
Thank you for taking an interest in the Accessibility Center (AC) and the needs of our students with disabilities. We encourage you to keep the lines of communication with us open when you receive a Letter of Accommodations from a student or any time you have questions or concerns.
ADAAA (Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008): All students who identify themselves to faculty as having a disability or suspect that they have a disability are encouraged to contact the AC. Faculty members are not obligated to provide accommodations without proper notification from the AC. Students may also contact AC staff by telephone to make an intake appointment at 303.556.3300 or by email at ccd.access@ccd.edu.
In this day of buzzwords and acronyms, Universal Designed Learning (UDL) might get written off as another silly fad. However, here in the AC, we are very aware of the benefits of UDL. Many of our students do not have access to course material if it is not universally designed. As a federally funded institution, CCD is required by law to provide access to our students with disabilities. Students with varying learning styles also benefit greatly from UDL.
The following tips will get you started on your own universally designed classroom experience:
Your students will thank you for providing them with accessible material in a variety of forms. Their grades will show it and CCD will thank you as well. The more you provide accessible information, the less the Accessibility Center has to come up with a way of translating your material into something our students can use and the less money CCD has to spend on interpreters, scanners, editing software, human readers, and other accommodating devices.
Remember that students with ASD are as unique and individual as their neuro-typical peers. Please seek to support the person rather than focus on his or her disability.
Autism Spectrum Disorders include Autism, Asperger’s Disorder, and PDD-NOS (a pervasive developmental disorder that is not otherwise specified as a different disorder and follows several characteristics of Autism). These disorders are classified as a spectrum disorder because there is a wide range of characteristics and experiences of ASD.
American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (Revised 4th ed.)
Washington, DC: Author
Autism Society
Likens, Aaron (2012). A Journey of Pain, Struggles, Suffering and Hope. In 2012 Conference Proceeding Manual (208-213). US Autism and Asperger Association 2012 World Conference