Accommodations and Technology: Addressing Educational Issues Involving Adolescents with Disabilities

            Schools provide a place for adolescent to develop cognitively and socially.  There, according to developmental theorists Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky, a student should be given the opportunity to actively “explore his or her world” and construct and “develop understanding” with the support of a teacher and fellow students, with whom the student can collaborate to learn(Santrock, 2008, p. 359).  However, until the 1970s, students with disabilities, or those who have a “physical, mental or emotional condition which affects or more major life activities” were not given this critical developmental opportunity (Daley, 2002, p. 4).  It was not until the passage of the 1975 Education for All Handicapped Children Act, which stated that all students must “be given a free and appropriate public school education,” that disabled students stopped being “refused enrollment” in and “inadequately served” by the American public school system (Santrock, 2008, p. 384).  Today, that law and others like it, such as Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Sections 504 and 508 of the revised Rehabilitation Act and the Telecommunications Act of 1996, serve about 3.1 million disabled Americans ages twelve to twenty-one, or about 5 percent of the country’s adolescent student population (US Department of Education, 2001, p. 21), with a free public education that includes accommodations, or  “legally mandated modifications or services that give a student with a disability an equal opportunity to benefit from the educational process” (Daley, 2002, p. 10).

According to recent US Department of Education research, the number of students with disabilities is on the rise.  Since 1992, the number of American adolescents with disabilities has increased by fifty percent (US Department of Education, 2001, p. 22).  Particularly, the amount of students with specific learning disabilities and autism has grown dramatically, tripling in the last decade alone (US Department of Education, 2001, p. 22). Because the data shows that the number of adolescent with disabilities in American schools is extremely large and continuing to increase, future secondary educators can be certain that they will encounter disabled students.  It is therefore important for future teachers, who will be legally and ethically responsible for providing the same quality of education to these individuals that they would to non-disabled ones, to learn how to meet the special needs of this growing group of students.  Thus, the purpose of this policy brief is to describe the approaches that have been and continue to be taken in the education of disabled students and analyze the strengths and weakness of each, so that the future teacher can make the most informed decision about how to adequately accommodate and properly educate any disabled student that in his or her classroom.

To do so, the policy brief will begin with a description of the various types of disabilities the future teacher might encounter, and the approaches that have been taking to accommodate each.  Using theoretical, empirical and expert sources, which provide accurate information gleaned through observation and methodical experimentation, the policy brief will then analyze the advantages and disadvantages of the accommodations employed for students with each disability.  Finally, the policy brief will employ the conclusions of the analysis in the identification of ways in which the future teacher could address the accommodation of adolescents with disabilities.

Approaches to Accommodations by Disability

Not all students that are disabled have the same disabling conditions.  A disabled student can have a learning disability, such as dyslexia, a mental illness, such as schizophrenia, a mobility impairment, such as arthritis, a visual impairment, such as blindness, or a hearing impairment, such as deafness (University of Washington 2002).  Because of the diverse nature of these disabilities, the appropriate accommodations that a teacher must employ to ensure a disabled student an equal education depends on the unique condition that the adolescent has.  Thus, the best way for the future educator to learn about the approaches used to accommodate students with disabilities and how to determine which is most effective in the classroom is to organizethe different approaches and accommodations by disability type and then analyze the strengths and weaknesses of each.   

Physical Disabilities

Hearing Impairments

            A number of approaches, each with its own strengths and weaknesses, have been taken in the accommodation of students with hearing impairments, or those who have little or no functional hearing ability (University of Washington 2002).  One approach is to use assistive technologies, or “adaptive or rehabilitative devices” that “enable people with disabilities to perform tasks they were formerly unable to accomplish, or had great difficulty accomplishing, by providing enhancements to or changing methods of interacting with the technology needed to accomplish these tasks” (University of Washington 2002) to help them hear their lessons.  An assistive technology that is frequently employed in the accommodation of deaf or hard of hearing students is the FM amplification system, a system in which the teacher or speaker is given a microphone and a receiver through which sound is transmitted directly to the student’s hearing aid (University of Washington 2002).  This allows disabled students to properly hear a teachers’ lecture so that they can benefit from it just as much as a functionally hearing student.  It can also be used in a way that enables the user to participate in class discussions; in the case study of “Allison,” performed by the Alliance for Assistance to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, the teacher walked around the room during discussions so that the microphone picked up other students comments, allowing “Allison” to become privy to and a part of the classroom conversations that she once was not (University of Washington 2002).  Because the assistive technology approach to accommodating deaf or hard of hearing students uses the FM amplification system, which gives the disabled student the ability to participate in classroom activities and places them on equal footing with their peers, this approach can be call effective and possessive of great strength.

