A new Bérubé post!  Just in time for Christmas!  Let there be joy throughout the land!  (As we’ve previously established, I’m a HUGE FAN.)  And he’s writing on one of my favorite topics:  universal design.  Let’s face it, the world is full of accommodations . . . for people with physically and psychologically typical bodies.   But they’re only really called “accommodations” when someone with a disability requests them.  Though try attending a meeting where you’re the only hearing person or the only person who doesn’t ride in her own chair, and it will be brought home to you that the typical are accommodated all the damn time.

Future post:  why our lack of wings requires the accommodation of stairs, elevators, escalators, and other ways of accessing upper stories without having to fly.

Anyway, Bérubé’s insight into how this worked in academic accommodations was wonderful:

So in response to my student with CP, I decided to distribute a take-home exam on the final day of class, and then give students 72 or 96 hours to write two essays.  That way, the exam itself would be turned in (and graded) during finals week, and students could devote as much (or as little) time to the exam as they desired.  I’ve done this ever since. . . .

Lastly, for even more extra extra upside, the students who need accommodations  . . . get to work at their own pace, like everybody else.  It’s like universal design … for final exams.