American Association of People with Disabilities
Promoting EQUAL OPPORTUNITY, ECONOMIC POWER, INDEPENDENT LIVING and POLITICAL PARTICIPATION for people with disabilities.
AAPD’s
Higher Education Project
4.0 Partner Report
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
4.0 PARTNER REPORT: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
AAPD’s HIGHER EDUCATION PROJECT
4.0 Partner Report: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
AAPD’s Higher Education Project promotes accessibility and inclusion in higher
education; partners with institutions of higher learning to improve educational
opportunities for students with disabilities; and works with students and
professionals to foster peer networks and create access to resources.
4.0 Partners
AAPD identifies educational institutions who are leaders in accessibility
and inclusion for students with disabilities.
Access to higher education is crucial to succeeding in most sectors of today’s
workforce. While a large majority of high school students with disabilities identify
postsecondary education as a goal, only about 38 percent enroll in postsecondary
institutions and only 14 percent graduate with a degree or certificate.
The AAPD Higher Education Project identifies 4.0 Partners, colleges and universities
that help students with disabilities reach their full potential and want to share
their best practices.
This report will highlight many of the best practices observed at the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). This report is not meant as a complete
analysis or synopsis of UIUC’s services for people with disabilities.
The Higher Education Project is generously sponsored by Verizon.
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4.0 PARTNER REPORT: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
AAPD welcomes inaugural 4.0 Partner:
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The AAPD Higher Education Project Team recently
had the opportunity to visit our first 4.0 Partner,
the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
(UIUC). UIUC is no stranger to firsts in the
disability community as it has been a leader in
accommodations for students with disabilities
since Dr. Tim Nugent founded the Division of
Rehabilitation Education Services, now The
Division of Disability Resources and Educational
Services (DRES) back in 1948. UIUC and DRES
have ushered in a number of significant firsts
for students with disabilities, including the first
accessible buses on a university campus, the first cross-disability community service
fraternity, and the first collegiate wheelchair basketball team. As we headed off to
Illinois, we had high expectations for UIUC and its pioneering traditions, but even
we were astounded at measures in place to allow students with disabilities to
succeed on campus.
The Project Team began the day with a tour of the major support systems that
DRES offers, including but not limited to: assistive technology , note taking ,
priority registration , testing accommodations , interpreters, tutoring, and on-site
clinical psychologists. The academic accommodations at Illinois do not stop on
the campus. All of their online and distance learning classes are automatically
captioned. Their comprehensive commitment to inclusion also applies to Illinois’s
career transitions services. One of the wonderful realizations we had about the
staff at DRES was their perspective of higher education as a stepping stone towards
gainful employment. While we were there, DRES was hosting a workshop on
disability disclosure and employment issues, a topic not frequently targeted by
disability service offices.
After learning about the abundance of academic accommodations available at the
University of Illinois, we traveled to the adapted athletics facility to see the services
existing for those on adaptive sports teams as well as for people with disabilities
on campus wanting anything from strength and conditioning to physical therapy
from a licensed physical therapist. The students and staff also work closely to make
recommendations for simple, integrated athletic opportunities that anyone can do
on their campus, such as putting in wider benches for easy transfers or having a
hand-crank stationary bike for use during spin classes. With health concerns at the
forefront for many people with disabilities, I found myself wishing I had access to
such a personalized program and knowledgeable staff.
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4.0 PARTNER REPORT: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
Next, the Higher Education Project
Team headed off to a meeting
with the Study Abroad Office.
