Transcript Accommodating Students with Psychiatric Disabilities

Charting the Course:
Accommodating Students with
Psychiatric Disabilities
Pat Bunge, LPC
disAbility Access Services
Guilford Technical Community
College
Postsecondary Students with
Disabilities
• In a survey of 423,470 postsecondary
education students, 38,410 identified
themselves as having a mental illness
(National Center for Education Statistics,
1999)
Laws Requiring Reasonable
Accommodations
• 1973 Rehabilitation Act, Section 504
• 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act
What is a Mental Illness?
• Mental illness is a term that refers
collectively to all diagnosable mental
conditions causing severe disturbances in
thinking, feeling, relating, and functional
behaviors. These conditions result in
substantially diminished capacity for
coping with the ordinary demands of life.
How One Might Recognize Signs
of Mental Illness on Campus
• While a single symptom or isolated
event is rarely a sign of mental illness, a
symptom that occurs frequently, lasts
for several weeks, or becomes a general
pattern of an individual’s behavior may
indicate the onset of a more serious
mental health problem that requires
treatment.
Symptoms of a Mental Health
Problem
• Chronically missing class
• Assignments consistently late
• Extreme highs or lows in mood
• Anxieties
• Problem concentrating or remembering
• Marked personality change
• Confused or disorganized thinking
• Thinking or talking about suicide
• Denial of obvious problems
Major Depression
• Mood disorder
• Depressed mood over long period of time
• Lack of pleasure in activities
• Thoughts of suicide
• Sleep and appetite changes
• Low self- esteem
• Feeling guilty and/or worthless
Bipolar Affective Disorder
• Previously known as Manic Depressive
Disorder
• Mood disorder
• Revolving periods of mania and depression
• Either grandiose, euphoric, highly
productive/creative, or depressed,
withdrawn, hopeless
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
• Anxiety Disorder
• Exposure to traumatic event
• Flashbacks
• Dissociation
Borderline Personality Disorder
• Combined mood and thought disorder
• Biological and environmental factors
• Mood fluctuations
• Low self- esteem, insecurities, distrust
• Perceptual distortions, dissociations
• Difficulty with relationships
• Limited coping skills
Schizophrenia
• Thought Disorder
• Delusions, hallucinations, paranoia
• Difficulty with daily functional tasks
• Poor interpersonal relationships
• Concrete thought processing
• Need for structured routine
Anxiety Disorders
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder
– Excessive worry in general
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
– Consuming fixation and ritualistic behaviors
• Panic Disorder
– Overwhelming physiological event
• Social Phobias
– Incapacitating fear of social
interactions
• Specific Phobias
– Intense fear of specific object ; event
For more information about specific
disabilities, contact:
NC Alliance for the Mentally Ill
4904 Waters Edge Drive, Suite 152
Raleigh, NC 27606
800-451-9682
Conditions excluded from
coverage under ADA
• Transvestism
• Transexualism
• Pedophilia
• Voyeurism
• Gender identity disorders
• Compulsive gambling
• Kleptomania
• Pyromania
Medication Side Effects
• Drowsiness
• Fatigue
• Excessive thirst
• Blurred vision
• Hand tremors
• Initiating interpersonal contact
• Concentration
Functional Limitations
• Screening out environmental stimuli
• Sustaining concentration
• Maintaining stamina
• Handling time pressures and multi-tasks
• Interacting with others
• Fear of authority figures
• Responding to negative feedback
• Responding to change
• Severe test anxiety
Strategies for Inclusion in
College
• Teach to various learning styles--visual,
auditory, kinesthetic
• Increase experiential learning activities
• Increase knowledge and acceptance of
mental illness
• Be prepared to set behavioral limits
• Know campus mental health resources
• Work cooperatively with students
• Assist students with time management
Reasonable accommodation by
definition is the removal of barriers to
participation .
Principles of Accommodation
• Address individual needs
• Respect student’s desire for confidentiality
• Engage in joint problem solving
• Make all accommodations voluntary
• Review accommodations periodically
• Be flexible in enforcing policies
• Identify accommodations clearly
Accommodations are NOT
Reasonable if they...
• Pose a direct threat to the health or
safety of others
• Make substantial change in essential
elements of the curriculum
• Require substantial alteration in
educational opportunities or course
objectives
• Pose undue financial or administrative
burden
Possible Classroom
Accommodations
• Preferential seating, near door
• Beverages permitted
• Prearranged or frequent breaks
• Tape recorder, note taker
• Early availability of syllabus, text
• Text, assignments in alternate formats
• Personal and private feedback
Possible Examination
Accommodations
• Change in test format
– (Written to oral and vise versa, dictation,
scripted, typed)
• Permit use of computer software
• Exams in alternate format; portfolio,
demonstations
• Extended test taking time
• Individual proctoring
• Separate, quiet room for testing
• Increased test frequency
Possible Assignment
Accommodations
• Substitute assignments in specific
circumstances
• Advance notice of assignments
• Allow assignments hand -written
• Written rather than oral, or vise versa
• Change format: drama, role-play,
sculpture
• Assignment assistance--ask
• Extensions on assignments
The Myths of Mental Illness
• People with mental illness are dangerous
• People with psychiatric disabilities are
unpredictable, and can go “berserk” at any
time
• People recovering from mental illness can
work at low level jobs, but are not suited
to be in college, and probably will never
hold responsible positions
The Myths of Mental Illness
cont..
• When you learn that a person has a
mental illness, you have learned the most
significant thing about his or her
personality
Create an environment of
trust and confidentiality that
allows the person to feel
comfortable discussing his or
her condition.
Resources
• American Psychiatric Association
• American Psychological Association
• Mental health info Source
• National Alliance for the Mentally ill
(NAMI)
• National Institute of Mental Health
• National Mental Health Association
• Washington Advocates for the Mentally
Ill (WAMI)
Mental Illness. The Way We
Treat It Is Insane.