Hello Everyone,
Advising students with visible and invisible disabilities can be difficult. As October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, I took some time to write an article about my personal experience and advising students with disabilities.
Last summer, I did one of the dumbest that I can remember. I decided that it was a good idea to jump off a retaining wall that was taller than I am (so taller than 6' 3''). The jump didn't hurt, but the landing caused the ACL in my left knee to pull the top of my tibia apart, and I damaged the cartilage on the top of my tibia and fibula. Thus, I had to have surgery to have the top of my tibia sown back down and clean up the damage. My injury and the surgery resulted in me being in a leg brace for several weeks, and I couldn't put weight on my leg for four weeks. The end result was significant mobility issues for me during the New Student Enrollment period of last summer and for a while afterward. Thankfully, my colleagues stepped up to help me by bringing a wheelchair to work and often pushing me around campus. I learned quickly that not being able to walk at a speed similar to everyone else adds a lot difficulty to getting around campus, and I also learned that using crutches to get anywhere on campus is terrible given the distances involved. Wheelchair and crutch accessible entrances to buildings on campus are not placed in the most convenient locations nor are the accessibility solutions in older campus buildings the easiest or most convenient to use. My experience gave me a strong appreciation and understanding for students, staff, and faculty with physical disabilities who have to get around on campus.
Advising students with visible and invisible disabilities is already a difficult task, but the differences concerning disabilities between Pre-K – 12 education and higher education make things more difficult. For example, “students will be required to self-disclose, to provide qualified documentation, to request accommodation, and to self-advocate” (Bridges, 2009, para. 5). This is the opposite of what happens in Pre-K – 12 education where the parents (or guardians) and educators work together to construction an individualized education program (IEP). This means that the parents (or guardians) play a large role in how accommodations are arranged and are in a position to advocate for their children. In higher education, the FERPA laws prevent parents (or guardians) from having this kind of role in their student’s education. Bridges (2009) pointed out that “self advocacy is important for all college students to learn, but it is particularly important for students with disabilities” (para. 8). Allen Dyer (2008) went a step further stating, “Advisees with disabilities should be encouraged to self-disclose to their academic advisors that they have a documented disability and what accommodations they are eligible to receive. Encouraging this disclosure would: 1) demonstrate to the student that academic advising is indeed a teaching and learning process; 2) reiterate to the student that self-advocacy skills are needed inside and outside of the classroom environment; and 3) allow for more effective advising, to include addressing specific needs and recognizing the strengths and unique cultures of advisees with disabilities.” (para. 7). While I think this is a novel goal when working with students with disabilities, I do not know how many students are going to be ready to commit to that level of self-disclosure. In addition, students may also not be at a development stage where disclosing their visible or invisible disabilities would seem relevant to working with an academic advisor.
Advisors can be great advocates for students with disabilities. According to Hemphill (2002), “When working with a student who has a disability, an advisor would be wise to develop collaborative relationships with faculty, financial aid, counseling and other organizations within the college [or university]” (para. 6). These partnerships can lead to a better understand of individual student’s needs. As academic advisors, we can help students spot issues that their visible and invisible disabilities could create with their class schedule based on time between classes, distance between class building, and overall timing of classes. We can also adjust our advising practices to accommodate a student particular needs, and it has been suggested that “advisors who become familiar with the difficulties imposed by a particular disability can logically deduce the importance of some advising practices” (Hemphill, 2002, para. 2). For example, I have attempted to keep my office environment welcoming to all students. I keep a slinky on my desk for students to play with if the activity level of our conversation is not high enough, and this can be important for students with ADD or ADHD. It is also important to think about the environment of your office as it could be too small for a wheelchair or too distracting for some students. Clearly, we have control over only so many things, but taking a few minutes in an attempt to be mindful about your space can really help.
In the end, there is no perfect way to fulfill everyone’s individual needs. I think Allen Dyer (2008) summed up how working with students with disabilities should be when she wrote, “Perhaps one day, educating students with disabilities – both inside and outside of the classroom – will not be seen as the role of ‘specialists’ but as everyone’s role. Until then, academic advisors should be deliberate in their quest to become professionals equipped with the informational, conceptual, and relational skills necessary to be inclusive advisors” (para. 11).
Thanks,
Doug
References
Allen Dyer, N. (2008, September). Inclusive advising: Building competencies to better serve students with disabilities. Academic Advising Today, 31(3). Retrieved from https://nacada.ksu.edu/Resources/Academic-Advising-Today/View-Articles/Inclusive-Advising-Building-Competencies-to-Better-Serve-Students-with-Disabilities.aspx.
Bridges, L. (2009, June). ADA amendment act: What advisors need to know. Academic Advising Today, 32(2). Retrieved from https://nacada.ksu.edu/Resources/Academic-Advising-Today/View-Articles/ADA-Amendment-Act-What-Advisors-Need-to-Know.aspx.
Hemphill, L. (2002, September). Advising students with disabilities. Academic Advising Today, 25(3). Retrieved from https://nacada.ksu.edu/Resources/Academic-Advising-Today/View-Articles/Advising-Students-with-Disabilities.aspx.
Additional Resources
Advising Students with Disabilities: Striving for Universal Success (2nd ed.)
https://my.nacada.ksu.edu/Resources/Product-Details?ProductsDetails=yes&ID=B19-PDF
NACADA’s Academic Advising Today
https://nacada.ksu.edu/Resources/Academic-Advising-Today.aspx