As a disabled student with a then-undiagnosed chronic illness, I knew that I would need to request disability accommodations for graduation when I was preparing to graduate from high school. Since I had difficulties with sitting and standing for long periods of time as well as a history of falls (including a broken ankle earlier in the school year), I talked to staff members of the graduation committee in advance to ensure that I could get the accessibility accommodations for graduation that I would need. This meant that I could focus on celebrating my academic accomplishments instead of thinking about whether I would fall off the stage or not.
Here are examples of chronic illness and disability accommodations for graduation ceremonies that can be used at commencements and events for graduates of all ages. This isn’t a checklist of accommodations to request, rather a “menu” that offers options that individuals can customize for their own needs.
Approving disability accommodations for graduation
Each school should have a designated point of contact for questions about graduation and information on requesting accommodations. Accommodations are typically approved by the principal or by Disability Services, and are typically requested weeks in advance. In high school, I talked to my case manager during an IEP meeting and also met with the principal and staff members in charge of graduation ahead of rehearsal. Colleges and universities typically have a point of contact with Disability Services or with the events management department.
For students and families that encounter barriers with access to graduation and are looking for an advocate who can help them, I recommend contacting their state’s Protection and Advocacy organization, which is a quasi-government agency that helps disabled residents with issues related to discrimination, abuse, and neglect. While I did not use them for graduation-related issues, another person I know contacted their state’s organization after their school told them they would not allow them to attend graduation due to their disability, and they were able to have this decision reversed after an advocate contacted the school.
Related links
- My Experience With Disability Law Center of Virginia
- Eight Things You Need To Know About Your Disability Accommodations
- How I Explain My Brain With Chiari Malformation
- What If I Have To Report Disability Accommodation Violations?
- Learning to Self-Advocate
- Disability and Classroom Accommodations For POTS
Venue accommodations and environmental accommodations
If graduation or commencement ceremonies are not being held on school property or in a familiar location, visit the venue in advance to visualize the layout and where different events will be located, as well as request any environmental accommodations for graduation. Some examples of graduation accommodations related to venues include:
- One of my friends noticed that there was a flickering light in the hall area where graduates would be standing before they walked into the ceremony, and alerted maintenance staff to make sure that would be fixed before graduation so that students with photophobia or photosensitivity would not be disoriented or distracted by the flickering
- A parent checked to make sure that their student would not be sitting directly under a bright light for the ceremony, and confirmed with the event organizer this would not be the case
- For a student with a chemical sensitivity, a request was put out to all graduation participants to avoid wearing strongly scented products during the ceremony
- Another person I knew wanted to walk across the stage for graduation, but could not tolerate sitting through the rest of the ceremony. After they walked across the stage, they discreetly walked to an exit area they had identified prior and waited for their family to escort them out of the venue
- After visiting a venue in advance, I decided to bring my polarized sunglasses to graduation to help reduce the intensity of the bright lights
For people that have handicap or accessible parking placards, another helpful question to ask either the venue or event organizers in advance is if they need to reserve parking in advance or have an additional pass that allows them to park in designated spaces. Some venues may also have loading areas close by, so graduates don’t have to walk across the parking lot. If the graduation is being held on a college or university campus, visitors may also be eligible to use disability transportation or paratransit service to get from the parking area to the venue, though they will need to coordinate this with their school.
Related links
- Environmental Accommodations For Low Vision Students
- Disability and Classroom Accommodations For Chiari Malformation
- How Tinted Glasses Help My Light Sensitivity
- How To Check Videos For Flashing Lights
- Using Disability Transportation Services In College
Ensure mobility aids can be used safely
Some students may need to use mobility aids during graduation such as a blindness cane, mobility cane, crutches, a walker, or a wheelchair, even if they don’t typically use these every day at school. One of the most important disability accommodations for graduation is to ensure mobility aids can be used safely and independently by the student, or with help from a guide/partner (more in another section). Examples of things to check include:
- Is there a ramp to the stage, and can the student maneuver across it? Some venues will let students practice moving on or off the stage before the official ceremony begins
- Are the aisles wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair or walker? Aisles will need to be a minimum of 36 inches wide in order to accommodate a standard-sized wheelchair or blindness canes
- Is there enough space for a student to store their mobility aid in a stationary position? Can they safely turn around to move to another location?