            However, according to Terri Yamiolkowski, coordinator of the Department of Differing Abilities at The College of New Jersey, assistive technology devices such as the FM amplification system are expensive and hard to use, two major weaknesses to this accommodating approach (T. Yamiolkowski, personal communication, 2 May 2008).  These systems cost $ 2,500 dollars each, which, Terri says, makes under-funded high schools and colleges hesitant to use them in place of less expensive, albeit less effective, methods of accommodation.  FM amplification systems, like other assistive technologies, are also generally unfamiliar to disabled students, who must learn how to properly use these somewhat complicated devices while trying to keep up with their academics.  This creates unnecessary stress on the student, and can even discourage them from using the device.  Thus, while the assistive technology approach of the FM amplification system does have great strengths, such as allowing the student to hear lectures and participate in classroom discussion, it also has great weaknesses, such as being expensive and difficult to master.

                A different approach to accommodating students with hearing impairments is the use ofprofessionals like interpreters, who translate the teacher’s lessons into sign language, or stenographers, professional note-takers who can accurately record the teacher’s every word.  These experts allow the student who is completely deaf and so unable to take advantage of assistive technologies like the FM amplification system, to understand his or her teacher’s lecture in real time, just like all of his or her classmates.  The Alliance for Assistance to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics’ case study of “Roberto”, a completely deaf student who uses a stenographer to successfully keep up with his lessons, shows that these professionals are effective equalizers for the disabled (University of Washington 2002). Thus, because they provide disabled students with an equal opportunity to benefit from education, there is much strength in the approach that uses professional like interpreters and stenographers to accommodate disabled students.

            Although these interpreters and stenographers provide disabled students with educational equality, they, according to Terri, can be expensive, distracting toward non-disabled pupils and very conspicuous (T. Yamiolkowski, personal communication, 2 May 2008).  As professionals, interpreters and stenographers demand substantial compensation for their work.  The average salary of an interpreter or stenographer employed as an accommodation for a disabled student is about 30,000 dollars.  Consequently, under-funded schools sometimes waste time trying out less expensive accommodations before acquiescing to the costly interpreter or stenographer approach to accommodation, even if it is the most appropriate approach in the first place.  Interpreters, who stand in front of the class so that the disabled student can see them as well as the teacher, and stenographers, who make noise typing on a keyboard, can be a distraction to other students in the classroom.  If not dealt with properly by the teacher, the quality of education for all students can be compromised, as students would not be absorbing information.  These interpreters and stenographers, while garnering the attention of non-disabled students, can also make the disabled student uncomfortable, for their presence places his or her disability on display for all of his or her peers to see.  Many disabled students do not wish to flaunt their disability or accommodations and are thus reluctant to take advantage of such conspicuous accommodations, a weakness of this approach (T. Yamiolkowski, personal communication, 2 May 2008).  Therefore, while interpreters and stenographers as well as assistive technologies like FM amplification systems provide deaf students with equality of education, a great strength of these approaches, they are expensive and can be hard to use, distracting and conspicuous, showing that these approaches do have weaknesses.

