Types Of Accommodations Research Articles

Managing Activity Difficulties at Home: A Survey of Medicare Beneficiaries

Dudgeon BJ, Hoffman JM, Ciol MA, Shumway-Cook A, Yorkston KM, Chan L. Managing activity difficulties at home: a survey of Medicare beneficiaries. Objective To describe assistance from helpers and use of assistive technology and environmental modification by community-dwelling people with difficulties in activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). Design Cross-sectional study using the 2004 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey. Setting Community. Participants Nationally representative sample of 14,500 Medicare beneficiaries (mean age, 71.5y; 55% female; 49% currently married; 68% living with others; 84% white). Interventions Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures Self-reported difficulty with ADLs and IADLs; uses of help, assistive technology, and/or environmental modification. Results Difficulties were reported most frequently for heavy housework, walking, and shopping; money management, shopping, and light housework were reported as activities most often needing a helper. Walking, bathing, and toileting were activities most often needing uses of assistive technology. Bathroom modifications were the most commonly reported environmental modification. Results from a logistic regression showed that advancing age was the primary factor associated with increasing use of helpers and assistive technology or both for difficult activities. Conclusions Uses of helpers, assistive technology, and environmental modification are common but vary by type of ADL and/or IADL and age. Focused studies regarding uses of help and access to assistive technology and environmental modification appear needed to support community living. Public education about methods and types of accommodations appears needed and may substitute for or augment guidance from care providers.

Predictors of Workplace Accommodations for Employees With Mobility-Related Disabilities

Our understanding of reasonable accommodations in the workplace is incomplete. Frequently, research on disability either neglects issues of accommodation or examines the receipt of any accommodation, without specifying type. However, people with disabilities need specific accommodations, not any accommodation. This article uses comprehensive models to test the predictors of four types of accommodations received by employees with mobility-related disabilities. Overall, the results show that different factors predicted receipt of different types of accommodations. Furthermore, factors that facilitate or constrain an employer's capacity to make particular accommodations were more powerful predictors than an individual's need for accommodation or socioeconomic status.

Do Proper Accommodation Assignments Make a Difference? Examining the Impact of Improved Decision Making on Scores for English Language Learners

Does it matter if students are appropriately assigned to test accommodations? Using a randomized method, this study found that individual students assigned accommodations keyed to their particular needs were significantly more efficacious for English language learners (ELLs) and that little difference was reported between students receiving incomplete or not recommended accommodations and no accommodations whatsoever. A sample of third and fourth grade ELLs in South Carolina (N = 272) were randomly assigned to various types of test accommodations on a mathematics assessment. Results indicated that those students who received the appropriate test accommodations, as recommended by a version of a computerized accommodation taxonomy for ELLs (the selection taxonomy for English language learners accommodations; STELLA), had significantly higher test scores than ELLs who received no accommodations or those who received incomplete or not recommended accommodation packages. Additionally, students who were given no test accommodations scored no differently than those students that received accommodation packages that were incomplete or not recommended, given the students' particular needs and challenges. These findings are important in light of research and anecdotal reports that suggest a general lack of systematicity in the current system of assigning accommodations and a tendency to give all available accommodations regardless of individual child characteristics. The results also have important implications for how future accommodation research should be structured to determine the benefits of particular accommodations and accommodation packages. This study would suggest that control and treatment groups should be assembled based on specific student needs in order for direct comparisons to be made.

Accommodations Use for Statewide Standardized Assessments: Prevalence and Recommendations for Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

The Second Annual National Survey on Assessments and Accommodations for Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing investigated the types of testing accommodations used on 2004-2005 statewide standardized assessments as well as recommendations for best practices. A total of 444 participants who served over 9,000 students as teachers, administrators, or other educational professionals responded to the survey. The most widely used accommodations were small-group testing, interpreting test directions, and extended time. With the exception of interpreting or reading test items aloud, accommodations were largely used for both reading and math assessments. Participants perceived all listed accommodations as both valid and easy to use. Participants recommended that student academic level, communication mode, and additional disabilities be taken into account when choosing accommodations for students who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Use of accommodations for valued life activities: Prevalence and effects on disability scores

