Support for first year composition students with disabilities: Holding sustainable conversations Mary Frances Rice University of Kansas

Students with Disabilities in Educational Settings Students with Disabilities Served Under IDEA in K12 settings Close to 6.4 million students (ages 3-21) are identified as having disabilities This is 13 percent of total K-12 enrollment Students with Disabilities Participating in Higher Education About 18 million undergraduates are attending universities in the United States in Fall 2013 Approximately 11 percent of these undergraduates reported having disabilities (1.8 million) National Center for Education Statistics

Students with Disabilities in FYC Students with Disabilities come into FYC courses with many of the same challenges of their peers (Hendrickson, 2015), yet they have less academic self-efficacy (Reed, et. al. 2011) Students with Disabilities are less successful in FYC classes (Hadley, 2007).

Shifting Legalities In K12, IDEA protects students. Section 504 guarantees a Free and Appropriate Education (FAPE). In higher education, section 504 is also protective, but it doesn’t guarantee FAPE, only a right to academic adjustments and freedom from being denied admission because of disability status.academic adjustments

New Relevance CCSS focus on transition from P-12 to college and career. Digital learning expansion in higher educationhigher education SWD with more kinds of learning needs coming to higher education (ADA Amendments of 2008)

Revision as a Writing Habit “There are so many revisions on editing things, punctuation, and sentence structure, and capitalizations and spelling. So that goes back and forth, and they might revise 10 times.” “Special Education students have such a history of failure and negativity that I tell them that it is actually a positive thing to do to revise. Then I feel like I can work with them better.”

Transition Concerns “The goal of the Common Core is supposed to be college and career readiness, but all of the writing that it asks you to do is the expositional writing that you have to do in early level college courses. It’s not the workplace sort of practical kind of writing that you do in a job.” “The students sit down and try to do like five assignments at one time, not reading the lessons, not reading the feedback. So it’s an ongoing chase. It really is.”

Typical FYC Responses to SWD Extra time for assignments and exams Preferential seating Altered attendance expectations Grading leniency Lowered length requirements for writing assignments.

Writer Embodiment (Fox, 2013)Fox, 2013 Although we talk about writing using metaphors of the senses, as is evident in the language of revision and voice, rarely do we teach writing as a messy physical practice. Rarely do we help students understand that ideas and language are intricately intertwined with material bodies. Rarely do we help students understand that their body can be a site for inquiry, knowledge, and authority. Bodies are not things to “have” but things that “be” and “do,” and that one of the things bodies do is write.

Universal Design for Learning (Neilson, 2013) Identify the essential course content Clearly express the essential content Integrate natural supports for learning Use a variety of presentation methods Allow multiple methods assessment Use technology to enhance accessibility Invite students to meet/contact the course instructor with any questions/concerns

Writing Center Support Adjustments (Hadley, 2007) Assignment planning assistanceAssignment planning Preparation of writing center mentors/coaches/tutors to work with different kinds of disabilities Access and space planning

References Cirillo-McCarthy, E. L. (2012). Narrating the writing center: Knowledge, crisis, and success in two writing centers' stories. Fox, B. (2013). Embodying the Writer in the Multimodal Classroom through Disability Studies. Computers and Composition, 30(4), Graham, S., & Harris, K. R. (2005). Improving the writing performance of young struggling writers’: Theoretical and programmatic research from the Center on Accelerating Student Learning. The Journal of Special Education, 39(1), Hadley, W. M. (2007). The necessity of academic accommodations for first-year college students with learning disabilities. Journal of College Admission, 195, Hendrickson, J. M., Therrien, W. J., Weeden, D. D., Pascarella, E., & Hosp, J. L. (2015). Engagement among Students with Intellectual Disabilities and First Year Students: A Comparison. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, 52(2), Hughes, C. A., & Smith, J. O. (1990). Cognitive and academic performance of college students with learning disabilities: A synthesis of the literature. Learning Disability Quarterly, 13(1), Nielsen, D. (2013, December). Universal Design in first-year composition: “Why do we need It, how can we do It?. The CEA Forum, 42,(2), Reed, M. J., Kennett, D. J., Lewis, T., & Lund-Lucas, E. (2011). The relative benefits found for students with and without learning disabilities taking a first-year university preparation course. Active Learning in Higher Education, 12(2),