Universal design addresses barriers faced by people with disabilities, older people, children, and other populations that are typically overlooked in the design process (UniversalDesign.com).

“A process that enables and empowers a diverse population by improving human performance, health and wellness, and social participation” (Steinfeld and Maisel).

Because it’s good pedagogy to differentiate your teaching methods. 

Students will come to your class with multiple abilities, and creating lessons from their point-of-view is needed 

Let try a real scenario….

My wife is an interior designer instructor and practitioner in the field. She has the responsibility to educate her students on facility related codes and guidelines at Front Range Community College (FRCC) and in her own business (Forte Design). The reasoning behind things like ramp max rise per linear foot, thresholds, signage, clearances, and all other guidelines which affect the building users.

Scenario:

She borrowed a bunch of wheelchairs from the nursing department, and she had the students pair up and navigate around the campus. 

Context:
The students in this class, who come from various age groups and backgrounds, raced through the halls in their chairs. 

Nowell, my wife,  was informed a student in a wheelchair with a physical disability had seen the students racing, and informed the LOC.  Needless to say, awareness is half the battle.  

Solution:  Now The Interior Design Program and the Learning Opportunity Center (LOC) work together on an ADAAA lesson plan, as well as the wheelchair tours are facilitated by students who have a physical, visual, and hearing disability, and the program and the LOC have a great opportunity to learn from each other.

Do not put a verb in front of their name.

Examples:

Traumatic Brain Injured Seth

Mentally Challenged Thomas

Post Traumatic Stress Julie

Blind Tim

Autistic Sally

•Instructors are not required or expected to lower teaching standards. You should receive a letter from the Disability Support Services (DSS) that states what the student needs, but does not alter what is expected.

•Students must self-advocate for themselves; they are responsible for selecting their courses, identifying appropriate supports, and monitoring the use of requested accommodations.

•Submit appropriate documentation of their disability each semester, and meet with the Disability Services Office to establish eligibility for services with appropriate forms.

•Note takers who are hired or asked by the instructor (will be their interpretation), copies or recorded lectures, audiotapes for reading, alternative formats of textbooks, and assistive listening devices (Instructor wears a device)

•Some students will need to schedule for classes before everyone else if they need a certain accommodation that could take some time or have a physical need 

•Interpreter Services, qualified transcribers, and rentals of equipment from the DSS, and assistive technology programs and computers should be available.

•Look at everyone in your classroom as equal, but instruct in various ways for learning.

•Collaborate with all people, and in every department at your place of work and classroom. 

 

I suffered from “conduction aphasia” on my left side, which is responsible for reading, writing, speaking, and parts of the memory. Just in the last months I can say some words without slurring them and my speech sometimes does not come out like it should with certain words. Especially after a long work day.

 

I am a privileged white male, and my privileges were taken away in June and July of 2014. Mentally, I knew what I could do, but people around me constantly told me when and where I need to be, go, and do. I was forced to listen and do what I was told because if I did not, I would be forced to leave Craig Hospital and insurance would not pay for anything. 

 

I was locked in a wheel chair; I had to sleep in a bed for the first month where I was locked in at night (Posey bed); I had to ask to go to the bathroom and needed a nurse or my wife to bathe and shower me, even though I knew I could do those things on my own; I was required to be in line of sight, everyday; I could not go anywhere without permission or my wife to go outside; I had to ask permission if I could leave my room; I had to prove I could spend a budget at the grocery store and cook, wash dishes, and prove I could be independent. I was basically one of the students whom I advocated for since I entered the field of Education and now I had a label. 

 

In comparison to what I saw happen to individuals, families, and the effects that TBI can cause and destroy families, I consider myself lucky. I am lucky to be here, and understand that many people suffer more than I ever have. I am lucky and worked hard to get where I am at today. Doctors, nurses, and physicians told me and my wife (behind closed doors) these things were not possible. 

 

I get motivated when people tell me I cannot do something, or that I do not care. I care more now than ever, and feel I have a purpose to help change labeling and judgmental people that deal with students.You can never asses or judge anyone without being in their shoes. Teachers have a duty, and their duty is to never assume anything about students they do not know or what they have been through.

 

I will often tell this story to students who walk into my classroom and state that they hate to read and/or write. I had to work hard to come back to be able to do those things. When you lose an ability or something tragic happens, you have to learn something. For about a month in 2014, I lost that ability of agency and being able to read, write, and communicate effectively. 

 

This semester (Fall 2016) in my English Composition Class at FRCC, I told the story again because students told me how they hated reading, writing, and English class. At the end of the story, a student approached me and asked:

 

“Did you have black shorts on and sandals by the movie theater?” He described the location and place. 

 

He and his wife were the ones that found me, parked their car in front of where I was laying so I would not be run over, and they called 911. My student was the one who saved my life and found me. He said the blood was already coagulating and I was motionless.  

 

As he told me this story, I could not move or breathe. I wanted to cry but realized this was a sign. Since I got out of Craig Hospital, I have been determined to go 180 mph in everything I do, and now it is my duty to advocate for people who face barriers. I need to start slowing down a bit, but I am here because of my student, and I accept that I have a disability. It takes me longer to do things than ever before, but my passion and desire of an educator is so much stronger and better than ever before. It is important to get to know students, people, and understand what it is like to walk in their shoes. Pedagogy in education needs to understand that not all students will identify themselves, but equal access and the way we teach needs to be UNIVERSAL. Universal in terms of scaffolding, explaining, modeling, and breaking down barriers for students who have had labels or told they are different.

•http://www.uwyo.edu/udss/campus-access-resources/transitioning.html  

•http://www.pacer.org/publications/adaqa/504.asp  

•https://www.berry.edu/uploadedFiles/Website/Academics/Academic_Affairs/Faculty_Resources/Academic_Disability_Support/_Assets/Documents/DISABILITY%20SERVICES_faculty_2.pdf  

•http://www.spcollege.edu/central/hr/accommodations_manual.htm#psych  

•http://www.udlcenter.org/sites/udlcenter.org/files/UDLinPostsecondary.pdf