To describe the prevalence of using 4 specific behavioral accommodations (assistive devices, personal assistance, limits on the amount or kind of activities, and taking more time to perform activities) in the performance of valued life activities (VLAs), and to examine the impact of accounting for these accommodations on VLA disability scores. Data were from a panel study of 467 individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) interviewed annually by telephone. VLA disability was assessed using a 29-item scale, rating difficulty performing each activity and asking whether the 4 types of accommodations were used. An unadjusted difficulty score based solely on difficulty ratings was calculated, as well as 3 adjusted scores accounting for use of assistance or devices, use of assistance, devices, or limitations in activities, and use of all 4 accommodations. Accommodations were widely used by individuals with RA to perform daily activities. Limits and more time were used for more activities than assistance and devices. Adjustment for accommodations produced substantial increases in disability scores (e.g., the mean total VLA difficulty score increased by 84% after adjustment for all 4 accommodations). The accommodations included on the Health Assessment Questionnaire, the most commonly used measure of functioning for RA, include only assistive devices and personal assistance, which were not the accommodations most frequently used in our sample. If assessments are intended to estimate total disease burden, they should include use of a broader range of accommodations to develop a more complete picture of how daily function is affected.

Women's experiences of developing musculoskeletal diseases: Employment challenges and policy recommendations

Purpose. To answer three specific questions: (i) How do women experience the workplace after the onset of a musculoskeletal disease; (ii) What employment policy and programme suggestions can they offer for ways to better support chronically ill women in their abilities to maintain workforce participation; and (iii) How are these women's employment policy and programme recommendations informed by their own lived experiences and desires?Method. In-depth interviews were conducted with 18 women who had developed musculoskeletal diseases while involved in the labour market. Data were coded and analysed thematically.Results. Participants identified three common workplace barriers experienced and three types of workplace accommodations commonly requested. They offered four specific employment policy and programme recommendations for ways to better support women who develop musculoskeletal diseases in maintaining labour market participation. It is found that their employment policy and programme recommendations are informed by their own experiences in the workplace and desires for being supported in maintaining involvement in paid labour.Conclusions. Creating employment programmes and policies that support chronically ill women in their attempts to remain involved in the workforce based on how much paid labour they are able to perform and where they are best able to work is of the utmost importance.

A Review of Exam Accommodations for Dental Students with Disabilities

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the extent to which testing accommodations are granted for students with disabilities in the dental predoctoral and doctoral settings. The investigator aimed to examine both the types of accommodations granted and estimate the number of students seeking accommodations due to a physical or learning disability. To address the research purpose, surveys were sent to the ADA and to each of the ten independent state and four regional dental licensing boards. During the five-year study period (1998-2003), there were 508 requests for accommodations on the Dental Admission Test (DAT) from 49,211 applicants (1.03 percent), 235 accommodation requests for the National Board Dental Examination, Part I from 54,750 applicants (0.43 percent), and 150 accommodation requests for the National Board Dental Examination, Part II from among 40,412 applicants (0.37 percent). Three of the fourteen U.S. licensing agencies (21.4 percent) kept no records, and eleven (78.6 percent) maintained some records. Unfortunately, a rigorous analysis of the impact that the Americans with Disabilities Act has had on standardized testing in dental education cannot be completed because of a lack of data available from the testing agencies.

Promoting Independence for Wheelchair Users: The Role of Home Accommodations

The objective of this research is to investigate whether home accommodations influence the amount of human help provided to a nationally representative sample of adults who use wheelchairs. We analyzed data from the Adult Disability Follow-back Survey (DFS), Phase II, of the Disability Supplement to the 1994-1995 National Health Interview Surveys (NHIS-D). The analytic sample consisted of 899 adults aged 18 and older who reported using wheelchairs in the previous 2 weeks. We conducted logistic regression and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analyses to test the influence of home accommodations on the receipt of any human help, and among respondents who received help, on the hours of help received, respectively. We analyzed paid and unpaid help separately. Home accommodations were related to the receipt of unpaid, but not paid, help. Relative to having no home accommodations, the presence of each additional accommodation decreased the odds of having unpaid help by 14% (OR =.86; 95% CI =.76,.97). Additionally, we observed an inverse relationship between the number of accommodations in the home and hours of unpaid help (p <.01). For wheelchair users who live alone, specific types of home accommodations were also inversely related to hours of unpaid help. Policies that reimburse for home accommodations may be an efficient response to the growing demand for home-care support while enabling greater autonomy and independence for people who use wheelchairs.

