October is Disability Awareness Month and the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC) created and distributed buttons to help raise awareness to the fact that approximately 1 in 10 individuals is living with a disability.  That’s right…approximately 10% of the population have a disability which means that you, as a member of the HSU community, can expect that approximately 10% of our students will have one or more disabilities.

Not All Disabilities Are Visible

When thinking about disabilities, most people think of individuals who are blind and use a white cane or individuals who use wheelchairs.  However, not all disabilities are apparent or visible.  In fact, many if not most, disabilities are non-apparent which means that you will not know if an individual has a disability simply by looking at them.  Psychological, learning, and health-related disabilities are non-apparent disabilities and are the disabilities with which the majority of students with disabilities at HSU are living.

Things You Can Do

Faculty, here are things you can do to ensure that you are meeting the needs of all of your students, including students with disabilities:

• Consider structuring your curriculum, activities, and assignments using the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL).  A Teaching & Learning Tip on UDL will be posted on October 17!
• Notify the Bookstore of your textbook adoptions for the upcoming semester before the established deadline
• Ensure the documents you create such as your syllabus, PowerPoint presentations, exams, etc. are accessible
• Ensure videos used in your classroom or posted in Canvas are captioned
• Ensure documents posted to Canvas or instructional-related websites are accessible (i.e., text-based PDF files…not image-only PDF files )
• Speak clearly while facing the class (do not lecture while facing the whiteboard or screen)
• Ensure the accessible furniture provided in each classroom (height-adjustable table and chair) is easy for students to access and not moved to the corner “out of the way” or to a different classroom altogether
• Consult with the SDRC if you have questions or concerns about accommodating a student with a disability

We Would Like to Hear from You

In our SDRC spring survey, an overwhelming number of you asked for training and resources to assist you in supporting students with disabilities.  Please look for an upcoming survey to let us know what specific resources and trainings you'd like. We appreciate your feedback!

Resources:

• Student Disability Resource Center
• Creating Accessible Documents
• Captioning Resources/Information
• AIM Office for document conversion services
• Do-it-Yourself Document Conversion