Abed, M. G., & Shackelford, T. K. (2021). Faculty perspectives on accommodations for students with visual impairments in Saudi Arabia . Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness , 115 (3), 242–250. https://doi.org/10.1177/0145482X211018886

Journal Article

Abed, M. G., & Shackelford, T. K. (2021). Faculty perspectives on accommodations for students with visual impairments in Saudi Arabia. Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 115(3), 242–250. https://doi.org/10.1177/0145482X211018886

Tags

Educator survey; International (non-U.S.); No age; No disability; Postsecondary

URL

https://journals.sagepub.com/home/jvb

Summary

Accommodation

Accommodations were not specified; the focus was on faculty perceptions of the use of accommodations by students with visual impairments.

Participants

Survey respondents were 78 faculty members with doctoral degrees who worked at public universities in Saudi Arabia. Most were early in their career and had not previously taught students with special needs, and did not have relatives with special needs.

Dependent Variable

An adapted version of the Accommodation of University Students with Disabilities Inventory (AUSDI; Wolman et al., 2004) was administered. Survey items were organized into three categories: (a) perspectives on accommodations for students with visual impairments; (b) assumptions about students with visual impairments; and (c) professional development to instruct students with visual impairments.

Findings

Faculty members were generally willing to provide accommodations they considered reasonable, and were willing to support the use of those accommodations. However, they often had mildly negative perceptions about students with visual impairments, so they were often not willing to maximize their effort to do this. Faculty members had little training on the provision of accommodations, and the authors concluded that they may benefit from more professional development on accommodations.