Laboratories and reasonable adjustments

Teaching

Anticipatory adjustments can be made to your teaching in the laboratory or workshop setting so it is more inclusive. These benefit many students and help to reduce levels of stress that some students feel when working in a new environment.

Make sure the instructions you give are clear and precise and do not rely on gestures.
Provide written as well as oral instructions, and if possible back these up with information on the intranet or via e-mail that can be checked later. Include a list of new or technical vocabulary.
Encourage questioning and allow time for answers. Check understanding.
Talk through procedures while you demonstrate them. It might also be useful to prepare an audio taped commentary to supplement descriptions of procedures.
Allow more time for the completion of tasks.
Be clear about expectations and time scales.
Check that students are not stuck on a particular activity.
Long practical sessions may be taxing – plan to include a break.
Allow students to work with a partner or in a group so different strengths and abilities can be encouraged. For example, one student records the data while the other manipulates the objects.

You can also consider and plan more focused adjustments that may be required by individual students.

A student may need to work with an assistant, such as a reader or a practical assistant who will work under the student’s direction. If a student is using a practical assistant to undertake tasks then discuss how this arrangement will work to ensure that the student participates in the activity and achieves the necessary learning outcomes. The practical assistant should assist with tasks that the student cannot do themselves but must not actually do the work, and the boundaries should be defined and agreed.
Consider how to communicate information to students who cannot see what you are doing, or cannot read instructions written in standard formats.
Deaf students cannot look at the process that is being demonstrated at the same time as looking at your lips or their interpreter, or look up from a complex task in order to receive instructions. Unless they are made aware, they may not even realise that you have begun to talk.
A student who communicates through BSL and who uses a sign language interpreter is unable to carry on doing a practical task while asking a question or responding to one of yours. They will need to use their hands to sign. This may present problems with some types of practical activities.
Consider using alternative activities with similar learning outcomes but where the practicalities do not produce barriers.

When you have a deaf or hard of hearing student in your class, use a ‘consecutive teaching technique’ wherever possible. For example, if you are demonstrating a piece of equipment

first explain the equipment and what you are going to do with it
then say it again while actually doing the demonstration
then recap and check for students’ understanding.

Other strategies may involve

providing annotated instruction notes beforehand, which the student can read before the demonstration. Make sure that any new technical vocabulary is also provided and described in advance
making a video recording of your demonstration with subtitles or a transcript
allowing the student to familiarise themselves with the equipment or to try out the experiment or activity in advance of the class
recognising that deaf students may not be able to ‘do’ and make comments or answer questions at the same time, and provide additional time
minimising noise as much as possible
attracting the attention of the deaf student when key points arise or if you need to make an announcement
ensuring that demonstrators and studio or workshop assistants are aware of good practice and know if a student needs support.

Some equipment may rely on hearing. If this equipment does not have an audible display it may be possible to purchase specially adapted versions for deaf users. However, don’t ignore simple solutions – a deaf student may be able to feel when a timer goes off by holding it in their hand or putting it in their pocket. If no suitable adaptations are available then the student will require assistance from a hearing person or support worker to work under their instruction.

Setting

Take the student on a tour of the laboratory, studio or workshop before the term or semester begins.
Discuss any safety concerns during the visit when there is a moment to talk privately. The student may or may not be aware of health and safety issues.
Make sure the aisles between benches and tables, with the stools or chairs in place, are sufficiently wide for a wheelchair.
Ensure laboratory equipment is accessible and workbenches are at a suitable height, and that stable seating is on offer – stools are not always the best option when balance is difficult.
Wherever possible, objects and equipment should be kept in the same place – you will need to tell a visually impaired student if they have been moved.
Make sure that walkways are kept uncluttered by bags and trailing wires.
You may need to provide a safe and suitable place for a student’s guide dog or hearing dog.
Many visually impaired students find it helpful to be physically closer to the work they are doing. Make sure that seating can be arranged flexibly to allow for this.
Some students may need to change their positions or move around the room to relieve pain. They may also need to leave the room more frequently than others.
Rooms with a lot of electronic equipment may make it impossible to use an induction loop. Some practical environments such as workshops are very noisy and may render a hearing aid useless. Some environments, such as photographic darkrooms, will have insufficient light to lip-read.

Equipment

It may be possible to adapt some equipment by adding larger handles or covers for handles to assist those with dexterity difficulties.
Allow the use of technologies, for example recorders for notes, laptops and alternative keyboards or communication aids.
Allow time to discover if electronic versions of equipment will suit better than manual versions, for example electronic microscopes or probes.
The student may wish to take in information by feeling equipment or employing some other strategy. Such alternatives should be explored and accommodated where possible.
Health and safety rules may appear to prevent students working in some areas, but there may be alternatives available, such as electronic heaters instead of Bunsen burners.
You may need to provide an individual orientation to equipment in laboratories or studios.
Some items need to be accessible from three sides so that if a student has paralysis on one side or has lost an arm he or she is able to reach – this is particularly true when working in a sink.
Switches and plugs may cause problems and should operate with light pressure.
Some types of equipment cause particular difficulties for deaf or hard of hearing students.

Deaf students cannot look through optical equipment such as microscopes and lip-read at the same time.
Some equipment usually requires hearing, for example a stethoscope or a Geiger counter. If this equipment does not have an alternative visual display then another way of presenting the information should be found.
A person working under a fume hood has little awareness of what is happening around them due to the noise of air extraction and their working position, with their back to the rest of the laboratory.