Most instructors will allow any student to tape record lectures. If an instructor objects to recording, you should obtain a Self-Identification Form from your Disability Services counselor, verifying that this is a disability-related academic adjustment.

The tapes should not be used as a substitute for lecture notes, but rather as a means to ensure that you understand the lecture material and have complete notes. Tape recorders are considered personal equipment, and it is your responsibility to obtain one. Students working with the Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation (BVR), the Bureau of Services for the Visually Impaired (BSVI), or Veterans Administration Vocational Rehabilitation should check with their counselor to see if the agency will purchase an tape recorder for them.

Volunteer Notetakers

You may obtain a copy of a classmate's lecture notes by recruiting a volunteer notetaker. You should ask your instructor to make an announcement to the class that a volunteer notetaker is needed, or if you are comfortable doing so, you may ask your classmates whether they are willing to provide you with a copy of their notes. Ideally, two volunteers should be identified to allow for absences.

Sinclair's bookstore carries carbon-treated notetaking paper, and special ring binders which make it easier to write on two sheets as a time. This paper is labeled "notetaking paper for hearing impaired." Do not let this confuse you. The special paper was originally developed for deaf students, but the "notetaking paper for hearing impaired" is used for students with a variety of other disabilities as well.

Once you have purchased a supply of the paper and identified a volunteer, you provide them with the paper and binder at the beginning of class. At the end of class, each of you gets one copy of the notes, and you get back the remaining paper and binder.