Improve Faculty and Student Engagement with Your Institution’s Disability Accommodations Process

The rapid shift to remote instruction in 2020 was tough for many students. However, some students thrived with the extra flexibility their teachers and instructors provided during the pandemic. When they could learn in a comfortable space without harsh lighting, take extra time to complete an exam, or review a recorded or transcribed lecture, many of these students realized that with the right support, they could succeed and thrive in the classroom.

The return to in-person learning spurred many students to take the next step: a formal diagnosis of autism, ADHD, or another psychological disability. Disability services offices are now seeing profound increases in registered students, driven almost entirely by psychological disabilities.

• 2x increase

  in students registered with disability services, between 2014-15 and 2020-21

  Purdue University

• 4x increase

  in students whose primary disability is psychological, between 2014-15 and 2020-21

  Purdue University