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Sheryl Burgstahler, Ph.D.University of Washington

Services, Supports and Accommodations

Role of Technology

Burgstahler

Vision - Individuals with Disabilities Have:

• access to technology that promotes positive academic and career outcomes

• use technology in ways that contribute to positive outcomes

• experience a seamless transition of availability of technology

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Issues

• Inadequate funding and knowledge• Lack of coordination between levels

• Inaccessible computing environments

Burgstahler

Implications

• Ensure access to assistive technology at all levels and through transitions

• Include students in purchase and support

• Provide training to all stakeholders

Burgstahler

Implications

• Foster inter-agency collaboration• Promote the purchase of accessible

technology in schools• Give students work-based learning

opportunities that use technology

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Services, Supports and Accommodations

Supported Education Model

Elizabeth Evans GetzelVirginia Commonwealth University

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Outcome: Individualized SupportsStudents who received frequent and

intensive services from the project were able to achieve their educational goal(s) as identified in their Academic Support Plan. Outcomes included passing a course or clinical, remaining at VCU or in their program of study, and passing state administered exams.

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Outcome: Supported Education Model

Preliminary findings indicate that intensity and frequency of service and support use, access to technology, and student persistence are strong predictors of student performance and outcomes.

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Outcome: Multiple DisabilitiesStudents who presented the most

challenging support needs in the study were often those with multiple disabilities. These students had a number of life issues that needed to be addressed along with their educational support needs.

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Outcome: Learning Disabilities

A supported education model can benefit students with learning disabilities and attention deficit disorders. Students expressed a high level of satisfaction with the services and supports received through the model.

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Outcome: Application to College

Results from the study indicate that a supported education model can be incorporated into the spectrum of services provided on a university campus.

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Outcome: Multiple Approaches

Greater numbers of students with significant disabilities are entering postsecondary education which will require universities and colleges to create multiple approaches for service delivery on campus.

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Outcome: Collaboration

Enhanced collaboration between university and community services are needed to ensure that students with disabilities receive the needed services and supports to meet their educational needs.

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Services, Supports and Accommodations

Project Grad

Michael Sharpe, Ph.D.University of Minnesota

Sharpe

Project Grad SummaryProject Grad is a collaborative research

effort conducted by NCSPES and the Nisonger Center of The Ohio State University

Objective of the study: To examine instructional accommodations, assistive technology and employment outcomes of students that have graduated from postsecondary institutions

Sharpe

Sample Characteristics

• Preliminary results based on 94 graduates of postsecondary institutions across the United States

• 48% reported chronological age between 18-24 and 30% between 25-34 with the remaining 22% over age 35

• 85% Caucasian, 6% African American, 6% Multiethnic, 2% Asian/Pacific Islander

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Sample Characteristics

• 44% Male, 56% female• 30% SLD, 25% ADHD, 14% OHI, 12%

Psych, 10% Orthopedic, 7% VI, 2% Speech, 1% HI

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Identification Data

• 31% of participants indicated their disability was first identified at the postsecondary level

• 74% reporting ADHD were first identified at the secondary and postsecondary levels

• 62% reporting a Psychiatric Disability were identified at the secondary and postsecondary levels

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Instructional AccommodationsReading, Attention, and Listening were

identified as the “top three” areas in terms of how disability impacted learning.

Providing extra time for tests and assignments, a quiet learning environment and communicating instructional needs with instructors were the “top three” instructional accommodations used in the postsecondary setting.

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Instructional Accommodations (Cont’d)

• 68% of participants indicated they were “Very Satisfied” with the instructional accommodations they received—1% indicated they were “Very Dissatisfied.”

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Assistive Technology

• In general, most AT devices used by participants involved “low tech” options or commonly used technologies (e.g., scanner, talking books)

• 38% of participants indicated they first learned to use AT at the postsecondary level

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Assistive Technology (Cont’d)

• 75% of AT users indicated they “taught themselves” how to use the device

• 42% of AT users indicated that their AT was most useful as a “student”

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Assistive Technology (Cont’d)

• 14% of AT users indicated that they needed an assistive technology that was not provided to them and 11% indicated they were asked to use AT that they did not think they needed

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Employment Outcomes

• 85% of participants indicated they were currently employed

• 51% reported job titles consistent with Professional, Technical and Managerial Occupations

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Employment Outcomes (Cont’d)

• 50% of participants indicated they were employed in a field related to their postsecondary studies

• 78% of participants reported hourly earnings in the range of $6 to $12 per hour

• 18% of participants indicated some level of dissatisfaction with their ability to discuss accommodation needs with their employer

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