I am writing from the US and am only passingly familiar the DDA, SENDA
and the Code of Practice but it is a familiar issue and I have some
practical thoughts that might be helpful and some conceptual musings.
If the lecturer is truly writing notes the night before then my guess is
that he or she is not typically giving copies to students to read but
may be putting some notes on the board during the lecture and that is
what the student will be missing. If this is the case than the only
advance time needed is for conversion and if the Lecturer can e-mail a
digital copy that could be printed out in Braille or read with adaptive
technology this student would be as prepared as everyone else.
There are lecturers, myself included, that do not lecture from
meaningful notes. I will have jotted an occasional name few key figures
or dates and sometimes a topic or two but I rarely have notes. Would it
be reasonable to ask me to change a lecture style that has been
successful for the last 20 plus years? If I put some facts and figures
on the board I would need to verbalize them and arranging a scribe/note
taker for the student might make sense but not providing notes where
none exist.
The conundrum is trying to determine if what the lecturer is presenting
about their creation and use of lecture notes is true or a pretext for
discrimination.
L. Scott Lissner, ADA Coordinator
Office Of The Provost, The Ohio State University
292-6207(v); 688-8605(tty); 688-3665(fax)
HTTP://ADA.OSU.EDU
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff.
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jackson, Elizabeth
Sent: Tuesday, November 15, 2005 11:56 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Lecture notes in advance
Hi Kate
If the student is blind or partially sighted (B or PS) and only given
the notes on the day of the lesson they will not have the same rights of
access as their sighted peers and, therefore, not be included in the
lesson - it's the same as giving a B or PS learner the handouts in
lesson, asking them to read it and then discuss with the rest of the
group. This is, ultimately, excluding the B or PS learner from
participating, which is then seen as discrimination!
Is the first time the lecturer has ever delivered the course, then I can
understand that they may have anything prepared, although this is a
little unusual. If the lecturer has delivered the course before, then
there is no excuse for not having handouts or resources prepared!
Regards
Liz Jackson
Acting Regional Manager
Royal National Institute of the Blind
London & South East Regional Services
0207 391 2138 / 07789812230
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion list for disabled students and their support staff.
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Katy Mann
Sent: 15 November 2005 16:27
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Lecture notes in advance
We have a lecturer who is claiming they cannot provide lecture notes in
advance for students with disabilities as they only prepare the lecture
the night before and therefore should not be expected to do so. My
feeling is that, with consideration to the current legislation, and in
terms of encouraging good practice, that this contravenes the notion of
a 'reasonable adjustment'
I could find no specific examples that relate directly to this within
the Code of Practice but would appreciate any advice/ feedback from
anyone else who has encountered this problem. How did you deal with it?
Many Thanks
Katy
Katy Mann
Disability Adviser
West End sites
Room CG80, Chiltern Building
University of Westminster
35 Marylebone Road
London NW1 5LS
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