You have been asked to provide a copy of your notes to a student with a disability who is in your class. The nature of the disability makes it difficult for the student to take notes. For your information,

An “individual with a disability” means “any person who has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities including walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working; has a record of such an impairment; or is regarded as having such an impairment.”

At FAU, some students have disabilities which make notetaking either very difficult or impossible. For example, students may have paraplegia, quadriplegia, degenerative neurological disorders, fibromyalgia, carpel tunnel syndrome, attention deficit disorders, or learning disabilities. While many of these disabilities are not visible, they can adversely affect the way a student learns in the classroom. For example, some students with neurological disorders can hold a pencil or pen, but only for a couple of minutes. Other students may not be able to sustain attention, such as those students with attention deficit disorders or epilepsy. An example is the student who has petite mal seizures in the class, and she looks as if she’s listening, but, instead, she’s experiencing a seizure. During that time, and during the recovery period afterwards, that student is missing vital class information. Finally, some students with learning disabilities will have difficulty in transferring words or thoughts to paper. Sometimes the student has difficulty “decoding” what is heard (i.e., s/he may hear “Tuesday” and think she hears “two days”), or poor listening, spelling, and writing skills make notetaking an arduous and frustrating task.

Your notes are a valuable aid for the student with a disability. You may find that by taking careful notes and using the following suggestions, your notes will be better, clearer, and more useful to you personally.

TELL ME MORE ABOUT VOLUNTEERING

The Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) at FAU has a unique volunteer system. Students who volunteer their efforts as Volunteer Notetakers are able to have their time input recorded on their university transcripts as Volunteer Hours. These Volunteer Hours can be impressive to future employers. For students who are involved with campus organizations, volunteer time can count towards Service Points. Please ask our office staff how to register with the Volunteer Center so you can begin earning Volunteer Hours or Service Points.

WHAT EXACTLY AM I VOLUNTEERING?

You are only volunteering your notes. If you are registered with the Volunteer Center, you will be amassing hours just by taking notes in class. It’s that easy!

You are not volunteering your time in any other way. You are not expected to meet with the student for study sessions. You are not expected to tutor. You are not expected to sit together in class. You are only providing notes which the student with a disability can use. If you decide you want to help the student in any other capacity, that is your decision alone.

CAN I KNOW MORE ABOUT THE STUDENT?

In the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD), you will learn the student’s first name and the first initial of the student’s last name. Due to certain federal laws which protect the student’s anonymity, other facts, such as the student’s full name and disability, are not disclosed. Many students with disabilities choose to remain anonymous and don’t identify themselves to their notetakers. However, some students with disabilities want their notetakers to know who they are. You may find that the student who you’re helping might one day approach you and tell you more about him or herself.

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HELPFUL HINTS FOR NOTETAKING

Below are some helpful hints to make your notes more useful for someone else, and maybe for you too!.

Decide how you will get copies of your notes to OSD.
We suggest four options:

1. Copy them at OSD at no charge.
2. Use NCR (carbonless paper) that provides a copy that you can tear off in class and give to the student there, if you already know who the student is (or you can give the copies to your professor to pass on to the student).
3. E-mail the notes.
4. Fax the notes.

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Deliver your notes within 24 hours to OSD, and no later than 48 hours. Generally, the student you’re helping will want to study from your notes before your next class session. Students with disabilities are expected to pick up their notes throughout the week.
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Provide backdated notes of lectures given before you began notetaking. Label each set of notes with the lecture title and date, and number the pages.

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Write as many meaningful facts and details as you can:

1. Write down everything the professor writes on the board. The professor must think that information is important.
2. Record all technical facts, names, dates, equations, diagrams, and examples.
3. Note clues the professor gives indicating that something is important, such as the repetition of a definition or point of information, change of voice, body language, verbal cues, etc.

ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS

Circle or star (*) assignments and announcements, such as test dates.

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Reading the text and reviewing your notes before class will improve your understanding of the lecture.

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Make the notes easier to read and more effective as a study aid by:

• using one side of the paper only
• using dark, ball point pen
• writing legibly
• leaving blanks when you are unsure (get clarification from the instructor after class)
• using correct spelling (if unsure of a word, write “sp” above the word and correct it later)
• using white space effectively (separate main ideas and other topics from the supporting details with a line or two
• marking points of emphasis (change the print, circle, underline, use stars, etc)
• underlining definitions and including them verbatim
• using abbreviations carefully (make a list at the beginning or end of your notes as to unusual abbreviations you used and what they represent)

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Listen intently from the beginning of the lecture. The professor may outline the lecture in the first few minutes and often will make sure that important details that have not been explained are covered in the last 5-10 minutes.

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Plan ahead for any future absences. Please ask a friend or classmate ahead of time to assist you in this regard.

DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE
THE IMPORTANCE OF YOUR CONTRIBUTION TO THE SUCCESS
OF THE STUDENT WITH A DISABILITY!

YOUR HELP IS SINCERELY APPRECIATED!!!

With your cooperation in sharing your notes, the student has a chance to concentrate on the content of the information presented in class instead of on the mechanics for getting the lecture down on paper. This shifts the emphasis back to what is to be learned instead of how to learn it, and this may make all the difference for that student when it comes to grades and tests. It may make the difference in the student’s ability to demonstrate what she or he knows.

Boca/Port St. Lucie:
777 Glades Road, SU Room 133
Boca Raton, FL 33431
Phone (561) 297-3880 Fax (561) 297-2184
TTY (561) 297-0358

Broward Campuses:
2912 College Avenue, MD I Room 104
Davie, FL 33314
Phone (954) 236-1222 Fax (954) 236-1123
TTY (954) 236-1146

Jupiter Campus (Office of Diversity Services):
5353 Parkside Drive, SR Room 117
Jupiter, FL 33458
Phone (561) 799-8585 Fax (561)799-8721
TTY (561) 799-8565

Website Address: www.osd.fau.edu
Alternate format available upon request

Rev 04/06

Helpful Hints

for

Notetakers

at Florida Atlantic University

An Informational Brochure
from the
Office for Students with Disabilities