Certified Course

Module 1: Legal Obligations and Opportunities!

• Learn how Section 504 and the ADA apply to higher education.
• Understand the definition of key terms, including 'person with a disability' and 'otherwise qualified.'
• Explore the circumstances under which an accommodation would not be reasonable.
• Differentiate between institutional responsibilities/rights, and student responsibilities/rights in implementing 504/ADA.
• Learn how implementation changes and expands with new populations/new technology; examples of students with Autism, service/support animals, new technologies and online learning.

Module 2: The Impact of Disability

• Learn how the concept of functional limitations is more important than disability diagnosis in determining need/accommodation.
• Explore the impact of vision, hearing, and speech disabilities on classroom and educational pursuits.
• Understand the implications of significant mobility and health impairments both in and out of the classroom.
• Learn how the functional limitations of LD/ADHD can create barriers to traditional academic and co-curricular activities.
• Understand the barriers faced by students with psychological disabilities and appropriate response to their needs.

Module 3: The Accommodation Process

• Learn the important distinction between accommodations provided for access and services that support student success.
• Understand how documentation of the student's functional limitations provides a blueprint for accommodation.
• Determine the nature and scope of responsibility for assigning and facilitating accommodations in your environment.
• Practice creative problem solving in devising unusual solutions to accommodation challenges.
• Understand how the concept of Universal Design provides a healthier blueprint for the successful inclusion of students with disabilities.

Module 4: What Is MY Role?

• Recognize how perceptions of traditional roles and practitioners can limit opportunities for students with disabilities.
• Differentiate between appropriate questions for pre and post admissions conversations regarding the student's disability.
• Learn the basic principles guiding development of legally defensible technical standards.
• Learn how to separate honest responses from pre established biases regarding the abilities of people with disabilities.
• Understand the limits of the Admissions representative's purview legally and under institutional policy.