Fighting the Hidden Barriers: Applying Universal Design for Learning to Library Instruction for People with Invisible Disabilities

Academic librarians are facing an increasing number of students with disabilities in their instruction sessions. The 2017 United States census shows that the percentage of people with disabilities has gradually increased over the past decade, from 11.9% in 2010 to 12.7% (U.S. Census Bureau, 2017). Within that group there is likely a large population of people with invisible disabilities. It can be very difficult to pinpoint the number of people with disabilities due to the fact that many do not wish to publicly disclose their disability and seek accommodation. To meet the needs of the increasing number of students with disabilities, colleges and universities have been adopting Universal Design for Learning (UDL).