Despite being in separate departments, DRES and Study Abroad
collaborate very closely whenever
a student with a disclosed disability wants to study abroad. One of
the great lessons we took away
from this meeting was how easily
a university can create a welcoming environment for all students
with disabilities. It doesn’t require
exorbitant amounts of money or
a robust staff, just openness,
opportunity, and collaboration among departments. One of our final stops of the
day was to Ikenberry Commons, the newly redeveloped campus dorms. Ikenberry
Commons contains Nugent Residence Hall, an integrated campus dorm which
allows students requiring accessibility features and personal assistants to live with
their peers. Residents in this dorm are given 35 hours of free personal assistant
services per week. They are also given the opportunity and training to hire their
own assistants fitting their specific needs from the pool of screened and trained
personal assistants. This concept not only helps students with disabilities to live independently, but also allows them to be socially integrated and gives them practice
for hiring personal assistants after college.
The day wrapped up with a town hall meeting where the UIUC cross-disability
community came together to discuss how we can continue to improve educational
opportunities for students with disabilities. UIUC students were excited to have an
opportunity to connect with each other and share resources that have helped them
succeed in college.
AAPD would like to thank the University of Illinois for sharing their best practices
with us.
Does your college or university have best practices you want to share? To find out
how or to learn more about our 4.0 Partners, visit www.aapd.com.
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4.0 PARTNER REPORT: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
4.0 Partner Report: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The following contains a more detailed report on The University of Illinois’ best
practices. This report will highlight many of the best practices observed at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). This report is not meant as a
complete analysis or synopsis of UIUC’s services for people with disabilities.
Assistive Technology
The Division of Disability Resources and Educational Services (DRES) at Illinois
provide a number of different types of assistive technology to students with
disabilities to use independently or in campus computer labs. Additionally, staff
will train students on any available assistive technology and help them find the
most suitable hardware and software. Illinois provides the following types of
assistive technology:
• Kurzweil
• Trackball Mouse
• Dragon Naturally Speaking
• Dolphin EasyReader
• JAWS
• Snow Leopard Mouse Keys
• Zoomtext
• Snow Leopard Sticky Keys
• WordQ
• Snow Leopard VoiceOver
• ClearView closed-circuit television
• Freedom Scientific OpenBook
DRES also has an Accessible Media Services department which will provide course
materials in alternative formats. If a book binding needs to be cut in order to
provide the alternative format, it will be replaced with a plastic binding. DRES has
an arrangement with the campus bookstore so that books with plastic bindings can
be returned and sold back at the equivalent price so that students with disabilities
do not incur an additional financial burden. Accessible Media Services also ensures
that all videos are captioned.
Illinois is also leading the way in new accessible technology. They are currently
undergoing development of a fully accessible flash player which would allow for
longer pauses if a student uses the audio description function. When this player
is fully developed, it would be the only player used by teachers and staff at the
University of Illinois.
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4.0 PARTNER REPORT: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
Other Academic Accommodations
All students registered with DRES receive a
DRES case manager to help them receive
the best combination of supports. This case
manager is someone with specific training and
expertise in the student’s disability, rather than
being assigned at random, so that the student
has the best possible experience. After initial assessments, the DRES case manager will write a
Letter of Accommodation for the student to
provide to his teachers.
Basic academic accommodations offered
(in addition to the above-mentioned
assistive technology) include:
• Note taking services (from peers, teaching assistants, or professors)
• Priority class registration
• American Sign Language interpreting
• Computer Assisted Realtime Translation (CART)
• Testing accommodations using a reader, writer, extended time, distractionreduced environment, and other relevant accommodations
• Academic skills and strategies training
• Two clinical psychologists on staff to support students with psychiatric disabilities,
ADD/ADHD, autism/Asperger’s, and other related disabilities
• Neuropsychological testing for Illinois who have not previously been diagnosed,
but may be experiencing significant academic distress
• Learning disabilities specialist who works with students on compensatory strategies in test preparation, test taking, reading comprehension, and written expression.
Career Transition Supports
The staff at University of Illinois recognizes the importance of higher education in
preparing students with disabilities for the workforce. Because of this, DRES staff
emphasizes a variety of supports to help students with disabilities be successful in the
workforce from internships, to workshops on disability disclosure. DRES wants to help all
people with disabilities find work. Some of the career transition supports they provide are:
• Career-related workshops
• Career assessments
• Visits from national organizations, recruiting students with disabilities for jobs
and internships
• Self-directed career exploration tools
• Connections to other on campus career resources
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4.0 PARTNER REPORT: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
Housing Accommodations
University of Illinois offers a variety of housing options
for students with disabilities.
