Addressing Challenges of Postsecondary Disability Service Provision: A System-Wide Approach

Authors

  • Will Lindstrom Regents' Center for Learning Disorders, University of Georgia
  • Michele Harold Regents' Center for Learning Disorders, Georgia State University
  • Sheryl Ballenger Center for Inclusive Design and Innovation, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Johan Rempel Center for Inclusive Design and Innovation, Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Kim Linek Georgia Highlands College

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18666/LDMJ-2024-V29-I1-12001

Keywords:

disability services, accessibility, postsecondary, documentation, accommodation

Abstract

In 1996, Gregg et al. introduced an innovative solution developed by the University System of Georgia (USG) to address the challenges of providing postsecondary disability services. Since that time, substantial legal changes, research advances, and rapidly developing technology have resulted in dramatic changes in the postsecondary disability landscape. The purpose of this article is to describe how the USG solution has evolved over the past quarter of a century to address the challenges of contemporary postsecondary disability service provision. Comprised of three independent components that function in a collaborative nature, the current system leverages the benefits of a multidisciplinary approach to address enduring barriers encountered by students, such as transitioning to postsecondary settings, accessing costly documentation, and understanding rights, laws, and responsibilities, as well as newer challenges faced by disability service (DS) professionals, such as those associated with serving an immensely larger and more diverse population of students. In the following article, we describe the USG system components, detail the challenges they were designed to meet, and illustrate how those challenges are addressed. We close by discussing how the system braids supports together to reduce critical junctures where students can be derailed, frees time for DS professionals to focus on student outcomes, and allows adaptation in the face of novel challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Published

2024-08-07

Issue

Vol. 29 No. 1 (2024)

Section

Articles

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