PP401 - Disability Accommodations in Audiology Clinical Education: Ideas for Implementation

Abstract:
The foundation of evidence regarding clinical accommodations for students with disabilities in Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) programs is extremely limited. Most of the existing research centers around nursing and psychology education. However, we know that the percentage of students with disabilities in our CSD programs is far lower than the general population. Lack of established accommodations can be a detractor for potential students. Our professions would benefit from the perspectives students and future professionals with disabilities can bring. We will present examples of clinical accommodations that are being utilized in an audiology university clinic.

Summary:
Rationale:
Information on clinical accommodations for students with disabilities in Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) programs is extremely limited. Bethel and Mormer (2020a, 2020b, 2021) published a series of discussions about clinical accommodations specifically for d/Deaf/hard of hearing students. This is fundamentally important but does not address other possible disabilities.

The percentage of students with disabilities in our CSD programs is much lower than the general population. Per the CDC (2022), 26% of American adults have some sort of disability. However, only 9.3% of undergraduates and 7.4% of graduate students report having a disability (Battle, 2004). This is unfortunate as our professions would benefit from the valuable perspectives clinicians with disabilities bring to patient care. The lack of established accommodations can be a detractor for potential students. Most of the existing research regarding clinical accommodations centers around nursing and psychology education (e.g., Olkin, 2009; Epstein et al., 2020).

In light of the above limitations, we have developed clinical accommodations for several different disabilities. We will present aggregate examples of clinical accommodations that are being utilized in an audiology university clinic. These are likely of interest to other university programs also considering how to best serve their students with disabilities.

Design:
In developing the clinical accommodations, we in part considered how we could mirror what had been successful in the classroom. Examples of accommodations considered or trialed in clinic include:

-Use of ASL interpreter for student
-Incorporation of white boards or other written modalities
-Short scheduled breaks
-Incorporation of ½ day instead of full day clinic blocks
-Audio recording of history intake portion of appointment (with proper HIPAA -authorization/technology)
-Modifications of due dates for clinical documentation while still maintaining needed timelines for insurance and referral purposes
-Exploring usage of different template formats for intake and report writing purposes
-Scripting to aid in delivery of commonly encountered situations
-Ergonomically-friendly seating and workstations
-Usage of voice transcription software for writing
-Utilization of remote microphones
-Clear masks
-Extra staffing/preparation time with clinical educator to aid with organizational executive function

Results and

Conclusions:
We will discuss our implementation and outcomes of the above-listed strategies during the poster presentation. This is part of the initiation of a larger project to more formally increase the knowledge base in the CSD literature in the area of clinical accommodations. The positive outcomes of this work are to:

Determine how to help students with disabilities to best learn in the clinic
Determine what accommodations allow students with disabilities to achieve their highest professional potential
Allow students with disabilities to transition more smoothly into the workplace post-graduation

References
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