This project explores how college students perceive Americans with Disabilities Act accommodations given to their disabled peers. Specifically, I use an experimental design to investigate judgment about accommodations based on disability type—physical (blindness) and psychiatric (depression) -- compared to a control condition of unspecified disability. Drawing on research suggesting there are societal biases against mental health disabilities (Dolmage, 2017), I hypothesize that students will be less supportive of accommodations for psychiatric (invisible) disabilities compared to physical disabilities or the control. Additionally, I will measure students’ tolerance for administrative burdens—i.e., the extent to which they believe disabled students should bear costs for accessing accommodations. My research will be the first to apply an administrative burden tolerance scale in the context of disability in higher education. This study has significant implications for understanding ableism on campus, the barriers disabled students face beyond legal compliance, and how students' biases might influence professors’ willingness to accommodate. Ultimately, the project contributes to both educational equity and political science by examining support for a crucial piece of civil rights legislation, the ADA.

1a. College students will be less likely to support academic accommodations (i.e., extended time, alternative testing environments) for peers with a psychiatric disability in comparison to a control group (disability unspecified). 

1b. College students will be more likely to support administrative burdens for peers with a psychiatric disability in comparison to a control group (disability unspecified). 

2a. College students will be more likely to support academic accommodations (i.e., extended time, alternative testing environments) for peers with a physical disability in comparison to a control group (disability unspecified). 

2b. College students will be less likely to support administrative burdens for peers with a physical disability in comparison to a control group (disability unspecified). 

Experimental Design

The study is a between-subjects design where respondents are randomly assigned to respond with their opinions regarding academic accommodations and administrative burdens for students with one of three types of disabilities: psychiatric(depression), physical (blindness), or unspecified (acting as a control). Survey respondents will be unaware of the treatment group to which they have been assigned. We use simple block randomization, where each respondent is randomly assigned to one of three, equally sized blocks (with the alteration of the type of disability: psychological, physical, or unlabeled). The random assignment is done by Qualtrics.