OTHER ACCOMMODATIONS: MEMORY AIDS

The “Memo to Faculty” that you deliver to your professors lists the accommodations to which you are entitled.  Under “Other”, you will find “Memory aids, approved by professor, for tests and exams involving rote material.” 

[1] How Are Memory Aids Provided?

You must devise your memory aid and have it approved by the professor in advance. Your professor must approve the memory aid (to make sure it is not giving away answers, and so on). Then the professor puts both the test and the memory aid in either the College Test Centre or the SSD Test Area.  You will not write a test using a memory aid in the classroom unless the entire class is using a memory aid.  

You are not allowed to bring materials of any sort into the test areas yourself.  Any materials you are permitted to use will be submitted with the test by the professor.

Think of a proper memory aid as a sort of  “address book”.  It will not be useful to you unless you know how to use the information it refers to. If you don't understand the course material, a memory aid will not help you.   

The memory aid allows you to demonstrate your knowledge of course material by helping to trigger your memory. Your professor must approve the memory aid in advance of the test.

[2]  What is Not a Memory Aid?

Memory aids are not:

·	answer sheets
·	substitutes for studying
·	an exemption from knowing the course material
·	full course notes
·	open textbooks

[3] What Does a Memory Aid Look Like?

On half a page of 8 ½” X 11” paper or a large file-card, you record anything that will allow you to remember key information necessary for the test.   Acronyms, pictures, certain word-for-word definitions, and certain formulae, are among the items most frequently found on memory aids.  

Professors are not responsible for devising memory aids.  You select what will aid you best, and you decide which information you need cues for.  You and your professor work out the final version. 

Memory aids are often small for two main reasons: 
1)  the small size means that the aid could be used at a workplace,
2)  the small size requires you to choose information carefully and efficiently.  This process is also a powerful form of studying.

[4]  When Should Professors Approve Memory Aids?

The ideal memory aid would make no sense to anyone but you. If it is useful only to you, the more likely your professor will be to approve it.

What is a memory aid in one situation could be an answer sheet in another.  If, for instance, the purpose of a test is to discover whether or not you know the definitions of certain terms, having those words and terms on a memory aid would make it an answer sheet and, therefore, not allowable.  If the definitions were written but not connected to the terms to be defined in any way, this may be allowable, since it will trigger your memory of the correct term. 

[5]  Who Requires Memory Aids?

Memory aids may be recommended for students with documented disabilities characterized by deficits in rote memory, sequencing memory, working memory, and/or long-term memory.  Disabilities that may affect memory include:

·	head injury
·	psychiatric disability
·	specific learning disability
·	ADD/ADHD
·	medical condition

Questions? Concerns? Contact us: disability.services@humber.ca