Photo credit: Disabled and Here taken by Chona Kasinger. CC BY 4.0.
"One way to act with kindness is to get curious about those different from us. This curiosity might mean having more self-awareness about the words we use or taking a moment to consider alternate ways to view a situation. We all want to be recognized and appreciated and to feel a sense of belonging. Tiny moments of kindness can go a long way to making this a reality for neurodivergent learners.” (M. Reilly, March 15, 2024 in Shining a light on neurodiversity in higher ed - School of Education).
Supporting graduate students with disabilities requires informed and proactive supervision to ensure they can fully access available resources and thrive academically. The information below outlines essential practices for supervisors, including informing students about available supports, establishing a supportive relationship, and planning for formal assessments with necessary accommodations.
Ensure students are aware of the supports available to them
- If a student declares a disability to you, you should inform the student that disability support is available through Student Accessibility Services at YorkU.
- If the student has a disability and requires accommodations and needs to know what to do, share Accommodations for Graduate Students.
- If students have not registered or requested a letter of accommodation, inform them that they should do so.
- Keep up to date on student support policies and student support networks so you can share this information with your supervisors.
Establish a Supportive Supervisory Relationship
- Create a welcoming environment for students to discuss any concerns they may have in relation to their research programme and their disability.
- Introduce students to people in the field.
- Be aware that imposter syndrome is prevalent amongst research students, particularly those with disabilities. Make them aware of the FGS Graduate Student Wellness Services should imposter syndrome be impacting their mental wellbeing. Encourage them to connect with other graduate students. Provide feedback on their strengths as well as areas for improvement.
Use the Strong Start to Supervision Checklist for the following:
- Check in regularly to identify any concerns or issues arising. Encourage the student to review their reasonable accommodations/supports with Student Accessibility Services if their needs change.
- Clarify at an early stage the role and responsibilities of both student and supervisor.
- Provide as much detail as possible on expectations and timelines, and explore any concerns a student may have in relation to meeting these.
- Set reasonable expectations with students (e.g. research work, conferences, teaching, assessment etc.)
- Provide flexible supervision options (e.g. in-person/virtual, particular times of day may be more suitable for the student, allow recording of supervision meetings).
- Agree on an agenda before/at the start of the meeting. Ask the student to write meeting notes and share them with you, to ensure mutual understanding of action points.
- Provide instructions and feedback in an accessible format for the student. Ask the student what method works best for them.
- Agree on regular timelines/deadlines for students to submit work and for you to provide feedback in a timely manner.
- Encourage students to implement boundaries around their work, and foster a culture of respecting boundaries within the supervisory relationship (e.g. not expecting response to emails outside of working hours).
- Acknowledge different working and learning preferences on a regular basis.
Guides
- Read ACTon: Disability Accommodation Stories in Placement by the ACTon Team. This is a multidisciplinary work-integrated learning resource to facilitate disabled students' right to accommodation in placement.
- Read A Way with Words and Images (.pdf). This is a guide for communicating with and about persons with disabilities from Employment and Social Development Canada, 2024.
- View the Digital Accessibility Toolkit (.pdf) from eCampus Ontario.
- Read the Faculty Resource Guide: Teaching Students with Disabilities (.pdf) from YorkU.
- View the Student Accessibility Services Faculty Resource Guide (.pdf) from YorkU.
- Read the Well-being Through the Supervisory Process: A Supervisor Guide for Action (.pdf). This guide provides a framework to intentionally consider how the supervisory process impacts the physical, social, and mental well-being of graduate students. From SFU.
- Read the York Region Inclusive Language Guide (.pdf).
Practical Tips
The Council of Ontario Universities partnered with the University of Guelph, the University of Toronto, York University, and the Government of Ontario through the EnAbling Change Partnership Program to assemble and develop resources that support the accessible delivery and instruction of programs and courses. The pages below offer some practical tips for teaching students with disabilities.
- Visit Blindness at Work for the CNIB's tips on workplace accommodations and creating an inclusive workplace.
- Read Consideration of Student Accessibility When Teaching Outside the Classroom (.pdf) by Donna Barker and Jill Stier at the University of Toronto.
- Visit When You Know Someone Who is Blind for the CNIB's practical tips to help you navigate your relationship with someone who is blind.
- Visit the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).
- Visit the Disability Awards website that was created by NEADS to to help post-secondary students search hundreds of scholarships available across Canada specifically for students with disabilities.
- Visit Inclusion Canada, a national federation working to advance the full inclusion and human rights of people with an intellectual disability and their families.
- Visit NEADS the National Educational Association of Disabled Students that has the mandate to support full access to education and employment for post-secondary students and graduates with disabilities across Canada.
- Visit the CNIB Foundation an organization that champions accessibility, diversity and equity to foster a sense of belonging.