Equity
for Students with disabilities and
impairments
Goals of Equity
 To treat students with a disability or
impairment fairly WITHOUT giving them an
unfair advantage.
 To remove barriers to particpation.
 To give students with disabilities and
impairments an equal chance of success or
failure.
Discrimination:
Doing too little
EQUITY
Discrimination:
Doing too much
What is Equity?
Alternative Assessments: reader/writers, supervisors, additional time, separate rooms,
ergonomic furniture, adaptive technologies, accessible formats
Adaptive Technology: dictation software, text-voice software, screen magnification and
reading software, dictaphones, ergonomic furniture, ergonomic computer accessories, FM
hearing systems, magnifiers
Support people (1:1 and small groups): notetakers, study support, interpreters,
behavioural support people, reader/writers, supervisors, workshop assistants
Flexible teaching
Accessible formats: braille, electronic files, enlarged print, audio tapes, adaptive
technologies and software
Accessible campus
Advocacy
What is NOT Equity?
Too much help
Too little help
The student can’t possibly do that
The student makes me uncomfortable
That poor student . . .
What disability? Hidden disabilities such
as mental health, cancer, chronic pain and
fatigue, head injury
Give the student a break—they are
disabled
Do it for them—it is easier
Why do we sometimes overcompensate? Sometimes out of a sense of guilt or
to make us feel that “I helped a student in need”. Giving an unfair advantage to a student with a
disability is nearly as bad as refusing a legitimate request for an accommodation.
What can the end result be of overcompensation? If you do not use the same standards to
evaluate a student’s performance, they can develop unrealistic impressions of their talents and
abilities. Students with disabilities are entitled to the same feedback, criticism, and good or bad
grades as anyone else. By overcompensating, you are making life easier in the short term and
much more difficult in the long run.