Bibliography

Students have access to computers/software in the Learning Assistance Center.

Students often desire the equipment in dorm - We would rather have it located in same facility.

Students typically acquire their own system for use in their dorm room.

Students use lab equipment with assistance from others.

Students request permission and are assisted in bringing software to computer labs for use - both personally owned software and software acquired at other agencies.

Test and homework are enlarged for our one visually impaired student.

The one machine is in the library.

Use in Computer Center

Use in Technology Access Center (TALN Project). Our college is currently looking at all services to students with disabilities. One of the services in question is "support personnel for adaptive equipment." In the investigative/decision making process - this service received a rating of "indispensable".

We have a large computer access center with twenty IBM-compatible computers designated for use by students with disabilities.

We have no residences so all equipment remains on campus.

We work with the student on an individual basis; therefore, we have no general policy.

We have tape recorder lending library.

We usually refer disabled students to nearby colleges that have facilities, equipment for disabled if they are interested in computers.

We are a non-residence school (no on-campus housing)

We have very few students in certain categories. When needed, we have been able to obtain certain equipment from State Services for the Blind or request it from the STAR program through the State of Minnesota.

We try to build their requirements into the system, then meet them as normal students.

We have only one computer in the Academic Support Center that enlarges print & it's available to students as needed.

We utilize all three methods above. We have several computer labs on campus as well as private facilities.

We have 2 computers available for students with disabilities. on campus; 2 in library in a room reserved for disabled; no special adaptations are available.

We are in process of acquiring funds and making recommendations for computer lab and equipment for disabled students

We will be moving the Learning Assistance Center to a new location where handicapped students may have more exclusive/quiet place to work.

We tried getting stations set up in areas used by all students but assistance, maintenance, and noise were all problems. Now, however, access during hours when special labs is not open is a problem.

We have 3 primary resource areas.

We have our own center with 20 computers designated for exclusive use by DS.

We have classes to teach students how to use adaptive equipment; then they move in the open labs for all students (which have same equipment).

Other Comments

A lot of (?) software for head injured

Equipment is provided as needed.

Given $ for adaptive software equipment

Government agency materials provided

In a couple of instances only so far

Material available for underprepared students (learning disabled)

Most disabled students come to our campus computer literate and with their own personal systems, often purchased by VR or their families.

No general policy - treated on individual basis since we have so few

Our University is a reactive institution & does not consider disabled student services as a priority.

Provide own equipment

Special considerations

Special arrangements considered on request

Special adaptive computer equipment is provided based on individual need.

Vista

We applied for grant money & got personal computer for one blind student (including software, etc.)

We work with VES ID to equip students

We have no policy - this is the way I would expect we'd handle it.

Worked out on individual basis
c. Indicate how desirable you think the following locations are for placing adaptive technology for disabled students. Circle the appropriate responses where

1 = undesirable and 5 = very desirable.
1 2 3 4 5 No Resp

Students with disabilities should be

given equipment/software

to take to their residence to use. 157 132 234 174 255 232

Students should use equipment/software

in special facility for

disabled students. 226 165 215 139 209 230

Disabled students should use special

equipment/software in he same

facilities used by all students 13 21 83 184 696 187

10) How significant are the following as barriers to providing computing services to disabled students on your campus?
1 2 3 4 5 No Resp
Inadequate funding. 36 43 133 212 636 124

Difficulties in coordinating efforts with

the central computing

organization and other units. 283 231 244 148 94 184

Lack of commitment/concern on the part

of the administration. 270 220 262 138 123 171

Lack of a campus committee to develop

and implement a plan. 265 180 238 180 148 173

Lack of interest of disabled students

in using computers. 359 164 258 143 89 171

Lack of expertise in selecting/supporting

special equipment and software. 247 164 239 181 152 201

Other 15 1 9 8 64 1087

No Services, No Need, or No Interest

20 - Very few disabled students or lack of disabled students

10 - No/low demand or no/low number of requests

5 - Lack of students needing devices, lack of disabled students who need computer adaptive equipment, small number needing service, no extreme need at the time, very few students who need adaptive equipment.

2 - N/a

2 - Disabled students bring their own equipment to campus.

