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"Lab Participation" Case

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Case Description

A Chemistry professor visits his institution's Disability Support Services (DSS) to discuss the case of a student in his class, Clay, who is visually impaired but not completely blind.

Normal Vision

Clay's Vision

*Images taken from the National Weather Service's low vision simulation, available at: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/sec508/htm/low_vision.htm

Professor: Thanks for taking time out to see me. I'm here about Clay, who's a student in my intro Chemistry course.

DSS Director: Yes. Clay mentioned that you had concerns about the lab part of the class.

Professor: Right. Well, the problem is, I guess, because of his disability, he's probably not all that suited to complete the regular workload in the lab. Specifically, it doesn't seem like he could handle the chemicals safely, without hurting himself or others. I had a brief chat with him and suggested instead that he skip the laboratory work and take a "paper and pencil" version of the course.

DSS Director: What do you mean by paper and pencil?

Professor: Well, he could take regular quizzes or write short papers, instead of the hands-on stuff.

DSS Director: I think the problem is, in this case, that Clay feels a bit embarrassed and a bit cheated by the whole experience. Is there any way that he could participate in at least some of the laboratory work? Perhaps he could work with a partner who could help him complete some of the exercises. I think that, by asking him to take quizzes or write short papers, away from the whole lab experience, Clay would not be getting an equivalent experience or education. He's a fairly agreeable person, and I think that some compromise should be made, if at all possible. My office could, for example, provide him with a laboratory assistant, if necessary. Or, we could provide him with some adaptive equipment to help him handle the chemicals in the lab.

If you were the professor in this situation, what would you say next?

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Case Responses

Select the button next to the best response. Then, click the "Answer" button to see the results.

Response 1.
Well, I don't think there's any way. No, I don't see how this could be done. I'd feel very badly if he hurt himself, or others, or damaged any of the lab's equipment. I think the "paper and pencil" idea is best, and I don't really think I'm prepared to compromise on this point. As far as a laboratory assistant goes: well, how would that be fair to other students? They don't get that kind of help.
Response 2.
Well, perhaps we could work out a partner system, where Clay could sit alongside a few of the others and kind of observe the proceedings. I mean, I don't mean "observe" with his eyes, but perhaps the others could relate verbally what was going on in their experiments. I don't favor the laboratory assistant or adaptive equipment ideas because the other students might misconstrue that as an unfair advantage.
Response 3.
Well, maybe Clay could work closely with a partner or two, and maybe we could devise a way that he could handle some of the less risky aspects of the experiments. I guess I would be open to the presence of an assistant, so long as that person didn't influence Clay to reach conclusions and so forth. I would also be open to trying some adaptive equipment, if that would help.