How accommodations affect the duration of post-injury employment spells

I examine the effects of accommodations on the duration of employment spells using a sample of workers reentering the work force after an occupational injury. Unlike previous research, I analyze the post-injury employment history, i.e., more than one employment spell. The results indicate that accommodations have a smaller effect on employment duration than previous studies for workers who have not left their jobs. In addition, only certain types of accommodations, flexible work schedules and modified workplaces, are associated with significant increases in employment duration. The implications of these estimates for disability policy are also briefly discussed.

The Political Marketplace of Religion

The law of the religion clauses is primarily a judicial exercise in mediating the inherent conflict between the clauses, for some accommodations of religion are required by the free exercise clause and other accommodations of religion are prohibited by the establishment clause. Judicial mediation of this tension will produce one of four distinctive patterns, each characterized by the relative degree of deference the judiciary displays toward legislative judgments of appropriate accommodation that are claimed to offend the free exercise clause, the establishment clause, or both. Judicial primacy is the pattern in which the Court displays the least deference toward legislative judgments of religious accommodation, by means of robust enforcement of both clauses. Legislative primacy is the polar opposite of judicial primacy. Under legislative primacy the Court defers to legislative judgments of religious accommodation by lax enforcement of both clauses. Judicial secularism is a pattern by which the Court vigorously enforces the establishment clause and loosely enforces the free exercise clause, thus restricting the ability of legislatures to decide when to accommodate religion without violating the establishment clause, but leaving them with relatively greater freedom to decide whether or not to accommodate religious conduct. Judicial accommodation is a pattern by which the Court energetically enforces the free exercise clause to require many accommodations of religious conduct, but is less willing to strike down other types of accommodations that allegedly violate the establishment clause. The result of judicial accommodation is that legislatures are given considerable freedom to accommodate religion without violating the establishment clause, but are required to accommodate religious conduct. When the law of the religion clauses began to develop in earnest in the middle of the twentieth century it developed toward the judicial primacy pattern, but as the century, waned and turned the millenial milepost the law of the religion clauses has begun to assume the shape of legislative primacy. This change has been influenced by political and cultural changes. The de facto Protestant establishment that persisted from the nation's beginning to the twentieth century collapsed by mid-century and in its wake a new coalition of religious and secular allies began to press for broader governmental assistance to religion. At the same time the age of modernity - the Enlightenment commitment to rationalism as the avenue to truth, which had replaced the medieval commitment to religious faith - began to be undermined by post-modernism, the belief that there are no universal truths. Modernity had posed a conflict between two competing explanations of truth; post-modernism accepts that no account can be known to be true. The paradoxical result is that religion has been freed from the margins to which modernity had consigned it. Moreover, much of traditional religion has been replaced by a distinctively post-modern spirituality, a preoccupation with self-understanding that borrows eclectically from many ways of apprehending transcendent reality, both religious and secular. The resulting religious pluralism has increased the pressure upon political actors to accommodate a variety of religions and, simultaneously, made imperative the need to avoid compelling governments to accommodate the limitless variety of conduct that may be the product of religious belief. Legislative primacy produces both behavioral and doctrinal effects. The principal behavioral effect is to encourage a political marketplace of religion, in which religious and secular actors engage in rent seeking in the form of government benefits to religion. Benefits, however, can come in the form of favors bestowed on any given rent seeker or burdens placed on rival rent seekers. By-products of religious rent seeking include increased proselytizing, because successful proselytizers will secure an advantage in religious rent seeking, and increased contentiousness concerning the proper role of religion in public life. The likely doctrinal effects of legislative primacy include the terminal irrelevance of Lemon, increased emphasis on non-discrimination between religious groups, a sharper conflict between the competing endorsement and coercion tests for detecting establishment clause violations, and a heightened judicial focus upon the legislative purpose underlying ostensibly neutral measures that deliver religious effects. While it is too soon to know whether legislative primacy will ameliorate or exacerbate religious conflict; it is not too soon to declare that we are entering a new era of the law of the religion clauses. Perhaps the metaphysics of post-modernism will produce sufficient religious toleration that the political dynamic of religious rent seeking will moderate, and the result will be an increase in aggregate preference satisfaction without destabilizing side effects. But it is also possible that the mixture of extreme religious pluralism, post-modern uncertainty, and religious rent seeking will prove to be a volatile mixture.

