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  1. Home
  2. Student Success
  3. Student Success Center
  4. Student Disability Resources
  5. Accommodations

Typical Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

Flexibility and effective communication between student and instructor is key in approaching accommodations. Although students with similar disabilities may require different accommodations, it is helpful to be aware of typical strategies for working with students who have various types of impairments.

Learning Disabilities

Learning disabilities are documented disabilities that may affect reading, processing information, remembering, calculating, and spatial abilities. Examples of accommodations for students who have specific learning disabilities may include:

  • Notetakers and/or audiotaped class sessions, captioned films
  • Extra exam time, alternative testing arrangements
  • Visual and tactile instructional demonstrations
  • Computer with voice output, spellchecker, and grammar checker

Mobility Impairments

Mobility impairments may make walking, sitting, bending, carrying, or using fingers, hands, or arms difficult or impossible. Mobility impairments result from many causes, including amputation, polio, club foot, scoliosis, spinal cord injury, and cerebral palsy.

Typical accommodations for students with mobility impairments may include:

  • Notetaker, lab assistant, group lab assignments
  • Classrooms, labs, and field trips in accessible locations
  • Adjustable tables, lab equipment located within reach
  • Class assignments made available in electronic format
  • A computer equipped with a special input device (e.g., voice input, Morse code, alternative keyboard)

Health Impairments

Health impairments affect daily living and involve the lungs, kidneys, heart, muscles, liver, intestines, immune systems, and other body parts (e.g., cancer, kidney failure, AIDS). Typical accommodations for students who have health impairments may include:

  • Notetaker or copy of another student’s notes
  • Flexible attendance requirements and extra exam time
  • Assignments made available in electronic format, use of email to facilitate communication

Mental Illness

Mental illness includes mental health and psychiatric disorders that affect daily living. Examples of accommodations for students with these conditions include:

  • Notetaker, copy of another student’s notes, or recording of lectures
  • Extended time on assignments and tests
  • A non-distracting, quiet setting for assignments and tests

Hearing Impairments

Hearing impairments make it difficult or impossible to hear lecturers, access multimedia materials, and participate in discussions. Examples of accommodations for students who are deaf and hard of hearing may include:

  • Interpreter, real-time captioning, FM system, notetaker
  • Open or closed-captioned films, use of visual aids
  • Written assignments, lab instructions, demonstration summaries
  • Visual warning systems for lab emergencies
  • Use of electronic mail for class and private discussions

Blindness

Blindness refers to the disability of students who cannot read printed text, even when enlarged. Typical accommodations may include:

  • Audiotaped, Brail or electronic-formatted lecture notes, handouts, and texts
  • Verbal descriptions of visual aids
  • Raised-line drawings and tactile models of graphic materials
  • Braille lab signs and equipment labels, auditory lab warning signals
  • Adaptive lab equipment (e.g., talking thermometers and calculators, light probes, and tactile timers)
  • Computer with optical character readers, voice output, Braille screen display, and printer output

Low Vision

Low vision refers to students who have some usable vision, but cannot read standard- size text, have field deficits (for example, cannot see peripherally or centrally but can see well in other ranges), or other visual impairments. Typical accommodations may include:

  • Seating near the front of the class.
  • Large-print handouts, lab signs, and equipment labels.
  • TV monitors connected to a microscope to enlarge images.
  • Class assignments made available in electronic format.
  • A computer equipped to enlarge screen characters and images.

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Quick Links

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See Also

  • Applying for Services from Student Disability Resources
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Pennsylvania map showing Penn State's campuses with Penn State Altoona highlighted

Penn State Altoona

A full-service, four-year, residential campus located less than 45 miles from the research campus at University Park. Offering 21 four-year degrees and the first two years of over 275 Penn State majors.
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Give Visit Apply
  • This is Penn State Altoona
    • Welcome from the Chancellor
    • Penn State Altoona At a Glance
    • Mission, Vision, and Values
    • College Leadership
    • Our History
    • Campus Map
    • Current Weather Conditions
    • Livestream
  • Academics
    • Majors
    • Academic Calendar
    • Out-of-Class Learning
    • Eiche Library
    • Registrar
    • Academic Advising
    • Honors Program
    • Campus Closures
  • Admissions
    • Visit Us
    • Information for First-Year Students
    • How to Apply
    • Accepted Students
    • Find Your Admissions Counselor
    • Experience Altoona
    • Virtual Tour
  • Tuition & Financial Aid
    • Scholarships and Awards
    • Grants
    • Loans
    • Work-study
    • Financial Aid Basics
    • Tuition and Costs
    • Financial Aid Information
  • Student Success
    • Student Success Center
    • The Help Tool
    • Tutoring
    • Student Affairs
    • Student and Civic Engagement
    • Health and Wellness Center
    • Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
    • Safety at Penn State Altoona
    • Career Services
    • Eiche Library
  • Research & Engagement
    • Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry
    • Faculty Research Resources
    • Internships
    • Study Abroad/Study Away
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