Veterans Center

What is a "qualified" individual with a disability?

According to the Americans with Disabilities Act, a qualified individual with a disability is "an individual with a disability who, with or without reasonable modification to rules, policies, or practices, the removal of architectural, communication, or transportation barriers, or the provision of auxiliary aids and services, meets the essential eligibility requirements for the receipt of services or the participation in programs or activities provided by a public entity."

What are specific types of learning disabilities?

A specific learning disability is unique to the individual and can appear in a variety of ways. It may be difficult to diagnose, to determine impact, and to accommodate. Generally speaking, someone may be diagnosed with a learning disability if they are of average or above-average intelligence and there is a lack of achievement at age and ability level or there is a large discrepancy between achievement and intellectual ability.

Can all television sets display closed captions?

The Television Decoder Circuitry Act of 1990 required that television sets with screens 13 inches or larger manufactured for sale in the United States must have built-in closed-caption decoder circuitry that allows viewers to display closed captions on their sets. Closed captioning is technology that provides visual text to describe dialogue, background noise, and sound effects in television programming. The deadline for compliance with this act was July 1993.

How can digital content help students with learning disabilities that affect their ability to process math?

Some learning disabilities make it difficult for students to acquire math skills. Students may not be able to fully understand mathematics content in standard print form because of the additional mental processing required to interpret math expressions. They may react to math problems on the page as signals to do something, rather than as meaningful sentences that need to be read for understanding. In particular, they may face difficulties with self-verbalizing math equations. Using synthetic speech to verbalize digital mathematics expressions may aid students with these challenges.

Rights & Responsibilities

Everyone has both rights and responsibilities. In the case of the inclusion of students with disabilities in postsecondary activities, faculty members have the right to require that students demonstrate knowledge and skills essential to the course content. On the other hand, qualified students with disabilities have the right to reasonable accommodations. This area of the Veterans Room clarifies the rights and responsibilities of faculty, campus services, and veteran students with disabilities.

Universal Design

Veterans form an important part of postsecondary student bodies. They come from a wide variety of ethnic and racial backgrounds and have a variety of learning styles and preferences, including those who are primarily visual or auditory learners. Many veterans also have disabilities, some as a result of recent military engagements. Their disabilities include

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