Agencies provide services; no need to duplicate. Would be full time job to keep up with changes in special equipment.

At this time, we are unaware of any student who needs/desires adaptive computing services.

Commuter College; Students are not interested in staying on campus.

Hasn't been a major issue

Hasn't been a need, however we are currently writing grant to purchase equipment.

If we had students requiring equipment, then there would be concern.

In past 4 years, only 1 student requested adaptive equipment.

Lack of knowledge of student needs

Lack of need by disabled students for services other than those already in existence.

Lack of funding impacts personnel needed for support.

Lack of need for institution versus individual to supply.

Lack of need. Their particular disability does not require special equipment for computer use.

Lack of students needing special services

Most students own their own computers, very little need for assistance

Need is not there.

No need up to now.

No request from students. We have only one disabled student.

None of our disabled students have chosen to concentrate in this area.

Not necessary at this time

No systems for students in place at this time

No students with specific needs in this area.

No specific problems

Number of students who need to use such equipment

Primary reason - lack of request for or need for equipment - have had only 2 students with physical or visual disabilities attend in last couple of years. They did not notify us enough in advance to allow us to secure equipment.

Small number of students with higher individualized needs who have all arrived well equipped.

Students requesting needs and then being responsible

The college meets the needs of individuals as the need arises.

To the best of my knowledge, no one has raised the issue on campus in any way...

Waiting until a specific need arises rather than purchasing in anticipation.

We have very few who need adaptive devices.

We seem to have few handicapped computer users.

We have only had one visually impaired student

We have maybe 2 disabled students with mobility disabilities.

We only have a couple of disabled students and they haven't asked for assistance so we've never had to deal with the problem - and so, we have no system in place to respond to future, uncertain needs.

Space Issues

9 - Inadequate space in special facility, need space to put computers, space restrictions, space availability, space for equipment, or lack of space to put it, lack of adequate space to accommodate student needs of (1) training (2) working independently in quiet setting.

Special facility for adapted computer classes is very small

Staff Issues

5 - Lack of computer support personnel (need staff - not just equipment), lack of trained staff, lack of technical support once acquired, lack of adequate staffing, lack of personnel with time available to assist students, not enough qualified staff with time available.

2 - Lack of time to organize the service or explore equipment

Faculty development in adaptive equipment to facilitate class/home work

I do not have the knowledge necessary to answer these.

In fighting between departments

Just learning

Just taken job 2 months ago - getting up to speed

Lack of support staff & facilities to house & run the program

Lack of training in use of hardware, software, etc. -- this is a major factor -- assuming that they have trained themselves or that the campus provides training.

Lack of personnel in computing service

Lack of understanding of need by the Administration & lack of knowledge by computing faculty on adaptive equipment.

Learn with each new need

Overall knowledge of equipment and how to access!!

Time/organization

Funding Issues

3 - Funding, inadequate funding is the single most problem that we have, lack of money

Basically, largest amounts of money are being spent on structural changes to ADA.

Main problem is insufficient funding

DRS funds for individual use when might be more effective to fund our center.

"($$$$$$$$)" that's it in a nutshell - we're hurting!

Other Issues

Students demonstrating the work is absent.

Conservatism to move slowly

Students with needs are assisted as much as they require

Need a DSS program

Incompatible systems

Technology is changing too rapidly. Hard to stay aware of latest developments and latest equipment.

We've yet to start a Student Support Services Center.

11) How would you generally rate the abilities of students with the disabilities listed below to make productive use of computers when adaptive equipment is provided? 1 = very low and 5 = very high
1 2 3 4 5 No Resp

Low vision 10 37 103 226 416 392

Blind 33 41 111 194 366 439

Mobility/orthopedic disability 17 40 131 230 361 405

Learning disability 21 46 164 231 351 371
12) How much do you feel computer access can contribute to the academic success of individuals with the disabilities listed below? 1 = nothing and 5 = very much.

