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

Description  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