'We're not the Gods of Accommodations:' Disability Resource Professionals and Accommodation Decision-Making

In institutions of higher education, disability resource professionals (DRPs) have the responsibility of upholding compliance with federal legislation regarding college students with disabilities. Specifically, DRPs are tasked with determining reasonable accommodations to ensure access to all aspect...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of college student development Vol. 64; no. 2; pp. 157 - 173
Main Authors Strimel, Morgan M, Francis, Grace L, Duke, Jodi M
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Baltimore Johns Hopkins University Press 01.03.2023
Subjects
Academic Accommodations (Disabilities)
Americans with Disabilities Act 1990-US
Autism
Autism Spectrum Disorders
Beliefs
College Students
Compliance (Legal)
Constructivism (Learning)
Data collection
Decision Making
Disability
Documentation
Educational Research
Evaluative Thinking
Family Involvement
Federal Legislation
Guidance
Handicapped accessibility
Higher education
Monolingualism
People with disabilities
Professionals
Qualitative research
Reflexivity
Social work
Special education
Student Personnel Services
Student Personnel Workers
Students with Disabilities
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Summary:In institutions of higher education, disability resource professionals (DRPs) have the responsibility of upholding compliance with federal legislation regarding college students with disabilities. Specifically, DRPs are tasked with determining reasonable accommodations to ensure access to all aspects of the campus community while simultaneously maintaining the integrity of academic programs. Despite the complexity of this role, there is limited research and guidance on how to make accommodation decisions. Further, existing guidance provides inconsistent recommendations for practice. As a result, DRPs use multiple, largely unexplored processes to determine accommodations unique to their institutional or professional discretion. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to explore how DRPs approach accommodation decision-making for college students with disabilities. DRP participants discussed factors they considered when making accommodation decisions, processes used to determine accommodations, and exceptions to these processes. The authors conclude with directions for future research and recommendations for higher education disability resources.
ISSN:0897-5264
1543-3382
1543-3382
DOI:10.1353/csd.2023.0015