1 2 3 4 5 No Resp

Low vision 1 9 48 194 691 241

Blind 5 14 43 151 681 290 Mobility/orthopedic disability 1 3 70 210 650 250

Learning disability 1 14 60 205 679 225

13) Are any student or non-student employees specifically assigned to providing computing support to disabled students?
Yes 426

No 611

No Response 147
If yes, do any of these individuals have disabilities themselves?
Yes 215

No and No Response if first response is "no" 828

No Response 141
14) How would you rate your current skill in using computers? 1 = very low and 5 = very high.
1 2 3 4 5 No Resp

50 149 428 265 174 118

Additional comments
Low Demand for Services

* has never had extremely disabled students except for wheelchair persons.

* is a small, caring, Christian school. At the present time, we have one student who uses a wheelchair. We have ensured wheelchair access to all campus facilities. We are committed to providing access to handicapped students, which means we will analyze individual needs and provide the appropriate mode of access.

Although we have many students with disabilities, who do not have any adaptive equipment. At least 3 of our wheelchair students own their own equipment (obtained through agencies - DRS etc. - & in our instance "friends" help raise funds.) & we do have some math software & of course word processing that many of our special needs students use.

At this time, we have no special situations requiring special computing services.

At this time, we have not identified this as an issue.

At this time, there are no students enrolled that have made adaptive equipment a necessity - although it could be helpful in many cases.

Because we are a small community college we are just beginning to investigate technology access. The need has not been that great in the past.

Because the College is a distance education provider, we, as yet, do not know to what extent such services will be necessary. Our curricula is such that few persons with low vision or those with severe learning disabled may not find it usable as it is designed for those in the financial planning industry.

Currently, we do not have any students with visual or handicaps which prohibit use of keyboards. Students using wheelchairs are given special locations in computer classrooms/labs.

Demand for such services is minor at present. Most students have their own machines. Campus minimally computerized.

Disabled students provide their own computers - We currently have only 1 disabled student.

I presently coordinate academic support services for students with learning disabilities. A few of these students use one of our computers and word processing programs to type exams. Next year, I will be responsible for providing academic support services for all students with disabilities. I may find the need for adaptive computing devices at that time. To my knowledge no student has expressed a need for this type of equipment at the present time. Should the need arise, we would work to accommodate the student.

In a relatively small institution with few students with various disabilities, their needs are individually assessed; we have not been able to enjoy any economics of scale.

In as much as we do not have (and never had) students with such a need, we do not have in place such services. If and/or when the need arises, we will provide accommodations.

In the 6 years I have been here, we have not had any students who have needed this equipment.

In the last 5 years we have had only 4 orthopedically handicapped students - all paraplegic - and 1 blind student. I am a quadriplegic. If the need arises, funds will be made available.

Initially, it is difficult to motivate students to learn to use computers. Once they're introduced, there is a marked difference in academic performance in all areas.

Institution is a military junior college - physical requirements for entrance.

Most of this does not apply to us. We have very few disabled students who need adaptable computing services.

Never had a request to support disabled students.

Not may disabled students

No campus - all distance education

Only a few with our students has requested computing services and these were provided bu the Department of Rehabilitation Services.

Our students whose disabilities require special adaptive equipment tend to bring their own computers to school. Vocational Rehabilitation usually provides the equipment they need. Our college does not integrate computers into every course so students do need them for functions other than word processing unless they want to learn more.

Our campus does not have many visually impaired students that would seem to warrant purchasing special equipment.

Our numbers are low. Each one is different and individual accommodations have been met by other means than computers - scribes, tables, chairs, academic advising, etc.

Our school has a Learning Center for Carl Perkins legislation voc tech eligible students: 1) economically disadvantaged 2) academically disadvantaged 3) handicapped 4) limited English proficiency. We have a computerized instructional lab available to all of the above. We have had no special requests for adaptive computer equipment by any handicapped student on campus. We do have the computers on tables which are wheel-chair accessible.

Our school has very few disabled students. It has not been a priority, but we are discussing it & thinking of plans.

Our school does not have a large number of handicapped students. Very small number, their information may not be helpful.

Our university is small (approx. 2000 students) and we only have one student who is blind and no others with identified disabilities - I would have liked to complete your questionnaire; however, our responses would just not make sense for your purposes.

