset. Students with disabilities often found (and still find) themselves burdened financially and procedurally by disability offices requiring documentation to the point where students may not receive the access they truly need. Furthermore, college campuses are increasingly focusing on the limitations of the environment and not the person. As a result of this evolution, the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) offered a new framework in 2012 describing how to define documentation. For professionals in the higher education disability field and for those invested in this work, it is critical to grasp the evolving understanding of what constitutes documentation and necessary information to make disability accommodation decisions. Otherwise, disabiled students may be further excluded from higher education access.

The Spectrum of Disability Documentation Requirements at 12 Institutions A Thematic Analysis

The two laws primarily governing disability services in postsecondary education, the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, permit institutions of higher education to determine disability documentation requirements on an individual basis. Many institutions have utilized documentation guidelines delineating a range of domains to be addressed, and often, suggestions for specific tests to be included, as well as strict recency requirements. Following passage of the ADAAA in 2008, the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) published documentation guidance practices that reflected the updated ADAAA. The current qualitative study examined the perspectives of 12 directors of disability services (DDS) at postsecondary institutions in the United States regarding the disability documentation requirements at their respective schools and their perspectives on why the standards were adopted. Findings revealed a wide spectrum from flexibility to rigidity in requirements from those who employ traditional guidelines to those who apply selective degrees of the AHEAD guidance. Benefits and drawbacks of documentation and the AHEAD guidance are discussed, as well as suggestions for practitioners and institutions seeking to implement the AHEAD guidance.

Critical Perspectives on Disability Documentation in Higher Education: Current Trends and Observations

The role of disability documentation in establishing eligibility for disability status, student support services, and accommodations in higher education has waxed and waned in the last two decades. At one time, referral for evaluation and the resulting disability documentation were essential prerequisites in establishing postsecondary accommodations. Appropriate documentation describing the disability resulted in legal protections (National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities, 2007). Without this documentation, individuals were ineligible for a host of work-related and educational accommodations and support services. But now legal, research-based, and educational perspectives are informing a new approach to the use and importance of disability documentation. This article presents critical and differing perspectives which build on observed trends and practices in disability documentation requirements and accommodation decision-making.

The AHEAD Documentation Guidance at 10 Years: Continuing Concerns

In 2012, the Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) released guidance for disability documentation meant to help support students’ requests for accommodations. Even at that time, the guidance went against AHEAD’s own prior statements, and was contradicted by a developing body of empirical research. Since the release of the guidance, that body of research has grown substantially, continuing to question the accuracy of students’ self-reports and the value of casual conversations and observations made by disability services professionals. In addition, recent research has suggested that even external documentation from disability evaluators (such as psychologists) must be very carefully reviewed to ensure that there is sufficient evidence to support disability accommodations. We discuss selected findings from the empirical literature and propose improvements to documentation review processes.

Use of Cognitive Apprenticeship Models of Instruction to Support Middle School Students’ Construction and Critique of Written Scientific Explanations and Arguments

Writing in science can be challenging for secondary students, particularly for those with learning disabilities, students who are English learners (EL), and students who struggle with literacy due to other cognitive, language-based, or motivational learning difficulties (i.e., at risk or struggling learners). Moreover, science teachers are generally not equipped to support students’ writing in ways that are authentic to science. Despite being described more than 30 years ago, the field lacks information on cognitive apprenticeships that focus on disciplinary literacy, especially in science. In this paper, we take up these challenges and describe two intervention programs with middle school teachers and their students, focusing on the scientific practices of explanation and argumentation. We describe efforts to support students’ written construction and critique of explanations and arguments, and suggest ways that general and special educators can support students’ engagement in scientific practices through writing.

Smartpens: Note-Taking Technology for Students with Learning Disabilities

For students with learning disabilities (SWLD), note-taking during lectures and discussions is a cognitively demanding task. The multitasking elements of recording verbal information and the temporal nature of a verbal lecture make it difficult for SWLD to record notes effectively. Smartpens are new technology that can help students to become better note takers by storing verbal lecture information and syncing it up later when students amend their notes. This article provides an overview of the research on smartpens, including two smartpen strategies that improved the note taking of SWLD, and tips for teachers about how to use these strategies in the classroom.

Instructional Practices to Boost Tier 1 Content Area Instruction for Students with Disabilities: A Closer Look at PACT

For students with learning disabilities, providing text-based instruction in general education content area classes can provide students with additional reading support while simultaneously boosting their content knowledge. This article will outline a set of instructional practices delivered in social studies classes that has been shown to improve performance of eighth grade students with disabilities on measures of content knowledge, vocabulary, and content reading comprehension. Each instructional practice will be described in detail with a timeline of step-by-step procedures and accompanying language that demonstrates how the intervention may unfold in the classroom setting.

Resolving Commas Confusion: Erasing Comma Miscues and Promoting Sentence Writing at the Same Time

Multimedia software programs have been developed and empirically validated for teaching secondary students with learning disabilities new skills and strategies. Some of them can be appropriately put into practice in general education classes in which diverse groups of students are enrolled. One of them, the Commas Strategies Program (Schumaker & Sheldon, 2009), is featured in this article. Because comma skills are specified in national and state standards, all students are required to learn them. The Commas Strategies Program can be used to ensure that all students learn these skills. This article describes the previous research associated with the program and the components of the program. It also describes the features of the program that were specifically designed to ensure that diverse classes of students will learn from it. Further, it describes procedures teachers can follow to put the program into practice and ensure student learning. Enrichment activities that can also be used associated with the software program are suggested.

Lessons From Research for Implementing An Instructional Accommodations Model in Secondary Inclusion

Inclusion teachers at the secondary level need research-based guidance on how to support students with disabilities using accommodations in the classroom. A team of general education and special education teachers developed a model for planning, implementing, and monitoring instructional accommodations. The model calls for students’ active engagement. Findings from two studies on students with high incidence disabilities learning a strategy for “self-accommodating” inform on how general educators and special educators can implement the Secondary Classroom Accommodations Model with active student involvement.