- For cane users, is there a place to safely store a cane when not in use? See post on storage solutions for more details.
Almost all of my friends who used a blindness cane either sometimes or all the time used it at graduation, because there are several potential tripping hazards and graduation itself is in an unfamiliar environment. Others used a human guide instead of or in addition to their canes. Since I didn’t start using a cane until college, I walked across the stage for my high school graduation with the help of visual landmarks and knowing who and what was on the stage, as well as letting staff know I would need extra time when walking up and down stairs.
Related links
- Disability Accommodations For Fluctuating Eyesight
- Twelve Blindness Cane Storage Solutions
- Having An Undiagnosed Chronic Illness In High School
- Ten Things To Know About Going To College With A Blindness Cane
- Ten “Odd” Things I Do With Double Vision
Add safety tape on the stage floor to serve as a visual guide
When working with an elementary school-aged student with a visual impairment, one of the suggested disability accommodations for graduation involved placing high-contrast safety tape in the school colors on the edge of the stairs (step nosing) and across the stage to serve as an additional visual guide so that the student could walk across the stage independently. This accommodation was also implemented for a middle school graduation to help students avoid walking into an area with the sound equipment.
Related links
- Participating In Drama and Theater Programs With Low Vision
- Dance Classes and Low Vision
- Middle School Classrooms And Low Vision Accessibility
- Fast Facts About Tactile Pavement
Use a guide/partner when walking across the stage
For students that find it difficult to walk across the stage by themselves due to disability, one option is to request a partner that can accompany them as they walk across the stage. While not all students will want or need to have someone walk with them, this is a helpful option to offer when considering disability accommodations for graduation. Some examples of ways I’ve seen this accommodation implemented include:
- For a student with POTS and balance issues, they asked their favorite teacher to walk with them across the stage when they got their diploma. The teacher walked on their right side, and their presence was not acknowledged when the student’s name was announced.
- Another student who used a cane walked across the stage with their friend who was also graduating, and they both received their diplomas at the same time. The friend was also given the option to receive their diploma separately later in the ceremony, but they didn’t want to rush back into line
- For an elementary school graduate with a visual impairment, the student asked a sibling to walk with them across the stage. The student was given the option to have their sibling get a shout-out with the announcements as they accompanied them, or they could pretend their sibling was “invisible” and not have their name announced.
- A middle school student with a physical disability had a cousin accompany them as they both received their diplomas at the same time. Another option was to have a friend who was directly ahead of them in line accompany the student, but they felt more comfortable having their cousin since they were used to walking together
- At a college graduation, some students with disabilities were accompanied by a partner/significant other.
In each of these scenarios, the students did not want to have a parent or member of the special education staff walk them across the stage, as they expressed that they wanted to be seen as independent; after all, they had each worked hard to earn these diplomas and did not have their parents sitting with them in the classroom all day. However, some students may still want to have a parent with them.
Related links
- Disability and Classroom Accommodations For POTS
- How To Be An Effective Human Guide For People With Vision Loss
- Should I Request a Human Guide At a Conference?
- High School Hallways and Low Vision
Lighting and flash photography requests
While it’s impossible to ban all flash photography for a graduation, I connected with the event photographers before the event and asked them not to take any flash photos while I walked across the stage, as I have photosensitive migraines. I also skipped the additional photo booth that was at the end of the stage, and instead took pictures outside of the venue with my friends, family, and favorite teachers. I received the contact information for the photographers from the graduation coordinator.
Some students with low vision may prefer to avoid additional lighting such as a spotlight when they are walking across the stage due to light sensitivity, or may need even more light so that they can walk successfully. For a student I worked with who needed more light, additional lighting was set up on stage and turned on shortly before the student walked across the stage, which was better than the original idea of having them wear a headlamp over their graduation cap. Another option was to set up LED strip lights in the school colors, but this was not implemented.
