Note-Taking

 

Students, regardless of disability status, are primarily responsible for their own notes; therefore, disabled students must be actively engaged in arranging for their own class notes.  However, when note-taking is determined to be a reasonable accommodation, Disability Resources and course instructors should provide support to assure student access to quality notes.   

A universal design approach to reducing the need for note-taking as an accommodation for students with disabilities is for instructors to post notes on an accessible course Website.  Increasing numbers of instructors are recognizing that making complete notes for each class available on-line is a valuable teaching tool for a variety of students.  Instructors can:

• Post their own complete notes
• Post the complete notes of a course TA or preceptor
• Assign students to teams and rotate responsibility for each team to create a complete set of notes for posting each week.  This approach has the added benefit of having students work in teams and share responsibility for each other’s learning.    

If an instructor chooses not to post open notes for all students, students with disabilities can be accommodated by locating a volunteer classmate to serve as an individual note-taker. Letters of volunteer service are available to these student note-takers through Disability Resources.

Some students with disabilities identify their own note-takers; others request assistance from their instructors.  Sharing responsibility for establishing note-taking for students helps assure effective accommodations.