Nicole Palmer
TLS 318
September 18, 2015
Assistive Technology/ Universal Design Reflection
I am currently a Special Education and Rehabilitation minor, and there are many students in this area that have disabilities of all varieties and severities. Almost every semester there is at least one student with a disability in my classes and our teachers have to accommodate for the students needs. After witnessing this first hand I have realized how unaccommodating teachers tend to be. Some teachers are great and they really want their students to learn, but others only do what they have to instead of going out of their way to ensure their students are getting the resources they need. I have found that in general when teachers use videos in class that most will find ones with captions, especially if their know that there is a student who is deaf in their class. However, some videos do not have captions, specifically old videos, and then the teacher just plays the video anyway as if trying to get a video with captions should be recognized and appreciated. If a student cannot hear the videos played in class then you cannot expect them to know that material. In my experience this was a big problem.
Another form of universal design that I have experienced is accessibility to buildings. A few people in my classes have physical disabilities in which they need an alternate way to enter and exit a building. This is because they are unable to use the stairs. However, I have noticed that most buildings on campus have alternate entrances, but they are extremely out of the way. For example, most of the wheelchair ramps and accessible doors are at the back of the building. This means that the person who is disabled has to go all the way to the back of the building just to get in. Additionally, most of the classrooms are tiered meaning there are different levels with steps for each level, but there will only be one table in the entire room that a wheel chair could fit under. This is an easy design fix as well, all that has to change would be to remove the stairs in the classroom and put in a ramp instead.
Finally, I have noticed that there are very few signs that tell anyone where he or she is going let alone brail for a person who is blind. I know from personal experience that the University of Arizona campus can be confusing. There are buildings all over the place and most of them look very similar. The signs that tell you what building you are at are located at ground level, but there is no brail on them at all. For a person who is blind to find his or her way around campus without any guidance or help is next to impossible. The easy fix to this would be to insert maps and signs with brail on them to allow people to find their way.
Some people might ask themselves what they can do to raise awareness of universal design and assistive technology and the answer is to educate! Nothing will help more than to educate those who do not know about assistive technology. It is important to have everyone on the same page in order to see a change. Have students contact their teachers at the beginning of the semester if they need accommodations. This will help the teachers to prepare for the rest of the semester. Communication is key!
Universal design seems like such a simple thing to incorporate in designs and projects, but it is often forgotten unless it directly affects us. It is important to make things accessible because this is what allows other people to function in our world. I think it would be of great benefit for every teacher to take a course on assistive technology and universal design before they start teaching in order to prepare them for situations they could very well encounter in their classroom. Having the tools and knowledge to accommodate for a student’s needs is what can make the difference in that child’s education and future.