Medical/health impairments include arthritis, asthma, cancer, orthopedic limitations, post surgery, chronic fatigue syndrome, or seizure disorder. These medical conditions can affect a student's ability to write by limiting the student's energy, making sitting for any length of time difficult, and inhibiting extended periods of concentration. These conditions can be temporary or permanent and the functional limitations can vary in severity.
With the use of assistive technology and classroom and assignment design accommodations, a student with a medical/health impairment or a mobility impairment can be a successful college writer.
How Medical/Health Impairment or Mobility Impairment May Affect WritingHealth:
- Difficulty concentrating for extended periods of time;
- Difficulty maintaining consistent class attendance due to fluctuations in health condition;
- Limited mobility inside and outside of classroom;
- Diminished stamina for long writing assignments.
Mobility:
- Difficulty with upper body mobility including head and hand movement;
- Difficulty with lower body mobility impacting sitting, standing, and walking.
Assignment Design and Delivery:
- Employ UDL principles in assignment design and delivery;
- In developing an assignment, recognize that the assignment's goal can be accomplished through a variety of means;
- Offer flexibility in assignment tasks to make the overall learning goal accessible to all students;
- Clearly present goal(s) of assignment to students on instruction sheet and during in-class assignment review;
- Provide assignments in alternate formats (print, online, audiotape) for greater accessibility;
- Review assignment instructions in class;
- Emphasize drafting and revision.
Classroom Accommodations:
- Establish a supportive writing environment;
- Have student sit in the most easily accessible area;
- Provide extended time on exams, in-class writing, and/or lengthy writing assignments;
- Provide study questions, study guides and other study aides in multiple formats. Provide multi-modal options for test taking, such as administering test orally rather than in written format;
- Provide study questions, study guides and other study aides in multiple formats;
- Send class notes and other handout material via electronic mail or post them on the World Wide Web;
- When speaking with a student in a wheelchair for more than a few minutes, sit down or move back to create a more comfortable angle for conversation.
Assistive Technology:
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Assistive technology for students with medical/health impairments aid in all aspects of the college writing experience. Some of the common and highly effective aids and devices these students may use for classroom accessibility and writing assistance include:
- Adapted seating;
- Wide aisles and uncluttered work areas;
- Adjustable height and tilt tables;
- An assistant to take class notes;
- An assistant to read material out loud;
- Textbooks on tape;
- Earphones/plugs during exams or in-class writing;
- Earphones/plugs during exams or in-class writing;
- Laptop or portable word processor to take notes in class and to do in-class writing assignments or essay exams;
- Audio recorders to record lectures;
- Screen reading software;
- Voice recognition software;
- Word prediction software;
- Computers with speech input and/or Morse code;
- Adaptive keyboard, mouse, etc.
The Ohio State University Partnership Grant Fast Facts for Faculty
The Fact Sheet "Teaching Students with Medical/Mobility Impairments"
http://ada.osu.edu/resources/fastfacts/
Project DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology)
http://www.washington.edu/doit/Faculty/
There is an entire section for faculty working with students with mobility impairments http://www.washington.edu/doit/Faculty/Strategies/Disability/Mobility/mobility_resources.html and a section for faculty working with students with health impairments http://www.washington.edu/doit/Faculty/Strategies/Disability/Health/health_resources.html
NCIP Profile: "Using Word Prediction Software: Students with Motor Impairments Have the 'Write' Stuff" http://www2.edc.org/NCIP/library/wp/Using.htm
