A study from Western University surveyed 83 students with disabilities to explore disabled students' lived experiences. Results from this research are summarized. 

• Out of the 83 respondents, only two identified as having a visible disability, while 17 identified as having both a visible and an invisible disability. 
• The study found access fatigue is an additional stressor for learners with disabilities and is often compounded by issues such as food and housing insecurity, and financial challenges. 
• Access fatigue is the exhaustion experienced by people with disabilities as the result of the additional labour incurred from requesting their accessibility needs.  
• It includes the time and energy to gather and secure documentation (physician reports, assessments) to access accommodations. Physicians often charge to complete medical reports; this financial cost can be an additional source of access fatigue.  
• One student shared “It seems like I have to qualify my struggles more often and justify a need for support to a degree that seems unwarranted.” 
• In post-secondary, often learners must register with multiple service areas to address all their needs which can result in access fatigue. 
• Four teaching practices were identified to reduce access fatigue: flexible deadlines, hybrid course delivery, posting of slides in advance and captioning of audiovisual material. 

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Visit our ALS Information for Faculty website to learn more about accommodating students with disabilities. 

Please email us at accessible-learning@humber.ca with suggestions for key accessibility-related topics that you would like us to address through the Communiqué.