Affiliations: University of Hawai'i at Manoa, HI, USA
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Robert A. Stodden, Ph.D., University
of Hawai'i at Manoa, National Center for the Study of Postsecondary Education
Supports (NCSPES), Rehabilitation Research & Training Center (RRTC), 1776
University Avenue, UA 4-6, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA. Tel.: +1 808 956 9199; Fax:
+1 808 956 5713; E-mail: [email protected], www.rrtc.hawaii.edu
Abstract: The National Center for the Study of Postsecondary Education
Supports (NCSPES) at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa-Center on Disability
Studies (CDS) conducted a study that consisted of one survey distributed twice
(the second distribution was two years after the first) to a national sample of
approximately 1,600 Disability Support Coordinators working in postsecondary
educational institutions. The survey focused on the types and frequency of
educational supports, accommodations, and services offered to students with
disabilities attending two- and four-year postsecondary institutions. This
article reports on the findings from two sections of the survey: one, that
asked the respondents to address their institutions capacity to offer assistive
technology (AT) supports, accommodations, and services as needed by students
with disabilities; and another that addressed the availability of distance
learning access opportunities. A comparison of findings, over the two-year
period, is presented and includes a significant increase in all types of AT
supports, accommodations, and services other than AT evaluations; and an
increase in the provision of distance learning access opportunities.
Keywords: Postsecondary education, educational support services, higher education, students with disabilities, assistive technology, AT, survey, accommodations, supports
