Klein (2009: 11) argues that it is important for academics to be aware which disabilities are present among a student population and how these disabilities may impact the performance of individual students. He cautions that “students with a wide range of disabilities can encounter significant obstacles when experiential instructional methods are implemented assuming that learners are disability-free”. Klein (2009: 13) differentiates visible and invisible disabilities, as well as “either permanent, temporary, or occasional impairment”—of which the last two “include students receiving chemotherapy for the treatment of cancer, students recovering from surgery, and some depressions”.
There is an increased awareness of, for example, differences in learning styles, cultural differences, varied origins of students, and the realisation to alter (and vary) instructional practices to better reach more students. Similarly, disabilities presents another important way in which students may differ. This warrants reflection and action about experiential instructional methods such as “role plays, case analysis and discussion in groups, and other exercises designed to test and build student capabilities and skills”, says Klein (2009: 12), who argues that academics should be more responsive to and accommodating of students with disabilities. Experiential learning is described (p. 16) as “a direct encounter with the phenomena being studied rather than merely thinking about the encounter [… and] ‘what experiential learning does best is to capture the interest and involvement of participants but most importantly it contributes significantly to the transfer of learning’”.
Klein (2009: 13 – 14) published a taxonomy of student disabilities:
- Visible disabilities include students who are blind, who have cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, or muscular dystrophy; and/or use a wheelchair, crutches or braces.
- Invisible disabilities include visual impairment including color blindness and macular degeneration; hearing loss and deafness; neurological disorders such as Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), learning disabilities, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and Asperger’s Disorder; Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS); psychiatric disorders; and a chronic health impairment such as epilepsy, diabetes, arthritis, asthma, cancer, cardiac problems, and HIV/AIDS.
- Learning disabilities is a group of disorders marked by significant difficulty in taking in, encoding, organizing, retaining and/or expressing information. Remembering, reading, writing and speaking may be affected. There is also one kind of learning disability (prosopagnosia) that makes it difficult for individuals to remember the faces of others, though this disability can also arise from a traumatic brain injury.
- Psychiatric disorders include chronic or temporary major or minor depression; bipolar disorder characterized by alternating periods of high, even manic, energy and periods of moodiness, irritability or depression; anxiety disorders, including social anxiety disorder; and obsessive-compulsive disorder, in which adherence to ritual, or avoiding germs or close proximity to others, drives behaviour
- [ADD and ADHD] An individual with ADHD is impulsive, easily distracted, inattentive and hyperactive, often wanting to get up and change his or her location. An individual with ADD has difficulty is sustaining attention but is not characterized by hyperactivity.
- Asperger’s Disorder was first described in the 1940’s by Viennese pediatrician Hans Asperger, who observed autistic-like behaviors and difficulties with social and communication skills in boys who had normal cognitive and language development. Individuals with Asperger’s often want to fit in and interact with others, but they may be awkward, not understanding of conventional social rules, or show a lack of empathy. Common are limited eye contact, difficulty in sustaining normal conversation, unusual speech patterns – e.g., lacking inflection or too loud - and not understanding the subtleties of language, such as gestures, irony or humor.
Klein (2009: 24) reports on the development of a student self-assessment questionnaire (pp. 33 – 34, note that permission required for duplication and distribution) and associated fact sheet. The primary purpose, he says, is to prompt students who may have an undiagnosed disability, as well as those who are trying to cope on their own with a known disability, to make contact with the disabilities services office. The self-assessment questionnaire has thirty-four questions, group in eight sections. The development of the questionnaire drawn from a number of sources. Candid completion thereof facilitates the identification of the presence of up to nine disabilities: learning disabilities; ADD and ADHD; a health problem or impairment; social anxiety disorder; Asperger’s Disorder or Syndrome; clinical depression; bipolar disorder or bipolar depression; and obsessive-compulsive disorder. The associated fact sheet (pp. 35 – 37) provides basic information on each of the disabilities.
Other proactive strategies Klein (2009) mentions towards making reasonable accommodations for students who have, or who believe they have, a disability include (a) a voluntary self-disclosure disability statement (p. 31) and (b) a set of interview questions (p. 32) serving a guide with regard to a discussion pertaining help with disabilities. Klein (2009) points out that for this approach to work a student must be willing to make his or her disability known. Students are not necessary required to name his or her disability, however, must be sincere and willing to disclose the kinds of difficulties encountered.
Klein, G.D. 2009. Student Disability and Experiential Education. The Journal of Effective Teaching (since rebranded as the Journal of Effective Teaching in Higher Education), 9(3), 11-37. Electronically accessible from https://uncw.edu/jet/articles/vol9_3/volume0903.pdf
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