Tag Archives: Support

How Does AEO Do at Accommodating Students?

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Both students’ and professors’ biggest issue with AEO seems to be that they are under staffed.  Several students reported that there can be an issue with AEO getting back to students in a timely fashion.  One student provided an example, “If you need books on tape, you might get them after the test and that won’t be helpful.” Despite some of AEO’s shortcomings, most students registered with the office seem to agree that AEO is very supportive and that their staff are very motivated to help you.

Here is what one professor had to say about AEO:

“I have seen first hand what a wonderful job MaryJo and Steven do with academic coaching and also how good the office is at providing things like texts, braille texts if needed, extra time on tests, and proctoring arrangements for exams.  I think where the difficulty comes is with students who have not gone to the office and have not identified themselves to the office or who don’t know they have a disability and could benefit from accommodations. Some of the difficulties that arise come when a student discovers in the course of their time at Vassar that they have a disability and then the process of coming to work with the office and getting accommodations is more fraught for the student.”

Professors’ Familiarity with AEO

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Students say:

Most professors are only familiar with AEO to a certain extent.  They know that AEO exists and that it helps students, but their understanding is limited.  Most professors try to understand; however, they don’t have to deal with AEO very much, so they don’t know a lot.  Some students wish professors would make an effort to understand the reasons behind accommodations, rather than treating it as a business transaction.  Many students wish that professors had some sort of disability training.

All professors seem to understand that students are not trying to gain an advantage over other students and that these accommodations are legitimate.  That being said, there are still professors that are not willing to bend when it comes to accommodations.  Those professors seem to be less familiar with AEO.

Professors say:

Although someone from AEO comes to speak at new faculty orientation, the information being delivered does not stick with them as well as it could, because faculty have not yet had the experience of interacting with students registered with AEO.  One professor reported that there is almost no contact between faculty and AEO.  “There is not very much support for faculty to know how to accommodate students, or even to know whether they should take the accommodations seriously or not,” said another professor.  Not very many professors are educated about the importance of accommodations.

There has been some discussion of whether faculty who are understanding of disability should find some way to identify themselves to students.  Unfortunately, no solution has been reached.

What Students Can Do to Improve Professors’ Familiarity with AEO:

– Keep notes on your interactions with professors on issues of accommodations- both good and bad.  Consider providing these to AEO at the end of the year.  Wouldn’t it be great if AEO referred back to these when planning their discussion at new faculty orientation?

– Encourage your professors to reach out to AEO when they have questions about your accommodations.

 

 

What Students Can Do to Help Professors Help Them

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Students, there are a number of things that you can do to help your professors best accommodate you.  Here are a couple of examples:

1. Emailing your accommodation letter to your professors before you go to meet with them.

This is something that AEO already instructs students to do, but I think it’s important to highlight the benefits of this.  If your professors are able to see your accommodation letter before you go to meet with them, they have the opportunity to think about what they can do to best accommodate you.  There may be something specific about a particular assignment or the way professors conduct their class that might pose a problem for you due to your disability.  A professor who has your accommodation letter ahead of time may think to share this with you during your meeting, opening up the opportunity for you to talk about this and problem-solve.

2. Communicating with professors

There are a number of little things professors can do to make our lives as students with disabilities a little bit easier.  For example, if a there is an in class presentation, a professor might allow a student with an anxiety disorder to go first and get it over with.  He or she might also allow students with this kind of disability to pick up homework earlier so that they do not have to worry as long about getting it back.  And what about group projects? What if you wanted to use your staggered deadline accommodation? How would you go about doing that without revealing your accommodation to your classmates? It would be helpful if professors thought about a way to prevent this problem before assigning these kinds of projects.  But, our professors are not mind readers.  What we as students must do is not be afraid to let our professors know that these little things can really ease the stress of students with disabilities.  Although not all professors may be open to these kinds of suggestions, it is important to try and to communicate with those who are willing to listen.