Trying to Do the Right Thing: Faculty Attitudes toward Accommodating Students with Learning Disabilities.

Abstract

The following study explores faculty attitudes toward students with disabilities at a large research university. In the first phase of a three-year demonstration project, 14 instructional staff, including teaching assistants, faculty, and faculty serving as administrators, were interviewed to determine their informational needs and attitudes toward students with disabilities. Analysis of these narrative interviews reveals that the participants viewed learning disabilities differently from other disabilities and had questions regarding providing classroom accommodations for students with learning disabilities. This uncertainty stems from preexisting attitudes toward students in general, principles of academic freedom, and questions of the legitimacy of learning disability diagnosis. Recommendations for open discussion of faculty and student responsibilities toward teaching and learning on campus are discussed. This article explores the relationships between instructional staff and students with learning disabilities and highlights the power of preexisting attitudes to color perceptions of present events (Polkinghorne, 1988). Previous survey research of faculty attitudes toward accommodations for college students with disabilities has demonstrated that, despite limited experience with individuals with disabilities and limited knowledge of disability legislation, most faculty express a willingness to make classroom accommodations and consider teaching adaptations (Leyser, Vogel, & Wyland, 1998). Our research further explores faculty attitudes through narrative interviews. Background of the Study This research was part of the development phase of a three-year demonstration project addressing the postsecondary institutional environment for students with disabilities (Krampe & Berdine, in press). A central goal of this phase of the project was to clarify campus policies and procedures regarding students with disabilities and to determine points of conflict and informational needs relative to students with disabilities that might be addressed in a web-based resource that was the end product of the demonstration. Focused interviews were conducted to examine the attitudes and informational needs of university administration, instructional staff, and support personnel. In this article, we focus on the interviews conducted with instructional staff and their perceptions of students with learning disabilities. The instructional staff who participated in the interview study are not necessarily representative of the faculty as a whole. Because participants were recruited for their knowledge of the campus, its policies, and its students, they represent those instructors most likely to be aware of the legal requirements of reasonable accommodation and most likely to have positive attitudes toward improvements in undergraduate education. It is all the more interesting, therefore, that our interview data revealed that these instructors viewed learning disabilities differently from other disabilities and had questions regarding providing classroom accommodations for students with learning disabilities.

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