This webinar will provide an overview of the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) Law and principles of Universal Design as they apply to testing accommodations. The focus of the presentation will be a discussion of best practices in providing reasonable accommodations to students with disabilities in a college testing center.

Tom L. Thompson

Retired - Director, Disability Services and ADA Coordinator
William R. Harper College

Tom Thompson is the retired Director of Disability Services and ADA Coordinator for Harper College. He worked in this role since 1980. Tom has also been active on campus in numerous roles including: serving on three accreditation committees, chairing a Crusade of Mercy fund raising campaign for three years, teaching as an adjunct faculty member and helping to create several scholarship programs for students. He has written and managed grants totaling over $6,000,000 and raised $750,000 in private/corporate funding. He is currently working part time for the College as a Grants and Resource Development Specialist.

Tom holds a MA degree in Rehabilitation Counseling and a BA degree in Psychology and Philosophy. Besides working at Harper College he has twice served on the Board of the Association on Higher Education and Disability, was a founding member of the Illinois-Iowa AHEAD chapter and has presented at numerous conferences on program development, budgeting and program assessment. He has particular interests and specialization in working with students who are deaf/hard of hearing, in program review methods and in mentoring new professionals. He has received awards for his work from the ILLOWA and the national chapter of AHEAD. He has taught as an adjunct faculty member in Allied Health for Northern Illinois University and in Northeastern Illinois University's Rehabilitation Counseling graduate program. He has been a consultant to higher education institutions on issues on ADA compliance, accessibility, grants management and program evaluation.

Tom is married to Barbara and they are the parents of six sons. They now have eleven grandchildren living in Illinois, Wisconsin and Tennessee. His family are all avid SCUBA divers and take trips regularly to explore the underwater realm, returning annually to the Bahamas for family vacations. He is also a musician having played the guitar for over 30 years.

Heidi Pettyjohn has been the Manager of the Testing Services office at the University of Cincinnati in Cincinnati, Ohio since 2009. She has previous university experience in student financial aid and disability student services, and has worked as a therapist in both private practice and community mental health settings. She holds an MA in Mental Health Counseling and a BS in Secondary and Early Adult Education as well as in Biblical Studies.
Heidi is a member of the Ohio College Testing Association Steering Committee and is involved with the National College Testing Association's committee on Accommodated Testing. She has been a speaker at the Kentucky Association Testing Administrators Chapter annual conference and a presenter at the NCTA National Conference and the University of Cincinnati Diversity Conference.
She lives in Cincinnati with her husband and son and enjoys traveling, going to concerts and cheering on the Cincinnati Bengals.