Accommodating Students with Psychiatric Disabilities

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Accommodating Students with Psychiatric
Disabilities

• Al Souma,
• Disability Support Services
• Seattle Central Community College
• DO-IT, University of Washington

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What is Mental Illness?

• Mental illness is a term that refers collectively
  to all diagnosable mental disorders causing
  severe disturbances in thinking, feeling,
  relating and functional behaviors. These
  disorders result in substantially diminished
  capacity for coping with the ordinary demands of
  life.

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Postsecondary Students with Disabilities

• More than 400,000 students enrolled in U.S.
  postsecondary institutions report having a mental
  illness or emotional disturbance.
• (National Center for Education Statistics, 1999)

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ACCOMMODATION

• THE
• REMOVAL OF
• BARRIERS TO PARTICIPATION

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The Emphasis is on ACCESSNOT on outcome
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Laws Requiring Reasonable Accommodations

• 1973 Rehabilitation Act, Section 504
• 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act

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Symptoms of a Mental Health Problem

• Chronically missing class
• Assignments consistently late
• Extreme highs or lows in mood, anxieties
• Problem concentrating, remembering
• Marked personality change
• Confused or disorganized thinking
• Thinking or talking about suicide
• Denial of obvious problems

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Major Depression

• Mood disorder
• Depressed mood over long period
• Lack of pleasure in activities
• Thoughts of suicide
• Sleep and appetite changes
• Low self esteem
• Feeling guilty and/or worthless

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Bipolar Affective Disorder

• Previously Manic Depressive Disorder
• Mood disorder
• Revolving periods of mania and depression
• Either grandiose, euphoric, highly
  productive/creative, or depressed, withdrawn,
  hopeless

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Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

• Anxiety Disorder
• Exposure to traumatic event
• Flashbacks
• Dissociations

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Schizophrenia

• Thought Disorder
• Delusions, hallucinations, paranoia
• Difficulty with daily functional tasks
• Poor interpersonal relationships
• Concrete thought processing
• Need for structured routine

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Anxiety Disorders

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder
• Excessive worry in general
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• Consuming fixation and ritualistic behaviors
• Panic Disorder
• Overwhelming physiological event
• Social Phobias
• Incapacitating fear of social interactions
• Specific Phobias
• Intense fear of specific object, event

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Medication Side Effects

• Drowsiness
• Fatigue
• Excessive thirst
• Blurred vision
• Hand tremors
• Initiating Interpersonal contact

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Functional Limitations

• Screening out environmental Stimuli
• Sustaining concentration
• Maintaining stamina
• Handling time pressures and multi-tasks
• Interacting with others
• Fear of authority figures
• Responding to negative feedback
• Responding to change
• Severe test anxiety

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Strategies for Inclusion in College

• Teach to various learning styles--visual,
  auditory, kinesthetic
• Increase experiential learning activities
• Increase knowledge and acceptance of mental
  illness
• Be prepared to set behavioral limits
• Know campus mental health resources
• Work cooperatively with students
• Assist students with time management

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Principles of Accommodation

• Address individual needs
• Respect students desire for confidentiality
• Engage in joint problem solving
• Make all accommodations voluntary
• Review accommodations periodically
• Be flexible in enforcing policies
• Identify accommodations clearly

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Accommodations are NOT Reasonable if they...

• Pose a direct threat to the health or safety of
  others
• Make substantial changes in essential elements of
  the curriculum
• Require substantial alteration to educational
  opportunities/course objectives
• Pose undue financial or administrative burden

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Possible Classroom Accommodations

• Preferential seating, near door
• Assigned classmate as assistant
• Beverages permitted
• Prearranged or frequent breaks
• Tape recorder, note taker
• Early availability of syllabus, text
• Text, assignments in alternate formats
• Personal and private feedback

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Possible Examination Accommodations

• Change in test format
• (Written to oral and vise versa, dictation,
  scripted, typed)
• Permit use of computer software
• Exams in alternate format (portfolio, demo)
• Extended test taking time
• Individual proctoring
• Separate, quiet room for testing
• Increased test frequency.

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Possible Assignment Accommodations

• Substitute assignments in specific circumstances
• Advance notice of assignments
• Allow assignments hand written
• Written rather than oral, or vise versa
• Change format drama, role-play, sculpture
• Assignment assistance--ask
• Extensions on assignments

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Resources

• ADA American Disability Association
  (1-800-514-0303 (voice) TTY 1-800-514-0383)
• Anxiety Disorder Association of America
  (http//www.adaa.org/)
• AHEAD (http//www.ahead.org)
• Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation Sargent
  College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
  (http//WEB.bu.edu/sarpsych)
• DO-IT The Faculty Room (http//www.washington.edu/
  doit/faculty/)
• Judge Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law
  (http//www.bazelon.org/)
• Office of Civil Rights Region 10 (206-220-7900)
• National Alliance for the Mentally ill (NAMI)
  (http//www.nami.org)
• National Institute of Mental Health
  (http//www.nimh.nih.gov/)