Implementing the P-E-O Model

(Person-Environment-Occupation)

in Higher Education

Abeer Abdel Raouf

Alexandra Gazis

Presentation Overview

• Introduction

• Legal Basis

• Student Disability Services & Types

• Student Disability Services Unit (SDS)

Registration Process

• Students population in classroom

• PEO Model

• Q & A

Legal Basis

Section 504 of the 1973 RehabilitationAct

“No otherwise qualified person with a disabilityshall , solely on the basis of disability, bedenied the benefits of, be excluded fromparticipation, or be subjected todiscrimination under any program oractivity receiving federal financialassistance”

The Americans with

Disabilities Act

Civil rights legislation which

reaffirms the 504 regulations and

brings new attention to disability

issues and the rights of people with

disabilities

Section 504 of the U.S. Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with

Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities. These

laws require universities to provide reasonable accommodation for qualified individuals

with a disability to ensure their equal access and participation in services, programs, and

activities offered by universities. Reasonable accommodation encompasses both physical

access and academic modifications for those individuals with identified and documented

disabilities to enhance their capacity to perform to the best of their ability.

The US definition of disability encompasses a person who has a physical or mental

impairment that substantially limits one or more of such person’s major life activities

(functions such as caring for one’s self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing,

speaking, breathing, learning and working), has a history of such impairment, or is regarded as

having such impairment.

Specific types of disability include:

* Physical (affecting the body)

* Psychiatric (affecting the mind)

* Sensory (affecting seeing or hearing)

* Cognitive (affecting learning and understanding)

To provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with physical, learning or psychological

disabilities.

Reasonable accommodation means

(a) any reasonable modification of the institution’s rules, policies or practices;

(b) auxiliary aids and services, and/or

(c) environmental adjustments, such as the removal of architectural or communicative barriers.

Admission &

Enrollment

Send appropriate documentation to SDS for review

and approval

Complete SDS registration

processStudents now

officially registered with

SDS

SDS Registration Process

Students notified and

asked to meet with

SDS executive

Approved

Not approved

Accommodations and Services provided immediately + Follow up and Support (All students are followed up on regular basis through out their years at AUC till graduation)

Students

Hidden Disabilities

(HD)

Students Population in classroom

Accommodations granted from SDS

DocumentedDisability

Know

Don’t

know

Faculty, Staff and Students Responsibilities Regarding Accommodations

Temporary Disabilities

PEO Model

Person- Environment- Occupation

PEO Diagram

Identifying Performance strengths and weaknesses

AssessPersonal

Components

AssessOccupation

Activities, tasks

AssessEnvironmentConditions

Bring this information together in a transactional framework to develop action plan with student. Outcome is evaluated by measuring

performance & social adaptation

OccupationEnviron.

person

Performance

Asses Student’s Performance Goals

Person Environment Occupation

What : environment” factors may be hindering the

achievement of the goals?

What “person” factors may be hindering the performance of the

student ?

What “occupation” factors may be hindering

the mastering of the goals

Can these be changed? Can these be changed? Can these be changes?

Choose the best Intervention Strategy A change in which factor(s) ( P-E-O) is most likely to result in the student achieving their goal?

Scenarios

Poor Fit Vs. Good Fit

Q & A