Accessibility professionals are increasingly called upon to make nuanced, individualized decisions about accommodations and supports for students with disability-related learning needs. This presentation offers a practical framework for approaching these decisions with clarity, consistency, and evidence-based rationale. Attendees will gain an appreciation for common disability-related functional impairments in the context of a student’s specific academic program, determine whether those impairments are changeable (and thus may benefit from intervention) or static (requiring accommodation), and link those impairments to appropriate support strategies.

Key Takeaways 

• Appreciate common disability-related functional impairments relevant to academic demands in specific post-secondary programs.

• Differentiate between functional impairments that are static and best addressed through accommodations, and those that are potentially changeable through interventions.

• Apply a structured framework to link functional impairments to appropriate, evidence-based accommodations and/or interventions.