If a student requires personal care assistant services,
one can live at Nugent Hall, a fully integrated dormitory for most underclassmen at UIUC located in the
heart of the campus. Beckwith Residential Support
Services (BRSS) at Nugent Hall provides an opportunity
for students with disabilities to broaden their independent living skills, including creating a Transitional
Disability Management Plan which teaches students
how to hire, train, and if necessary, fire their own
personal assistants.
This opportunity provides students with the care they
need while in school and
prepares them for life afterwards. Rooms under BRSS at Nugent Hall each contain:
• Proximity reader, allowing residents to open and close their room door without
a key or swipe card
• ADA vertical auto operators to open bathroom and room doors from the inside
• SureHands ceiling lift system that extends from over the resident’s bed to the
bathroom, with the option of using the body support or sling for transferring
• Adjustable furniture limited to desks, night stands, and a hospital bed in each
room. All furniture is similar in design and look like other student rooms
throughout the residence hall.
• Hospital bed with a Student's Choice Inverted Seam Mattress
• Sink with motion detector and cup faucets
• Push button room darkening blinds
• Wireless paging system for notifying staff
including the on-staff PCA “floater”
Nugent Hall also has an adapted computer station,
training kitchen with adaptive equipment, laundry
and housekeeping services, and dining hall assistance.
If a student does not require personal care assistant
services, his options are even more plentiful as both
university housing and private certified housing offer
accessible options and adaptations for students with
disabilities.
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4.0 PARTNER REPORT: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
Recreation
The Illinois Campus Recreation
facilities all contain accessible
equipment to be used in an
integrated setting with all
students. In addition to this
option, registered DRES
students may elect to use the
DRES gym which has more
disability-specific equipment
and a knowledgeable fulltime
staff. Some of the equipment
found here includes:
• Arm ergometers: Upper-Body Ergometer (UBE), Saratoga Cycle
• Leg ergometer: stationary exercise bike, recumbent exercise bike
• Treadmill
• Elliptical
• Versatrainers
• NuStep
• Total Gym
• LiteGait and Gait Keeper Treadmill
• Impulse Inertial Exercise Trainer
• Cybex Smith Press Machine
• Cybex FT 360
• Wall pulleys
• An extensive set of free weights, resistive tubing
• Medicine balls
• Balance discs
• Physioballs
• Dip and chin up bars
• Parallel bars
• Mat tables, benches
The DRES gym also offers a physical therapy program on a course credit or noncredit basis. The physical therapists can help students develop a fitness program,
avoid and treat injuries, and learn skills necessary for using mobility devices, such
as transferring to a wheelchair from the floor.
The University of Illinois Adapted Varsity Athletics Program has teams for men’s
and women’s wheelchair basketball and track. Student-athletes in these programs
receive Paralympic level training and compete nationally.
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4.0 PARTNER REPORT: UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
Transportation
All fixed bus routes within the
Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit
District are wheelchair accessible
and equipped with wheelchair ramps.
In addition to the city busses, DRES
offers individual and shared ride options
for transportation to class, residence,
medical appointments, university sponsored
events, travel (including airport travel), and pre-approved off-campus events.
The transportation department at DRES also handles individual situations in the
event of emergency planning and snow removal.
Miscellaneous Services
• Manual wheelchairs for rental for students
with temporary injuries or for academically
related projects.
• Delta Sigma Omicron, rehabilitation service
fraternity founded in 1948, focusing on
advocacy for people with disabilities and
service to the greater Illinois community.
• Individual therapy and support groups
are available to address issues such as
adjustment to disability, relationships, and
motivation.
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