Assisted Living in Rural America: Results From a National Survey

Expanding the availability of long-term care (LTC) services and making them more responsive to consumer preferences is an important goal, particularly for elderly people living in rural areas who tend to be older and have greater functional limitations but less access to the range of LTC options available in metropolitan areas. One option that has been growing in popularity is assisted-living facilities (ALFs). This paper describes rural ALFs and compares them with metropolitan ALFs. Data were collected using a multistage sample design that yielded a nationally representative sample of ALFs. Telephone interviews were completed with administrators of 1,251 ALFs in 1998. Nationwide, assisted living was largely administered by private payment, and there was an undersupply in rural areas. Compared with metropolitan ALFs, rural ALFs were smaller and less likely to offer the types of services and accommodations associated with the philosophy of assisted living. They were more likely to offer accommodations with little privacy, and while similar in the services they offered, rural ALFs were less likely to have nurses on staff, particularly licensed practical nurses. Moreover, they were less likely to offer a combination of high services and high privacy. Finally, rural ALFs charged lower prices than urban ALFs; however, the average price was still unaffordable for most elderly rural residents. These findings suggest that assisted living, as currently structured, will make only a marginal contribution to meeting the needs of frail elders in rural areas.

Research and case study findings in the area of workplace accommodations including provisions for assistive technology: A literature review

People with disabilities work in a variety of environments and accommodations in these environments enable them to enter and remain in the workplace. A literature review was conducted looking at workplace accommodations including provisions for assistive technology and the following themes in accommodation were identified: 1) types of accommodations recommended, 2) people receiving provisions for accommodation, and 3) methods of reporting accommodation in the literature. Computer technologies for people with musculoskeletal limitations were the most prevalent provisions reported. Multi subject studies tend to focus on general themes of workplace accommodations, however the specific barriers and solutions found in case studies is important to clinicians and developers of new technologies. A need exists to identify themes of specific barriers to job placement along with the associated facilitators that contribute to successful employment for individuals with disabilities so workplace accommodations priorities for future projects addressing job outcomes for people with disabilities can be determined.

Views of People with Intellectual Disabilities of Their Present and Future Living Arrangements

Abstract To determine personal perceptions and preferences of present and potential living arrangements, 180 adults with intellectual disabilities were recruited to participate in 20 focus groups held across Northern Ireland. About half were living with family carers and the balance in a range of other types of accommodations. Verbal probing and video clips were used to elicit views on four different living options (residential homes, small group homes, supported living, and living with a nonrelated family). Four personal preference themes emerged that were common to all participants irrespective of where they lived: having their own bedroom, participating in household activities; having access to community activities, and maintaining contact with family and friends. Adults living on their own or in supported housing valued their independence and having access to support staff, whereas adults living in residential homes spoke of the importance of relationships with co‐residents and staff. Overall, most of the adults were content with their present situation, although small group homes and supported living arrangements were the most popular alternatives to living with their families. The discussion group process was useful in eliciting comments and offering participants a chance to reflect on their personal perceptions of housing options. Overall, the findings point to the need for greater consideration of personal preferences in home option choice‐making by housing and services providers.

From functional integration to structural readjustment: Taipei–Beijing relations and the role of the United States

Regardless of the continued stalemate in the political arena, trade and economic interactions between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have increased steadily. Both aggregate data and the results of survey research have testified to the existence of functional integration of the two societies across the Taiwan Strait. In addition to functional integration, structural readjustments have also been made by political authorities both in Taipei and Beijing so as to facilitate continuity of trade and economic relations. These types of mutual accommodations include: establishing proper ‘unofficial’ agencies on both sides to serve as instruments of practical contacts and negotiation; the more flexible definition of ‘One China’ by Beijing; and the opening of ‘small links’ between Quemoy and Amoy by Taipei. Beijing's refusal to grant Taipei any official diplomatic status and Taipei's reluctance to accept the ‘One China’ principle remain major obstacles to cross‐Taiwan Strait relations. The United States will continue playing a key role in future cross‐Strait relations. Beijing seems to be content, at least temporarily, to maintain cordial relations with the United States in exchange for the latter's adherence to the ‘One China’ principle and rejection of the option of Taiwan independence. Whether Taipei will use enhanced US commitment to Taiwan's security to strike a better deal with Beijing for gradual cross‐Strait integration or to utilize increased American protection to move onto the separatist road will be affected by domestic politics in Taiwan, future US policy toward to the island, and Beijing's response to Taipei's demand for security and international recognition.

