7 Accommodation of Visually Impaired Students

By Océanne Comtois

Background

These considerations were drafted after consulting with 3 other visually impaired students, including myself. These students had all studied or are currently studying biological science programs at various academic institutions. Individual meetings were held where students were asked to answer the questions outlined below and responses have been summarized below.

“What do you wish your instructor knew when you started?”

Visually impaired students want to participate in lab activities and are eager to do so, they just need to know how they can participate and be able to work around certain limitations. Please always keep in mind that visually impaired students may be just as frustrated and anxious about navigating a teaching lab as you (the instructor or TA) might be. Unfortunately, there exist very few resources to guide visually impaired individuals within a lab environment.  Although the list of approved accommodations should extend to include laboratory courses, the lab is such a unique environment that special accommodations will be required beyond those necessary in a traditional classroom or lecture hall, and it’s difficult to determine in advance what will be needed when learning new techniques. Flexibility is extremely important.

The instructor’s attitude towards a student and their disability will impact a student’s attitude in the course, and will determine whether the student feels comfortable discussing accommodations with the instructor. A welcoming environment makes a huge difference. Always keeps in mind that visually impaired students are aware of their limitations and want to feel encouraged and welcomed in the lab.

“What can instructors who teach lab courses do to better support students moving forward?”

• When students reach out with an accommodation letter or disclose their disability, respond to them and offer to discuss how you can accommodate them in the lab.
• When having discussions about how to accommodate a student, instructors should prepare a list of activities that will be required in the course. This list should comprise of technical skills that will be required, equipment that will be used, and how students will be evaluated.
• Instructors could be more open to being flexible with their assignments and marking schemes. If a student has approached the instructor about their limitations, these limitations should be taken into consideration when evaluating and grading the student.
• Instructors should realize that not every student has the same accommodations and what might have worked for one student may not work for another student.
• Instructors could let visually impaired students partner up in groups of three rather than the traditional group of two. This can remove pressure from the student and allow them to contribute while allowing their partners to take on the tasks the student is uncomfortable performing.
• Instructors can post their educational material or privately send it to the student ahead of time.
• Instructors can make sure that they can distribute an accessible version of their documents upon request.
• When giving a demonstration, allow visually impaired students to get closer to the demonstration, brief them on the demonstration after they’ve presented to the group, or give them a set of clear written instructions.
• Instructors should not disclose the students’ visual impairment to a group and should refrain from publicly singling out the student.

“What can your faculty administration do, or instructors advocate for the administration to do to better support students with disabilities in the lab?”

• Creating a teacher’s assistant training program to help TAs (who arguably have a more direct relationship with the students in the lab) to better understand how to help students with disabilities in the lab and how to interact with students with disabilities.
• Allowing students to bring an assistant in the lab to help execute tasks they may not be able to complete on their own. This assistant would follow directions given by the student and would have lab experience to be able to perform the tasks according to the directions given by the visually impaired student.
• Implementing principles of universal design when creating or updating laboratory spaces. Universal design benefits everyone.
• Include or update an accessibility statement in the syllabus to encourage students to reach out to the disability services office and encourage them to share their accommodations with their professors.
• Find ways to encourage and incentivize students with disabilities to pursue extracurricular research opportunities.