Towards the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities: Accessibility in Language Courses
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Towards the Inclusion of Students with Disabilities: Accessibility in Language Courses Muriel Gallego & Carey Busch
# Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015
Abstract While there is extensive research regarding the readiness of faculty members to provide accommodations for students with disabilities in higher education, less has been reported concerning the preparation of teaching assistants in faculty-like positions. The investigation reported here focused on college-level language instruction, and it expands current understanding by incorporating the perceptions of teaching assistants. A survey of higher education institutions in the United States was conducted in order to gather impressions from language program directors, teaching assistants, and Disability Services Office staff about their perceptions of the collective effort to guarantee access to students with disabilities. Results indicate a mixed-pattern; and, while accommodating language students with learning disabilities is occurring, there is still significant need for ongoing awareness-raising and training. Keywords Course Coordination . Teaching Assistants . Learning Disabilities . Equal Access . Accommodations In spite of advances made in recent decades towards providing equal access for all to higher education, many underrepresented groups (due to ethnic background, race, nationality, sexual orientation or gender identification, income, religion, and disabilities) still experience the consequences of marginalization, resulting in higher dropout rates among students who belong Muriel Gallego received her M.A. and Ph.D. from Purdue University. She is Assistant Professor of Spanish and the Language Program Director in the Department of Modern Languages at Ohio University. Her research areas include sociolinguistic, instructed language acquisition, foreign language methodology, and language TA training within the framework of social justice education. Carey Busch earned her M.Ed. in Community Counseling from Ohio University where she serves as the Assistant Dean for Student Accessibility in University College. Her interests include the transition of students with disabilities to post-secondary education and faculty outreach regarding issues of accessibility. M. Gallego Department of Modern Languages, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA e-mail: [email protected] C. Busch (*) Student Accessibility Services, Ohio University, Athens, OH, USA e-mail: [email protected]
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to those groups (Kozol, 2005). According to Pliner and Johnson (2004), students with disabilities face isolation in ways similar to students from other underrepresented groups. The National Center for Education Statistics reported that the percentage of post-secondary students with disabilities during the 2007-2008 academic year, the most recent information available, was 10.8% (Snyder & Dillow, 2012), having grown from 2.6% in 1978 and 9% in 1998 (Cook, Rumrill, & Tankersley 2009; Salzberg, Peterson, Debrand, Blair, Carsey, & Johnson 2002). While a wide variety of disabil
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