2018 Spring Conference

WAPED Spring Conference

April 18-20th, 2018

Location: Enzian Inn, Leavenworth, WA

Hotel Information

Book your hotel for WAPED now. Rooms are blocked until March 17th. After this date the Enzian will honor the conference rate if they still have space available. Enzian Inn web site. The booking code for the website is 10001 . If you call, tell them you are booking for the WAPED Conference or mention booking code 10001 . The Enzian reservations number is 1-800-223-8511. The single room rate with tax is $122.54, double room rate is $133.68.

Registration

Early Registration has been extended to March 17th

Registration – Early member* rate: $125.00 on or before March 17th (*Individuals must be current on their membership to receive this rate*)
Non-members and late registration (after Marth 17th): $160
Click here to register for WAPED Spring 2018 Conference

Conference Information

Leavenworth Restaurants
Conference Documents

Speaker: Elisa Laird-Metke, JD
Speaker’s bio

Conference Agenda

Wednesday, April 18

  • 8:30–9:00am: Registration & check in
  • 9:00–9:30am: Welcome and overview – Megan Jasurda and Jon McGough
  • 9:30–10:45: The case clear, written policies important? – Elisa Laird-Metke
    • What is required by the ADA
    • Outcomes of court/OCR cases where schools didn’t have clear, written policies about how to request accommodations
    • A conversation around the policies
  • 10:45-11:00am Break
  • 11:00–12:15pm: Ensure visibility of the disability office for applicants and new students – Elisa Laird-Metke
    • What information should be provided?
    • How/where should the information be provided?
    • Sharing best practices
  • 12:15–12:45pm: Lunch
  • 12:45-1:15pm: Ben Webinger
  • 1:15-2:30pm: Spring business meeting (Agenda, Fall 2017 meeting minutes), 2017-2018 board member elections (Nominee Bios), awards
  • 2:45- 4:00pm: Determining whether the student has a disability that qualifies for accommodations – Elisa Laird-Metke
    • Brief review of what constitutes a disability under the ADA
    • Gathering information—how do you use professional judgment to balance input from the following?
      • Student interview
        • Examples of standardized questionnaires
      • Personal observation
      • Medical documentation
        • What should it contain?
        • Who is a qualified professional to provide it?
  • 4:00pm: Wrap-up and door prizes

Thursday, April 19

  • 8:30–9:00am: Registration & check in
  • 9:00–10:30am: Determination of reasonable accommodations/academic adjustments – Elisa Laird-Metke
    • “Standard” or common accommodations
    • Reviewing requests for less common accommodations:
      • Does it fundamentally alter the curriculum/learning?
        • Some programs have Technical Standards to help gauge this
        • Engaging faculty in the discussion: What is being taught/measured? What is the essential learning?
      • Would it legitimately affect safety?
      • Undue burden on the school?
    • Offering alternative effective accommodations instead—process and cautions
    • Conditional accommodations
      • When are they appropriate?
      • Pros and cons
  • 10:30–10:45am: Break
  • 10:45–12:00pm:  Implementing approved accommodations/academic adjustments – Elisa Laird-Metke
    • Who is responsible for implementation—responsibilities of disability office/faculty
    • Effectively working with faculty, facilities, and others for smooth implementation
    • Re-evaluation: checking that accommodations are working as intended and adjusting as necessary
  • 12:00–1:30pm: Lunch (on your own)
  • 1:30–2:30pm: Policy and procedure best practices—avoiding common pitfalls and sharing winning strategies – Elisa Laird-Metke
  • 2:30–2:45pm: Break
  • 2:45–3:45pm: Case studies in accommodation determination – Elisa Laird-Metke
  • 3:45–4:15pm: Election Results and Mission Statement vote results, Wrap-Up and Door Prizes
  • 5:00-8:00pm: Hospitality

Friday, April 20

  • 9:00-10:00am: Technology Listserv in Real Time – Krista Greear, Dan Comden, Doug Hayman, Joetta Sieglock, Jason Varnado
  • 10:00-10:15am: Break
  • 10:15-11:00am: Ad hoc Committee on accommodation determination summary – Bree Callahan
  • 11:00-11:45pm: Committee breakouts and report back
  • 11:45pm-12:00pm: Wrap-up and door prizes
  • 12:15-1:00pm: College breakouts by institutional type, Alpine & Bavarian Rooms

Speaker’s Topic:
Many disability offices struggle with the topic of documentation: both the disability documentation requested of students and the documentation of staff members’ process and decision-making. There is certainly not just one correct approach to either, but failing to have any established procedures within the office fails to serve students well and can lead to legal trouble. So how does a school determine for itself what its processes will be? And what are the possible consequences for schools that have poor or no procedures established?

This interactive presentation will address how disability offices can provide the best service to students while ensuring that the school is applying meaningful, uniform standards and protecting itself from possible litigation. Topics will include:

  • The spectrum of approaches to the stringency required of student disability documentation, and how to determine which is best for your school
  • A flowchart for assessing an incoming student’s disability documentation to determine if a student’s condition rises to the ADA’s definition of “disability”
  • A template for determining appropriate accommodations based on identified functional limitations
  • Various ways schools can create a meaningful record of internal decision-making
  • Small group time to discuss and apply these approaches to real world scenarios

Emphasis will be placed on how each of these provides better access and transparency for students while satisfying the compliance expectations of the school’s administration. Throughout, illustrative OCR and court cases will be provided. The presentation will allow for plenty of time for Q&A and discussion.