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Faculty Resources

Disability Information, Classroom Tips and Accommodations

Disabilities many shapes and forms and can include visual, auditory, speech, psychological, physical, health and/or learning. Therefore, appropriate accommodations and support services will depend on the documented type and severity of the disability.

Advising Students with Disabilities

When advising students for registration, you may or may not be aware that the student has a disability. The following tips could benefit any student that you are advising, but may be particularly beneficial to a student who has a disability.

  • Ask the student what type of schedule or class causes them the most difficulty.
  • Encourage students to describe their perceived strengths and weaknesses.
  • Avoid back-to-back classes or long classes (such as evening courses) for students who need time to process information or who have difficulty maintaining attention.
  • Schedule a variety of required and elective courses each semester.
  • Steer students toward classes that might have lower enrollment so that students can have more individual attention from instructors.
  • If a student discloses a disability, refer the student to the Counselor/Coordinator of Student Accommodations to obtain information regarding accommodations.

Testing Accommodations

Please note that it is the student’s responsibility to discuss testing accommodations with the instructor. After the student verifies his or her wish to take advantage of testing accommodations, this is the usual procedure. Any variations in this procedure should be agreed upon by the instructor and student.

  1. Instructors may deliver tests to the Director of the Tutoring & Testing Center (Office: WH-041 inside WH-130) or tests may be mailed to Lake Land College, Tutoring & Testing Center, 5001 Lake Land Blvd, Mattoon, IL 61938. The director can be reached by phone at 217-234-5287.
  2. Tests are logged in and kept in a locked file until time to be proctored. The proctor must sign the log in order to remove a test from the file.
  3. It is the student’s responsibility to visit the Tutoring & Testing Center and schedule a time to take the test. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that a test can be given at the exact time the test is being administered to the rest of the class.
  4. It is the proctor’s responsibility to return the test to the instructor or his/her administrative assistant immediately upon completion. On campus, this is done in person. Off campus tests are returned to the instructor by mail.

Tutors never serve as proctors or readers for students they are tutoring; nor do tutors proctor tests in their own subject areas.

Referral Form

If you believe that a student who is currently enrolled in one of your courses would benefit from and be eligible for accommodations for students with disabilities, please refer the student to the Counselor/Coordinator of Student Accommodations. To issue an alert from Navigate, log-in to Staff Home or Professor Home, select Issue an Alert from the Actions pane. A dialog then prompts you to search for the student you want to issue the alert for, and select Student Accommodations Needed as the reason for the alert.

Upon receiving a referral, the Counselor/Coordinator of Student Accommodations will contact the student and encourage the student to make an appointment. During the appointment, the counselor and student will discuss the concern of the referral and the counselor will provide appropriate assistance.

Student Progress Report

Each semester, the Counselor/Coordinator of Student Accommodations requests from each instructor a midterm progress report on students who are registered with the Office of Student Accommodations. Upon receiving a progress report, the Counselor/Coordinator of Student Accommodations contacts those students who are experiencing difficulty in a particular class and encourages these students to make an appointment to discuss opportunities to improve their academic performance.

If you are concerned about the progress of a student registered with our office at any other time during the semester, please complete a Student Progress Report and return it to the Counselor/Coordinator of Student Accommodations. The Counselor/Coordinator of Student Accommodations will contact the student and encourage him or her to make an appointment to discuss the area of concern.