Related links
- How I Talk To Professors About Photosensitivity
- Lighting And Low Vision
- Managing Chronic Migraines in College
- Tips For Going To Prom With Chronic Illness
Create a social narrative/list of what to expect
A social narrative (also known as a social story) provides information about what visitors can expect in a particular situation or when navigating a specific environment, along with modeling appropriate behavior and sharing descriptions of what an environment looks, feels, and sounds like. While they are typically written for autism, I personally find them super helpful for visual impairment as they provide accessibility information that goes beyond the physical layout of a space.
My high school used a variation of the social narrative strategy to help me prepare for my graduation and provide reassurance that I wouldn’t fall off the stage. Some examples of information they shared included:
- Locations of various staff members during the ceremony, such as the names of teachers standing at the edge of the stage. I met these teachers at graduation rehearsals.
- The names of the person directly in front of and behind me in line.
- The fact I would need to walk up three stairs before stepping onto the stage, and I could hold onto someone’s hand/arm if I needed support (this is where having the names of teachers was helpful, and they knew in advance that I had trouble seeing).
- Who would be speaking and when.
- The location on the stage where I would be getting my diploma; knowing it was in the center made me more confident I wouldn’t fall down
- The color of the gowns that different staff members would be wearing, which was different than the gown I was wearing.
- Reassurance that I could follow the person walking ahead of me back to my seat
- Instructions on where I would be entering/exiting the venue, so that I could locate my family afterwards.
- Photos of the venue or a link to find more information.
My band director (who was also one of my favorite teachers) was the one who documented the majority of this information for me, and told me where the band would be located in relation to the stage as well, so I could come find them in case of an issue. This was all shared with me over an email as a bulleted list, though some social narratives also incorporate images, a mix of text and images, or even videos.
I felt comfortable asking my director since they would be at graduation, but if I wasn’t a band member, I would have reached out to the graduation sponsor/Student Council advisor, my case manager, or my guidance counselor. I didn’t have access to a teacher of the visually impaired (TVI/TSVI) at the time, but they would have also been a possible resource.
Related links
- Meet The Cast: Supporting Literacy For Students With CVI
- College Game Day and Sporting Events: College O&M
- Performing Arts Centers and Low Vision: College O&M
- Tips For Going To Prom With Chronic Illness
- How My Guidance Counselor Helped Me As A Low Vision Student
- Five Things Your IEP Case Manager Won’t Tell You
- Ten Things I Wish My TVI Taught Me About Transition
Dressing for graduation
For students that have difficulty regulating temperature, sensory processing issues related to clothing, or tactile defensiveness, choosing the right clothes for graduation can make a huge difference in helping a student feel comfortable and focusing on the event. It can be challenging to sit through a long event in uncomfortable clothes, so finding comfortable clothes to wear underneath a graduation gown is important so that students can focus on the joy of graduating, not the frustration of itchy fabric seams or uncomfortable shoes. I share a few strategies for modifying or choosing clothes with sensory issues below.
Related links
- Clothing Shopping Tips For Sensory Processing Issues
- Adapting Band Uniforms For Sensory Processing Issues
- My Favorite Shoes For Chiari Malformation
- Choosing Jewelry With Chronic Pain
Other resources on disability accommodations for graduation
- For event organizers looking for guidance on how to set up ADA-accessible spaces, check out this free guide: A Planning Guide for Making Temporary Events Accessible to People With Disabilities | ADA National Network (adata.org)
- My high school required that students attend at least two graduation rehearsals so that the staff could make sure that names were pronounced correctly and students would know what to expect. This was helpful for meeting the students ahead of me in line as well as the teachers
- Creating accessible graduation programs is another helpful accommodation for students and their families. One school I worked with converted the program into a Microsoft Sway document that was linked online and also shared a read-only DOCX file. Learn more about Sway in Creating Take-Away Documents With Microsoft Office Sway
- Wondering what happens after high school graduation? Browse College Transition Archives | Veronica With Four Eyes (veroniiiica.com)
Published May 9, 2024. Updated January 2025