Advising Students With Disabilities: How To Recognize & Respond Effectively To Various Sub-Populations

Key Takeaway  Participants will learn how to be more effective when advising students with disabilities; i.e., how to recognize and respond effectively to the special needs of these students in order to maximize their potential for success. Challenge Far too many students with disabilities enter college but do not persist in attaining their degrees. Identifying the needs of these fully capable college students as early as possible and providing them with the personalized advising services they need contributes directly to the continued viability of today’s colleges and universities. Students with disabilities bring a dimension to our campuses that contributes to overall diversity; their presence enhances the educational experience for everyone.  Overview “Advisors should not be intimidated by the thought of offering reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities during the advising process, as these are oftentimes minimal modifications which come about quite naturally during the advising process. Academic advisors aware that their advisees receive classroom accommodations should take the time to transfer and apply those accommodations to the advising process. In other cases, when the advisee with a disability has not self-disclosed accommodations, the advisor should inquire of the advisee, just as they would any advisee, “What specific needs do you have? How can we work together to ensure that the advising process is effective for you?” By asking these questions, an inclusive relational foundation is laid for advisor-advisee rapport.”-- Nikki Allen Dyer (NACADA)“The degree of success that students with disabilities experience is, in part, predicated on the quality of academic advisement. Prior to the college experience, most individuals with disabilities function in regimented, extrinsically controlled, highly supportive environments. Transition into higher education settings presents a new set of challenges. Students are expected to function autonomously, meet higher academic standards, maintain a balance between personal freedom and obligations, glean vast amounts of information from various sources, and, generally, function independently.”-- Tracy M. Knight (Syracuse University)“It is especially important for advisors to keep in mind that each individual is unique and that the handicapping condition is only one aspect of the person's total situation. It is also important for advisors to understand that, although a person may have a disability in a given area, this does not mean that the person cannot perform adequately in that area. It simply alerts the advisor to the fact that this student will require more time and different strategies to complete the task. This is why good advisement is essential to the success of students with disabilities.”-- Ithaca College Student Accessibility ServicesIn this interactive webinar, we will explore the characteristics of students with disabilities from a variety of different student populations, discuss the advising challenges inherent to each subgroup as well as how to overcome them and provide evidence-based best practices for retaining these students to graduation. We will also explain the various roles that all members of the campus community can play in responding to the advising needs of students with disabilities and we'll examine successful programs and initiatives from across the nation that are currently being used to respond effectively and cost-efficiently to the advising needs of students with disabilities – and how these programs and initiatives can be adapted to a variety of higher education environments. Equal emphasis will be placed on helping both institutions, as well as individual students, achieve their mutually-complementary objective: graduation and job placement. Objectives Review the general characteristics of students with disabilities, with an emphasis on their advising needs Review the general characteristics of students with disabilities from various subpopulations including first generation, veteran, minority, LGBTQIA, rural, urban and suburban, lower socioeconomic, transfer, international, immigrant, and nontraditional Investigate the role of leadership in identifying and responding to the advising needs of students with disabilities. Conduct a needs analysis to determine how well their institution is doing at identifying and responding to the advising needs of students with disabilities Discuss what can be done before students with disabilities arrive on campus, including how to partner with elementary and secondary schools to achieve the best possible outcome for these students with respect to their advising needs Assess and anticipate the evolving advising needs of students with disabilities with respect to academic preparation, social integration, mental and emotional health considerations, and financial support Investigate the available platforms and applications that can be used to facilitate the process of advising students with disabilities from various populations Explore evidence-based best practices in coordinating comprehensive retention initiatives related to academic advising for students with disabilities Examine mechanisms for keeping everyone at the institution on the same page with respect to meeting the advising needs of students with disabilities Critique real-life examples of effective and ineffective ways of responding to the advising needs of students with disabilities Who Should Attend 2-year & 4-year institutions Academic Affairs/Instruction Student Services/Affairs Faculty (full and part-time) Advising & Counseling Retention Specialist Diversity Directors/Specialists Disability Services Student Life Any educator interested in learning more about understanding & serving students with disabilities Presenter Information “Having the capacity to quickly identify and respond to the unique advising needs of college students with disabilities is becoming a critical concern on many campuses. The traditional strategies for recognizing who these students are no longer as viable as they once were. What we need is a new model for meeting the advising needs of students with disabilities, one that will facilitate intervention as early as possible and allow us to make the necessary curricular adjustments so that these students can realize their full potential. Please join me as I provide a roadmap that employs evidence-based best practices for advising students with disabilities.” Dr. Aaron W. Hughey is a Professor in the Department of Counseling and Student Affairs at Western Kentucky University, where he oversees the graduate degree program in Student Affairs in Higher Education. Before joining the faculty in 1991, he spent 10 years in progressive administrative positions, including five years as the Associate Director of University Housing at WKU. He was also head of the department of Counseling and Student Affairs for five years before returning to the faculty full-time in 2008. Dr. Hughey has degrees from the University of Tennessee at Martin, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Western Kentucky University, and Northern Illinois University. He has authored (or co-authored) over 60 refereed publications on a wide range of issues including leadership and student development, standardized testing, diversity, legal issues (including compliance), technology, and educational administration. He regularly presents at national and international conferences and consults extensively with companies and schools. He also provides training and professional development programs on a variety of topics centered on student success; successful academic advising with special populations is one of his specialties.