The Basic Disability Screenings for Adult Education Program Use (BDSAE) provides several basic screening tools that can help start the conversation between providers and students about disability-related assessments and accommodations.
The goal of this resource is to help adult educators increase the inclusion and effective support of persons with disabilities in their programs.
Drawing on current research from the field of education and disability students, the BDSAE uses four screenings that assess program preparedness as well as individual student need.
- The Basic Accessibility Checklist for ADA Coordinators and Administrators is the instrument that helps programs evaluate their program’s ADA compliance and disability-conscious program administration.
- The Basic Disability Screening is designed to help program staff begin the conversation with students about their disability-related accommodation needs and to guide the process of development of a Preferred Accommodations Plan for each student who discloses disabilities.
- The list of Common Accommodations for Adult Learners helps staff identify possible accommodations for the student.
- Staff then use the Preferred Accommodations Plan to summarize preferred accommodations for teaching and learning.
The screenings are not intended to help staff diagnose students, but rather to increase inclusion of persons with disabilities in their program, while providing them with the knowledge of when to refer students to other sources in order to access additional accommodations.