To measure the students’ ability to communicate with their instructors about their approved accommodations. The workshop is designed to provide students with practical tools and strategies that increase their confidence and effectiveness in using and discussing their accommodations with instructors.
Students often express anxiety and discomfort in engaging their instructors about their accommodations. They may be worried about expressing themselves (for example, if they have a speech or social anxiety disorder). They may be concerned about what their instructor may say or ask them about during these interactions. In DRS’s experience, students have said that they don’t want to bother their instructors. A 2020 study in the Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability found that 60% of students avoided disclosure due to feeling anxious; however, training on “minimal disclosure scripts” increased students’ likelihood of requesting accommodations by 35% (Grimes, Southgate, Scevak, & Buchanan, 2020).
Currently, students learn that they need to advocate for themselves after they are initially approved for accommodations. This involves a discussion with their DRS advisor on how to implement the approved accommodations.
This assessment will be implemented during a workshop planned as part of an orientation that will be offered to new DRS students in Fall 2026. The assessment will help evaluate students’ comfort level with requesting accommodations and determine whether the workshop supported the development of self-advocacy skills
Attached is a document with the specific learning objectives and a survey that includes Likert-scale and open-ended questions aligned with the objectives.
DRS will be holding an orientation this Fall for registered DRS students. During that orientation, students will learn how to engage their instructors about their accommodations. Faculty may be invited at some point in the design of the orientation. Students will complete a brief pre-survey at the start and a post-survey at the end using a 1–5 rating scale, short answer questions to assess learning of student learning objectives, and one reflection question regarding the workshop. The orientation will be offered in a hybrid format.
The orientation will also be recorded and posted in the DRS Community Canvas Course, so students who could not attend can watch online and complete the assessments on their own time.
Coming.
College students with disabilities can experience anxiety and discomfort when communicating with instructors about their approved accommodations. This may be due to fears of stigma and negative reactions, communication challenges, or a sense of burdening faculty. These student concerns can lead to underutilization of accommodations, despite their potential to enhance academic success.
Therefore, DRS is integrating a self-advocacy workshop into the Disability Resources and Services (DRS) Fall 2026 orientation for registered DRS students. The workshop will include student learning objectives with the goal of providing practical tools and strategies to improve student self-advocacy skills and confidence in the communication and utilization of accommodation with their instructors.
Results will inform refinements to the workshop content, delivery, and supplementary resources.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| pre-and-post-workshop-survey-self-advocacy-accommodations.pdf | 54.66 KB |