How a teacher talks about accessibility, in the moment, often matters as much as what adjustment is actually offered. The five short scripts below are deliberately plain and low-key — none of them require the teacher to have specialist knowledge of a condition, and none of them ask the student to justify or explain their needs in detail. Avoid intrusive questions about diagnosis, treatment, family circumstances, or private medical information unless the student voluntarily shares it and it is directly relevant to what is being discussed.
Asking about support
Say: "Please let me know whether there are any agreed adjustments or accessibility arrangements I should be aware of for this module."
This works as a standard line in a first-session introduction, a welcome email, or a course handbook — normalising the question for everyone removes the pressure on any one student to be the one who raises it.
Responding to a disclosure
Say: "Thank you for telling me. I will treat this information confidentially and work with you and the appropriate university service to support your participation."
The key elements here are gratitude (not surprise or over-reaction), a confidentiality commitment, and a next step — this response works whether the disclosure happens by email, after a session, or in a one-to-one meeting.
Checking an adjustment
Say: "I would like to confirm that the agreed arrangement is working as intended. Please let me know if there is still a barrier."
This is worth using proactively, not only when a problem has already been raised — several chapters in Part 3 note that an adjustment agreed on paper is not the same as one confirmed as actually working in practice.
Addressing an accessibility problem
Say: "Thank you for raising this. I will provide an accessible version and review how the material was prepared so that the issue does not happen again."
This response does two things at once: it fixes the immediate problem and commits to a process change, which matters more than it might seem — a student raising a barrier wants to know it will not simply recur next week.
Referring to support
Say: "I may need support from the relevant university team to arrange this properly. I will explain the next steps and make sure the issue is followed up."
This is honest about the limits of what a teacher alone can arrange, while making clear the teacher is not simply handing the problem off and disappearing.