Our school has very few students and even fewer disabled students. Our students have individualized computer instruction and service - a separate facility for disabled students would be unfeasible

Our disabled student population is so low, we aren't a good source of info. for you. We're unsure how to build an infrastructure to meet the needs of our disabled students. because the students never ask us for assistance.

Please share your results - they may assist in me receiving increased funding...

Since we have primarily hearing-impaired students on campus, we have no special computing services.

Small disabled student population - technology too expensive to justify purchase for small group of users.

So far, no vision impaired student has applied for admission. Should this occur, all efforts would be made to accommodate.

Sorry we couldn't be of more help. We work with mostly learning disabled students. Only one student needs adaptive equipment on our campus.

The need has not arisen, but we like to be prepared - and we will surely do all we can.

The primary reason that we have no computer service for disabled students is that we have never had a request for such services. Our disabled students have obtained computer equipment from agencies & state grants prior to their matriculation here. I hope these responses will be sufficient for your study....

There has not been an interest by disabled students as of yet and if there is a need for special equipment it would be ordered for the student.

The number of students needing special computer equipment thus far has been minimal, however, if the need presented itself, we would rise to the occasion by some means.

The Learning Assistance Center has not had any requests from disabled students regarding adaptive computing services.

This questionnaire is very difficult since our institution only has a minimal number of disabled students.

This issue has not come up much except with wheelchair bound students (which we have so far found don't need much adaptive equipment). Since we have no blind or deaf students we have not had a problem yet. We are currently working on looking into the services we do provide our disabled students to see if we are adequately meeting their needs.

This issue has not yet arisen. We are a very small campus. I know of one hearing-disabled student, but no special computer adaptations have been required. We would be quite willing to work with any other disability.

This is a military academy. Disabled individuals do not meet requirements for admission!

This is a correspondence college; questionnaire does no apply.

To date, I am not aware of any students requiring special computing services, however, if there is were I believe the responses above would be accurate.

Very few disabled students apply to our college. There is some concern about our ability to handle special needs but our dean is a fearless advocate for serving the disabled.

We only have two students of 1900 currently enrolled (Fall ' 92) with disabilities; both have visual impairments.

We have only two students with identified disabilities (small school) so questionnaire does not apply.

We don't have any blind or wheelchair bound students on campus at this point. We are trying to become more physically accessible.

We know of no students with special computing needs due to disabilities. There have been no such requests in anyone's memory.

We are a very small campus with at most 2-3 disabled students; so the responses are not necessarily based on experience. We have tried to react to each situation as it arises instead of tooling up for any situation that may occur.

We really are sensitive to the need, but in actuality have very few handicapped would be computer users. We therefore address their needs on an ad hoc basis.

We are a very small school & therefore have had few (no) requests. We would try to accommodate however.

We have so few students requesting services our equipment is underutilized. We add on an individual need basis.

We are ignorant in this topics. We have not had disabled students enroll who are in need of special computer facilities, equipment, software.

We have very few students handicapped as you mentioned & work with each case individually to make arrangements within the limits of our facilities. We generally do not buy special equipment for any students.

We have had no call for computer help by disabled students.

We have not had disabled students who have requested special computing services.

We currently do not have students requiring these services. Additionally, we have not prepared for it either. We should!

We have a small student body (1500) + are "highly selective". Our disabled students tend to function at a very high level & generally bring the adaptive equipment they need.

We have very few disabled students. None of them are in computer classes or use computers, hence, we haven't done any of the above mentioned process.

We have done nothing so far to provide services for students with disabilities since we have no students that require these services

We have 1 blind student & 2 in wheelchairs. We provide individual services on a year to year basis.

We have very few disabled students. We provide services they need. Computers are not required for any of our students. Some of our disabled students use a computer for their tests since they can't write, however, they use a regular keyboard.

We provide assistive devices as a student needs it, currently we do not have any disabled students who need adaptive devices for computer access.

We currently have no disabled students seeking computer support. We plan to make assistance available as needed.

We have less than five each year, so we work on an individual basis with the student and the dept of rehabilitation, but the process must be initiated by the student.

We have very few students with disabilities on our campus that would require adaptive computer devices at this time....Please send us the results.

We do not have a significantly large "disabled" population but expect an increase in the next 10 years