Families' Resources and Accommodations: Toddlers with Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, and Developmental Delay

Constructing and maintaining a supportable daily routine is an important task for families with young children, particularly when the child has a disability. In this study, we examined relationships between children's developmental needs, disability diagnosis, and families' resources and accommodations. Participants included families with infants or toddlers receiving early intervention services because of Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, or developmental delay. Results provide evidence that the numbers and types of families' accommodations reflect their child's developmental needs, the child's diagnosis, and family income. The usefulness of examining accommodations as one approach for understanding the ways in which families organize their lives when they have a child with a disability is discussed.

An Unfinished Journey: The Legacy of Brown and the Narrowing of the Achievement Gap

Why, Mr. Ferguson and Mr. Mehta wonder, does the achievement gap persist 50 years after Brown declared that black children must receive a truly education? THE GOOD NEWS is that the achievement gaps between racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. are smaller than they were several decades ago. bad news is that progress stopped around 1990.1 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) continues to show large differences between the average scores of blacks and Hispanics on the one hand and those of whites and Asians on the other.2 Now, half a century after Brown v. Board of Education, while progress is evident and many milestones have been achieved - especially in the area of civil rights - policy measures focused on rights, resources, and required testing for students have not achieved their full promise for raising achievement and narrowing gaps between groups of students. And it is the failure to go behind the classroom door and foster high-quality instructional practices for all students, in all classrooms, in all schools that is strongly implicated in these disappointing results. What we need today is a more determined, high-quality, research-based emphasis on improving what happens in classrooms. But before we look at just what sorts of practices we need to adopt, some historical background is in order. Historical Overview One hundred and seven years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the doctrine of but equal in Plessy v. Ferguson. conflict was over passenger accommodations on the East Louisiana Railroad. Nonetheless, the doctrine of but equal was codified in state laws governing schools and virtually all other types of public accommodations in the South, where the majority of African Americans lived. Representing an eight-person majority, Justice Henry Brown wrote the following: The object of the [14th] Amendment was undoubtedly to enforce the absolute equality of the two races before the law, but in the nature of things it could not have been intended to abolish distinctions based upon color, or to enforce social, as distinguished from political equality, or a commingling of the two races upon terms unsatisfactory to either. Half a century later, the doctrine of separate but still dominated the South, but the question being litigated was whether enforced segregation in public schools deprived black children of protection under the U.S. Constitution. On 17 May 1954, Chief Justice Earl Warren issued the Court's decision in the cases subsumed into Brown. Court's opinion granted that it might be possible with segregation to achieve equality of tangible factors - things that money can buy - but the Court rejected the idea that separate could be or that laws maintaining segregation could provide protection under the Constitution. Informed by the work of social scientists, including the black psychologist Kenneth Clark, the justices wrote the following about the harm that segregation was doing to black children: To separate them from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their in the community that may affect their and in a way unlikely ever to be undone. Thus Brown was not merely about equality of resources; it was also about children's hearts and minds and status in the community. decision struck down the doctrine of separate but equal. It was a landmark event.3 In challenging the separate-but-equal doctrine of the Jim Crow South, the plaintiffs in Brown aimed to challenge white supremacist ideology and the moral injustice of forced segregation. In addition, they hoped that giving black children access to the schools and classrooms where white children studied would help to equalize educational resources and academic outcomes. Unfortunately, implementation of the court order was exceedingly slow and limited. …

Learning Disabilities, Professionalism, and the Practice of Medical Education

The authors use the interface of learning disabilities (LDs) and medical education to explore several issues relevant to medical professionalism and the training of future physicians. First, they examine arguments given by Little (in the preceding article) that a successful suit for accommodations on a state bar exam is generalizable to LDs and medical education, and suggest ways in which this may not be true. They then explore two frameworks for understanding medical education: (1) as a process of academic achievement linked to degree attainment, and (2) as a process of professional acculturation linked to competencies. Within this dichotomy, they then explore (1) the legitimacy accorded to different types of accommodations, (2) differing meanings of a "level playing field," and (3) the legal standard of "otherwise able." They also examine the use of intermediaries (e.g., a reader) as a "leveling" strategy and how, in clinical settings, this might violate core standards of autonomous decision making. The authors investigate the nature of "technical standards" in training across medicine and nursing and find a number of differences, particularly in the intent and levels of detail of standards. Across these two domains, they observe a status hierarchy, medical hubris, and the emergence of a "right to fail" as one travels down that hierarchy. The authors also examine medicine as an undifferentiated degree and consider arguments that medical school course requirements should be unbundled. They close by insisting that medical schools have a social responsibility to shift their pedagogic gaze from identifying handicaps in individuals to understanding how the education of physicians can become, quite literally, "handicapping."