Mobility Impairments

            Accommodations for students with mobility impairments, or those who may not be able to use certain parts of their body or may need a walker or wheelchair due to orthopedic or neuromuscular problems, vary in approach as well.  One such approach is the use of universal design, which involves the creation of “products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design” (University of Washington 2002).  An example of universal design would be a sidewalk curb cut, which allows people in wheelchairs as well as non-disabled people, like “kids on skateboards, parents with strollers, and delivery staff with rolling carts,” to have access to the sidewalk and street (University of Washington 2002).  In education, universal design is especially important for mobility impaired students, to whom classroom accessibility is of the utmost importance.  For instance, having an elevator in a building to reach a classroom on a high floor allows not only for students with mobility impairments to easily reach a destination that they formerly could not, but students with heavy backpacks and teachers with carts of supplies as well.  Other aspects of universal design, such as the creation of classrooms with wide aisles, height adjustable tables, and easy-to-reach storage spaces, also make the learning environment comfortable and equally beneficial for all students, disabled and non-disabled, a great strength of this approach to accommodation.  A case study of “Nana,” performed by the Alliance for Assistance to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics confirms the strength of the universal design approach, as her school utilizes a spacious and wheelchair accessible classroom to the mutual benefit of all students (University of Washington 2002).  Because the universal design approach gives both equal access to education to mobility impaired students and comfort and ease of use to non-impaired students, it can be called effective and possessive of strength.

            However, universal design for mobility impaired adolescents does have weaknesses as well.  Not all secondary and post-secondary schools were designed to be accessible to students with disabilities, as These students did not usually attend them in the past, due to a lack of support (T. Yamiolkowski, personal communication, 2 May 2008).  Thus, those schools would need to invest time and money into reconfiguring and reconstructing their buildings and their classrooms.  But, by the time schools acquire enough money to begin and complete the renovations, a student with a mobility impairment may have graduated having had to deal with the hardship inaccessible classrooms or may have even dropped out because of that inaccessibility.  Therefore, while the universal design approach can even the educational playing field for the mobility impaired student by making classrooms accessible as well as make benefit non-disabled students, it can be expensive and time-consuming, which are its two greatest weakness.

Visual Impairments

            An approach used for accommodating students with visual impairments, or those who have little or no ability to see, is the use of assistive technologies, or “adaptive or rehabilitative devices” that “enable people with disabilities to perform tasks they were formerly unable to accomplish, or had great difficulty accomplishing, by providing enhancements to or changing methods of interacting with the technology needed to accomplish these tasks” (The Alliance for Technological Access 2008).  Common assistive technologies employed in the accommodation of blind students are Scan/Read systems such as JAWS, WYNN and Kurzweil 3000.  These programs, which “combine software and a flatbed scanner” allow disabled students to have scanned “textbook pages, class handouts and tests read aloud by the computer” (Appendix A).  By having their books read aloud by these Scan/Read systems, the visually disabled student is put on an equal playing field with the non-disabled student, who is able see and read the same text to himself.  Because equalizing educational opportunity is the goal of accommodations and Scan/Read systems do that, they can be considered effective and having strength.       

            However, there are also weaknesses to the Scan/Read assistive technologies approach of accommodation for visually impaired student, such as the programs’ inability to read graphics, their ineffectiveness in scanning and reading whole books, and their general unfamiliarity to students.  According to the “Maria” case study performed by the Alliance for Assistance to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, graphics such diagrams, charts and pictures cannot be read aloud for the blind student by the Scan/Read programs, a great weakness of this approach.  The study recommends that teachers create and type up textual descriptions of all the graphics that appear in class readings prior to the commencement of the class, a possibly arduous task, depending on the subject, that requires plenty of planning (University of Washington 2002).  Scan/Read systems can also be rendered unpractical if a student needs to read an entire book for a class, another weakness of this approach.  Pages have to be individually scanned into the system, which, when scanning a whole book, could take an inordinate amount of time.  Programs such as JAWS, WYNN and Kurzweil 3000, like other assistive technologies, are also generally unfamiliar to disabled students, who must learn how to properly use these somewhat complicated devices while trying to keep up with their academics.  According to Terri, this creates unnecessary stress on the student and can even discourage them from using the device, yet another major weakness to the assistive technological approach to accommodations (T. Yamiolkowski, personal communication, 2 May 2008)  Thus, while assistive technologies like Scan/Read systems do serve as effective educational equalizers for visually disabled students, they do have weakness, such as the inability to read graphics, impracticality in attempting to scan and read entire books, and difficulty of use.     

