Universal Design for Learning

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) has a foundation in the  Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which specified that architects design public buildings that are accessible for a variety of people with disabilities. Architects found that by thinking about accessible buildings it also helped to make a more people-friendly building for all persons, those able-bodied and those disabled.

The Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) adopted the idea of universal design and applied it to field of education in relationship to curricula (Hitchcock, Meyer, Rose & Jackson, 2003) and the notion that all students can succeed in school. Universal Design for Learning represents a paradigm shift away from thinking about adjustments made for each incoming student with a disability to thinking about varying the materials, methods, assessments, and the curriculum so that it is flexible and benefits a range of learning styles. For many years, educators have understood that people have different learning styles. They may prefer to learn through, kinesthetic, aural and visual styles. Some of us tend to teach in our own preferred style and often forget about students who learn in other styles.