Accessibility in Rural Social Service Agencies

ABSTRACT This study explores the degree that social service agencies are aware of the ADA, the degree that agencies perceive they comply with the ADA, and the barriers these agencies face in making their services accessible. The directors of 28 randomly selected rural social service agencies in a midwestern state completed semi-structured telephone interviews. Interviews explored respondents& knowledge of the ADA, barriers rural agencies face in providing accessible services, types of accommodations they have made and degree of fit between the ADA and rural agencies. The findings suggest that while the ADA is not a significant burden for rural agencies, there is a need for enhanced training and outreach.

The Americans With Disabilities Act and Reasonable Accommodation: The View From Persons With HIV/AIDS

This study examines the application of reasonable accommodation to situations involving employees with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus or Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome. Two questions are posed. What types of accommodations are needed? How readily available is the reasonable accommodation component of the Americans With Disabilities Act? These questions are addressed through qualitative analysis. Three lessons are drawn from the findings.

Teaching Strategies that Help Learners with Different Needs

Adult learners with many different special needs are part of all areas of adult education, including GED/ABE programs, higher education, workplace training, ESL programs, and community education programs. Adult education has a long tradition of respect for the diversity of learners and the uniqueness of each learner. Recognizing the amazing range of differences among learners includes understanding the particular needs of individuals with disabilities and is a growing imperative for adult educators (Du Bois, 1998). This article considers what strategies and approaches can be used to help these individuals as well as all adult learners learn effectively in classroom settings, in one-on-one situations and online learning programs. Adult educators are challenged to experiment with the learners as partners and co-learners and to teach responsively (Brookfield, 1990). Learners with disabilities include persons with both visible and invisible disabilities, including orthopedic, health-related, hearing, sight, learning, and speech disabilities (Henderson, 1995). Persons with mental and emotional disabilities also may have a number of conditions with a range of severity. Although there is not an agreed upon definition of learning disabilities (LD), persons with LD have some difficulty in the way they receive, process, store and/or retrieve information (Ross-Gordon, 1989). Jordan (1996, 2000) provides excellent suggestions for teaching adults with learning disabilities. Because individuals may have multiple disabilities, their learning needs also may be varied and complex. Persons with the same condition may have different learning needs and require zero, limited or very substantial accommodations (Gadbow and Du Bois, 1998). To further complicate learning situations, all the other factors that make adult learners a diverse group affect persons with disabilities: differences in age, gender, ethnicity, language, culture, socioeconomic factors, geography, education, learning styles, and past experience. How can teachers or trainers meet the needs of diverse groups of adult learners with such a range of learning needs? An underlying premise is a belief that applies to all areas of adult education, and to all learners: there are many ways to learn and to demonstrate that learning has occurred. Whether in a classroom, working one-to-one with a learner or in an online learning situation, a teacher or facilitator can use strategies and approaches that may increase the learning for all. Students can become co-learners in discovering what works best for them individually and as a group. The following principles can apply to working with adult learners with disabilities, and indeed all adult learners, in classes, in one-on-one settings and in online courses: * Do not assume that you know what is needed to accommodate a learner with a particular disability: ask. Generally the learner can provide the best information on what types of accommodations, if any, are needed. As Vella (1994) suggests, let the learner become the teacher. * Some learners do not know what they do not know. Particularly in the area of assistive technologies, they often do not know there are many recently developed and improved technologies that can aid and support learning: voice recognition programs, screen readers and other computer-related technologies that permit learners with different disabilities to be able to access information and write papers. * However, appropriate training and support services are critical if the individual is to be able to use these new technologies successfully * Knowing a few key resources in the community or region or the contact person for your organization or institution who has such information is very useful when working with students who may not have contacted the appropriate service providers. Teachers and trainers do not have to become experts on these resources or strategies. …