Learning Disabilities

            Adolescents with learning disabilities are of the biggest percentile in the nation.  According to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), an individual with a learning disability are of normal or above-average intelligence, but have difficulty in certain academic areas, and their differences can not be attributed to any other problem or disorder (Santrock 2007).  According to the National Center for Education Statistics, out of the ten percent of students with receive special education services, forty-four percent of these are for learning disabilities (2003) and eight percent of the whole U.S. population has a learning disability (Santrock 2007).   Therefore, it is important for an aspiring teacher to understand learning disabilities and how to accommodate them.  This section of the policy brief will discuss some of the most common learning disabilities, what the educational system is doing to help, and the pros and cons of each program. 

            Adolescents with a learning disability have most commonly have problems with reading (Berninger, 2006; Bursuck & Damer 2007), but can also have problems in other areas, such as writing or math.  Most children with a reading disability do not have it diagnosed until third grade or later (Lyon, 1996).  Many reading disabilities can be helped, with intensive instruction over a period of time.  Attention deficit disorder (ADD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are some of the most common learning disabilities in US children.  ADD and ADHD show one of more of the following characteristics: inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsitivity (Santrock 2007).  Seven percent of US children and adolescents have had ADHD between the ages of 3 to 17 years old (Bloom & Dey, 2006).  Although definitive causes of ADD and ADHD have not been found, there has been much improvement on how to deal with this issue.  Most individuals with ADD or ADHD take stimulant medication such as Ritalin or Adderall to help control the effects of the disorder.  This medication had been found to be effective, but additional accommodations in the classroom have proved to be more successful (Steer, 2005; Zentall, 2006).

            Accommodations for students with learning disabilities have come about after the enactment of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).  This act mandated one of the most used methods for students with learning disabilities, an Individualized Education Program (IEP). The IEP requires schools to see how the disability affects the students learning, which accommodation can help the student, and ultimately choosing a placement in the least restrictive environment (NICHCY2005).  Although the IED is used for all students with different kinds of disabilities, it accommodates each different disability differently.  For learning disabilities, classroom accommodations should not modify the coursework; just help the student receive and understand the information.  Accommodations include taped textbooks, extended time taking tests, and orally administering tests for students with reading disabilities such as dyslexia. These accommodations help students who have trouble reading understand and obtain material in a different manner other than sight.   For students with ADHD and ADD testing in quiet areas, photocopy of other students or the teacher’s notes, and preferential seating are typically used.  These accommodations can help students become lest distracted in a classroom setting.

            Technological assistance is especially effective for students with learning disabilities.  This technology includes talking-word processing programs, word prediction software, scan/read programs, where you scan books and notes to be read allowed, graphic organizers, and portable note-taking devices.  According to Terri Yamiolkowski, coordinator of the Department of Differing Abilities at the College of New Jersey, although these programs are very effective in the college level, they are hard to obtain for high schools because of budget issues (T. Yamiolkowski, personal communication, 2 May 2008). 

            Accommodations for students with learning disabilities can be very effective if the school is willing to use them accordingly.  Unfortunately, because of tight budget issues and the fact that IDEA requires high schools to entitle every student with a “free and appropriate public education,” many schools have resorted into just pushing students with learning disabilities through the educational system.  Section 504, or the “504 Plan” allows accommodations to include shortening assignments or the use on notes on tests when other students can not use them (Appendix B).This is neither fair to the student with the learning disability or the other students because this is just a way to push disabled students through the educational system without giving them the proper education (T. Yamiolkowski, personal communication, 2 May 2008).   

Mental/Emotional Disabilities

            Since the 1970s, over 600 health centers have been established in schools to help students battling mental or emotional disabilities.  (Schlitt, Rickett, Montgomery, & Lear, 1994; Hauser-McKinney & Peak, 1994).  A Mental disability is “a disability is a mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2003).  Mental and emotional disabilities can include, but are not limited to, depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, panic/anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder.  One of the most frequent characteristics of adolescents is sadness and depression, especially among girls (Santrock 2007).  Mental disabilities can affect attendance rates, public speaking, and maintaining focus. ". For both male and female students, the mental health problem category most frequently cited by schools was social, interpersonal, or family problems.  Followed by aggression or disruptive behavior, behaviors associated with neurological disorders (such as ADD or ADHD), and anxiety (Appendix C). Therefore, it is important for teachers to understand mental/emotional disabilities and how to deal with them to provide each student with the best education possible.

