Music Listening as an Academic Accommodation for College Students with Disabilities

ABSTRACTMost colleges1 do not advertise all accommodations that are available to students nor do all institutions offer the same accommodations. This can be seen in instances where some universities allow students to listen to music during testing. Music has been shown to benefit students with various disabilities and help with focus and stress reduction, but this accommodation is not readily accessible to students. Music and accommodations, in general, are still viewed as predominantly “privileges” or “advantages” rather than rights promoting equity, diversity, inclusion for all students, and improved testing environments. Obtaining accommodations is based on the dominant medical model which emphasizes impairments rather than accessibility during the registration process. This research examines disability office websites for 50 land grant colleges across the United States to determine if listening to music is listed as a testing accommodation and the accessibility of that information. Of the 50 colleges, five universities had “listening to music during exams or tests” on their websites, and three of the five had the information in the faculty or student handbook, not easily accessible. Only two universities, Virginia Tech, and Washington State University, had information about music listening on their disability website. Future research should address the problem of “accommodations” versus “accessibility” as a right including the inconsistency of finding accommodation information such as listening to music during testing. 1 The terms college(s) and university(ies) will be used interchangeably throughout