Office for Students with Disabilities 800 Florida Ave, Washington DC 20002 Assuring Access for Deaf Students with Multiple Disabilities in Practice Patricia

Office for Students with Disabilities

800 Florida Ave, Washington DC 20002

Assuring Access for Deaf Studentswith Multiple Disabilities in

Practice

Patricia Tesar & Jeffrey ShaumeyerOffice for Students with Disabilities

Gallaudet University


800 Florida Ave, Washington DC 20002Gallaudet’s Mission

StatementGallaudet University, federally chartered in 1864, is a bilingual, diverse, multicultural

institution of higher education that ensures the intellectual and professional

advancement of deaf and hard of hearing individuals through American Sign Language

and English.


800 Florida Ave, Washington DC 20002Students with Disabilities in

Postsecondary Education (all US)

• Approximately 10% had some kind of disability; of those, roughly half have more than one disability

• Most common disabilities reported:– Depression– Attention Deficit Disorder– Mobility Impairment

Source: Thomas R. Wolarin and Patricia E. Steele, “Higher Education Opportunities for Students with Disabilities : A Primer for Policymakers”, The Institute for Higher Education Policy, June 2004.


800 Florida Ave, Washington DC 20002Comparison of

Students with DisabilitiesCollege Students Nationwide

• 8% reported a disability (in 2007—2008)

• Of those, 5.3% reported “hearing impairment” as a major disability

Gallaudet Students• OSWD serves 11% of

the student body• 92% are hearing

impaired (Deaf or Hard of Hearing)

Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, B&B: 09 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study.



• OSWD numbers: 142 (Fall 2007); 197 (Fall 2013), an increase of 39%

• Nationwide, 8.2% of university students had a disability (2009 “Baccalaureate & Beyond Longitudinal Study”, US Dept. Ed.), about 2% served by DSS offices

OSWD Students : 2007—2014OSWD Fraction of All Gallaudet

Students



OSWD 7-Year Study

• Purposes:– Go beyond opinions– Develop OSWD student profile– Explore retention and graduation rates– Does OSWD “level the playing field”?

• Make objective measurements of OSWD effectiveness with factual data

• 465 OSWD students from academic years 2007/08 through 2013/14



OSWD Students : 2007—2014Hearing-Status Distribution



Deaf / Hearing Students Served by OSWD, by Year



OSWDvs. Gallaudet

Student Gender

2007—2014



OSWD Students: 2007—2014Main Ethnicities



OSWD Students : 2007—2014Disability Breakdown by Type



OSWD Students : 2007—2014Disability as Fraction of Gender



OSWD Students : 2007—2014Changes in Disability Types


800 Florida Ave, Washington DC 20002Multiple Disabilities

Compositionover 1-year period 2013-2014


800 Florida Ave, Washington DC 20002Students with 2 or more

DisabilitiesOver a 1-Year Period: 2013-2014



Students withTwo Disabilities (2013-2014), Pairing

ADHD Aspereger Chronic LD MI PSY VIADHDAsperger 2Chronic 5LD 6 2 1MI 1 1PSY 6 5 1 1VI 3 2 1


800 Florida Ave, Washington DC 20002OSWD Undergraduates (344

total),Final Status 2007—2014



2013 – 2014 Student Survey : Services

Most Used Services•Special Testing (35%)•Note Taking (27%)•Disability Counseling (18%)•Extended Time (9%)•Interpreting (9%)•Alternative Print (7%)

Most Requested Services

•Testing Center (15%)•OSWD Study Area (15%)•Mentoring Program (13%)•ADHD Coaching (10%)•Academic Support Group (10%)


800 Florida Ave, Washington DC 200022014 Student Survey:

“I would benefit from these services”

No ClearPreference


800 Florida Ave, Washington DC 20002Accommodating Multiple

Disabilitiesmeans Multiple Tactics (I)

• Video as a classroom adjunct is increasingly popular– Not immediately available to visually

impaired– Few videos are captioned for hearing

impaired–What strategy for deaf-blind students?



Disabilitiesmeans Multiple Tactics (II)

• Alternative Print conflicts– Visually Impaired variously needs

Braille, large print, low-contrast print, high-contrast print, computer-based readers

– Hearing Impairment precludes recorded books, computer-based readers



Disabilitiesmeans Multiple Tactics (III)

• Testing Accommodations must address–Mobility impairments– Visual impairments– Hearing impairments– Attention-deficit disorders– Combinations of multiple disorders



Disabilitiesmeans Multiple Tactics (IV)

• Gallaudet education is officially bilingual, ASL and English, nevertheless– Deaf-blind students will require tactile

interpretation– At other institutions, ASL interpretation for

hearing impaired, spoken interpretation for visually impaired, and tactile interpretation for deaf-blind may all be called upon at times


800 Florida Ave, Washington DC 20002OSWD Retention, 7-Year

Average



OSWD Retention, Yearly



OSWD vs. Gallaudet Retention



OSWD Graduation Rate 2007 – 2014

•Students first served by OSWD as freshmen graduated, on average, in only 4.2 years•Gallaudet’s overall 6-year graduation rate is generally less than 40%

Documents

Office for Students with Disabilities 800 Florida Ave, Washington DC 20002 Assuring Access for Deaf Students with Multiple Disabilities in Practice Patricia