            Under IDEA schools are required to provide ways to help deal with mental and emotional disorders so that ever student can obtain a quality education.  The ways to deal with mental and emotional disabilities are on the rise in schools because the influx of modern medicine and research of mental and emotional disabilities, and more adolescents are willing to seek help.   They include behavior management consultation, crisis intervention, referrals to specialized programs, and individual and group counseling.  The most effective program for schools to help students with mental and emotional disabilities is early intervention programs, such as DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), and keeping students and parents informed from a young age what mental and emotional disabilities are (Appendix D). Although these resources are effective, unfortunately many barriers keep from being able to use them (Appendix E).  The most common are financial restraints from the family and the fact that the school budget is too low to provide for adequate care.  Because of this, many students, like students with learning disabilities, are being pushed through the education system by exempting them from homework and tests. 

How Schools should Address Students who are Disabled

            There are many effective ways to deal with different disabilities that teachers might encounter with adolescents, but unfortunately, budget issues are a main concern.  For physical and learning disabilities, it is important for teachers to deal with each student individually. IEP’s are very effective in helping students with learning disabilities succeed in school without being exempt from assignments and exams that other student’s might have.  Technological assistance can help these IEP’s tremendously, allowing for easier access to materials for students with learning disabilities (T. Yamiolkowski, personal communication, 2 May 2008).

             Unfortunately, tight budgets do not allow schools to use this technological assistance because it is expensive and they simply can not afford it. Many schools have resorted into just pushing students with physical and learning disabilities through the educational system by exempting them from assignment and homework, or making them easier, and using the “504 Plan” as the reason for doing so (Appendix B) Main resource needed for schools today to properly educate students with disabilities is money.  The budget needs to be examined by the government, and the voters need to be informed.  If money wasn’t an issue, the use of assistive technology with IED’s would help improve a adolescent with a learning disabilities educational career.

            Students with mental and emotional disabilities are on the rise because of the willingness to be tested (T. Yamiolkowski, personal communication, 2 May 2008). Since the 1950s, adolescence suicidal rate had tripled and had become the third leading cause for adolescent death (Santrock 2007).   It is important for adolescents to be able to obtain readily available help for mental and emotional disabilities.  The most effective way to help students deal and cope with mental and emotional disabilities is early intervention programs, which keep students informed from a young ago what exactly mental and emotional disabilities are (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 2003).  This allows adolescents with mental or emotional disabilities to understand what they are going through and get the help they need as they grow older.

Conclusion

            Students with disabilities account for more than ten percent of adolescents (Santrock 2007).  Since 1992 , the number of American adolescents with disabilities has increased by fifty percent (US Department of Education, 2001, p. 22).  It is important for teachers and others in the educational system to understand the importance of accommodating such individuals and what issues are keeping the educational system from doing so adequately.  Many laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Sections 504 and 508 of the revised Rehabilitation Act, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act have been passed to help students with disabilities attain a proper education.  Unfortunately, low budget issues in school districts have been keeping these students from obtaining the proper material and methods needed, such as assistive technology, that have been shown to be effective to serve them fully. 

Jessica Cocivera & Laura Janssen (The College of New Jersey)

Completed in Professor Ruth Palmer's Adolescent Learning and Development course

Works Cited

Daley, R (2002). "Faculty/Student Handbook Formats." Differing Abilities Services. Retrieved from http://www.tcnj.edu/~sa/disability/ambassador.html

______ (2002) "Disability Type." Retrieved from http://www.washington.edu/doit/Stem/disability_type.html

Frequenly Asked Questions (2008).  The Alliance for Technological Access. Retrieved from

            http://www.ataccess.org/faq/A_general.html#A1.

______ (2005). Individualized Education Program. Retrieved from http://www.nichcy.org/reauth/tb-iep.pdf

OSERS (2007) Department of Education. Retrieved from http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/reports.html

Department of Health and Human Services (2003). School Mental Health Services. National Mental Health Information Center. Washington DC. Retrieved from

http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publications/allpubs/sma05-4068/

Yamiolkowski, T(2008). Personal interview. 2 May 2008.