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Center for Teaching, Learning & Technology

Teaching Students with Disabilities

Good teachers know that all their students bring unique and interesting abilities to their classrooms, and effective teachers seek ways to bring those abilities to light. The Americans with Disabilities Acts (ADA) have encouraged colleges and universities to develop policies for making students with disabilities a respected and involved part of their educational missions. But for teachers, that means having to think more carefully about how their pedagogies and classroom policies help and/or hinder students with various disabilities. The links below offer suggestions for how to transform classroom activities and attitudes in order to welcome all students into the learning space of the course. Faculty at ISU are encouraged to be familiar with specific ISU policies regarding the rights of students with disabilities.

Approaches to Teaching Students with Disabilities

Approaches to Serving Students with Disabilities (Wisconsin)
Links to six reports on how different campuses around the country have effectively met the needs of students with disabilities.
A Systematic Approach for Assisting Students with Learning Disabilities in Postsecondary Education (Peggy Waller and Carol Puffer, LD Online)
Good Teaching Practices for Students with Disabilities (Washington)
Teaching Students with Disabilities (Berkeley)
A series of tips on working with students who may have various disabilities, including visual or auditory impairments, attention deficit disorder, etc.

Disability Support Centers at Colleges and Universities

Association of University Centers on Disabilities
Center for Persons with Disabilities (Utah State)
Center for Research on Women with Disabilities (Baylor)
Center on Human Policy (Syracuse)
Disability Support Services @ U of North Dakota
Disabled Students Center @ Santa Monica
Office of Disability Concerns (ISU)
Regional Center for College Students with Learning Disabilities @ Fairleigh Dickinson
Teaching Resources @ UIUC

Other Resources

Accessible Web Design (Wisconsin)
Disability Accommodations in Science Education (WVU)
Disability Guidelines Statement Regarding ADA (UND)
Learning Strategies Database (Muskingum)
Teaching Students with Disabilities (Yale)