Teaching Strategies for Students with Mobility Impairments
Accommodations are intended to "level the playing field". They in no way guarantee success nor should they compromise the integrity of the course. Please remember that the following are only suggestions. Faculty/Staff are not required or expected to provide all of these accommodations.
- If necessary, arrange for a room change before the semester begins
- If possible, try not to seat wheelchair users in the back row. Move a desk or rearrange seating at a table so the student is part of the regular classroom seating
- Speak directly to the student as you would with any other person-use the same tone of voice, volume and eye contact
- Stand or sit an appropriate distance from the student's wheelchair, this is important as the chair is often considered part of the person's body space
- Be alert to unobtrusively offer assistance by holding doors open, carrying objects, providing photocopies, assisting with phone calls, ensuring clear passageways and removing library books from high shelves
- Allow in-class writing assignments to be completed out of class with the use of a writer, if necessary
- Facilitate a barrier-free environment
- Plan allocation of accessible tutorial rooms in advance
- Be flexible with deadlines: assignments that require library work or access to sites off campus will consume more time for a student with a mobility impairment
- When in doubt about how to assist a student with a mobility impairment, ask him/her
- Allow the student the same anonymity as other students (i.e. avoid pointing out the student or their accommodations to the rest of the class)
This information was adapted from the WebPages of Northwestern University and The Australian National University.