Please note: The FAME glossary is not intended to be a completely comprehensive index of all disabilities or disability-related terminology. For a more complete listing, please consult the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision (ICD-10), or the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fourth Edition, Text Revised (DSM-IV TR), available in libraries and bookstores nationwide. Alternatively, you may also consult resources from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) or National Institutes of Health (NIH) publications. Please also see our Supplemental Resources pages in the Rights and Responsibilities module for more information.
Reader
This is an exam accommodation that some students with a learning disability in reading, students who are blind, or students with upper body limitations may use. A reader reads print material verbatim to the student with a disability. A reader never interprets nor augments what is in print.top
Real Time Captioning
An auxiliary aid for students with hearing impairments that allows them instant access to lectures. The lecture content is typed verbatim by a trained professional as the lecture occurs. Students view the lecture on a monitor.top
Reasonable Accommodations
An adjustment made to assist a student and/or an employee that allows equal participation in a public service, program, and/or employment opportunity. In the educational setting, reasonable accommodations may involve modifications or adjustments that provide equal access to programs, services, and activities of the institution, including classroom access, internships and field experiences, housing facilities, and recreational programs. Access may be achieved through the provision of auxiliary aids, assistive technologies, and modification of instructional and examination practices. Reasonable accommodations do not include lowering of academic standards, alternation of the fundamental nature of programs, personal services, or accommodations that result in undue financial or administrative burden. Undue hardship is based on the total resources of the institution, not the individual resources of a program or department.top
Rehabilitation Act of 1973
This law prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in federally funded programs and activities and in programs and activities conducted by the federal government. Section 504 of the law states: "No otherwise qualified handicapped individual in the United States…shall…, solely by reason of his/her handicap, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subject to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance."top
Repeat/Rephrase Questions
A simple but effective instructional practice that reviews course material and focuses student attention during class discussion. When students make comments in class or ask questions, the instructor simply repeats the questions before answering or phrases answers in such a way that the questions are obvious.top
Respondents
In research, persons or groups who respond to a data collection protocol or instrument, such as a survey, interview, or focus group.top
Retention/Retention Rate
In higher education, the cumulative persistence of students (number enrolled and who graduate) over time, as from academic period/year to academic period/year.top
Rights and Responsibilities
Understanding the roles of faculty, students, and Disability Services staff in the accommodations, teaching, and learning process.top
