Volume 10, Number 2
Summer 1993
- Disability Simulations As A Teaching Tool: Some Ethical Issues and Implications
- Residence Hall Students' Attitudes Toward Resident Assistants with Learning Disabilities
- Report on an International Conference on Disability in Higher Education
Disability Simulations As A Teaching Tool: Some Ethical Issues and Implications
Abstract: The paper focuses on some of the major ethical issues involved when employing disability simulations as a teaching tool in college-level courses on individuals with disabilities. These issues include: (a) the importance of maximizing the authenticity of the simulation experience; (b) the need to confront situations in which the simulation experience leads to increased discouragement on the part of some student participants; (c) the necessity for faculty members to recognize and fulfill various obligations to students, to the host institution, and to the larger community if disability simulations are conducted as required course exercises; and (d) the need to convince students of the relevance of disability simulations to their own lives, and to the larger society. The substance of the paper is derived mainly from personal reflections of the author regarding his experiences in conducting disability simulation exercises in college-level courses dealing with people with disabilities and disability-related issues.
Achievement-Related Beliefs of College Students with Disabilities
Ron Nelson, Deborah J. Smith, Valerie Appleton, and Karen Raver
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to create a descriptive account of the factors college students with disabilities view as important to their academic success. Thirty-six college students with disabilities receiving services from a northwestern university's Disabled Student Services Office were asked to describe the basis of their academic success or failure. An ethnographic open-ended interviewing technique was employed to allow the students to describe their academic performance and the experiences the considered important in their own terms. In addition to psychological belief factors, the participants in this study assessed their performance in terms of the supportiveness of family, faculty, and students with whom they worked. The implications of these results for university programs for students with disabilities are discussed.
Residence Hall Students' Attitudes Toward Resident Assistants with Learning Disabilities
Abstract: The degree of attitude change of college students living in residence halls toward peers with learning disabilities (LD) serving as resident assistants (RAs) was investigated. This longitudinal study involved 45 traditional-aged undergraduate students and 24 RAs. Farrell and Harckham -s (1988) instrument for assessing attitude toward college students with LD was used. After one semester of interaction with RAs with LD, RA attitudes toward peers with LD remained favorable, and student attitudes became more favorable.
Report on an International Conference on Disability in Higher Education
Abstract: A report on an international conference of disability service providers in higher education was held July 10-13, 1992 at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. Fifty delegates from 15 countries attended the conference, including a number of professionals who have disabilities. The conference represented a first step in establishing an international network of service providers and laid the groundwork for a similar future gathering.
