Academic Reasonable Accommodations for Post-9/11 Veterans With Psychiatric Diagnoses, Part 2

Conclusion

Formal academic accommodations are viable tools for cultivating academic success among student-veterans with significant psychiatric conditions. The adoption of such interventions requires understanding post-9/11 veterans’ motivation and concerns about formal academic accommodation requests. Application of the HBM can guide clinicians in their discussions with post-9/11 veterans. By understanding the veterans’ perspectives on the subject, HCPs can directly address the factors influencing the decision to seek academic accommodations.

Ensuring successful transition to the student-veteran role is of prime importance for veterans who bear emotional scars from military service. To this author’s knowledge, no structured educational programs currently exist that inform either post-9/11 veterans or their HCPs about pertinent aspects of academic accommodations for student-veterans with symptomatic psychiatric diagnoses that impede learning. Future endeavors need to include development of programs to inform veterans and providers about this important topic. Such programs should not only promote the dissemination of general information, but also explore specific ways to tailor accommodations to the cognitive needs of each veteran.