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Welcome! This guide is intended to provide faculty with a high-level overview of disability services. To help make the guide be more digestible, included with each “W” is a key takeaway. Let’s begin…
WHO is able to use disability services?
Under the protection of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA), Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, persons with a disability are protected from discrimination.
In higher education, this protection means that “no qualified individual with a disability shall, solely on the basis of their disability, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or otherwise be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity in higher education.” An individual with a disability, is “a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment.” (ada.gov/, n.d.).
- Some examples of disabilities or a “history of” are: mental health, chronic pain, physical health, chronic health condition, cancer, etc.
- “One or more major life activities” as related to school are learning or completing a task
Disabilities can be from birth or acquired later in life…
Disabilities can be cyclical, can flare up, or can go into remission…
Disabilities may be life-long, and some are temporary…
Disabilities and how they are experienced are unique to the individual — be respectful of each person’s disability identity.
Takeaway #1 – You do not have to be the experts in disability identity, rights, or services. Instead, invite a disability staff member into your classes at the start of the course to cover that information (just like you would for other student support programs).
WHAT are disability services in college?
Disability services in college provide students with documented disabilities academic accommodations in order for students to have equal access to the learning environment. The academic accommodations are not an undue advantage and do not fundamentally alter the course requirements. Students utilizing disability services adhere to the same academic standards and codes of conduct as their peers. The academic accommodations are based on how a person’s disability impacts their ability to learn and engage with the classroom experience (virtual or in-person).
Academic accommodations are the services, items, and/or adjustments made so that a person has equal access to the learning environment/physical space, course content and information, and task-completion or assignments.
Some examples of academic accommodations are:
- Extended time for tests and quizzes
- Distraction reduced setting for tests and quizzes
- Ergonomic equipment (e.g., lab table or chair)
- Alternate format for textbooks or written materials
- Preferential seating
Takeaway #2 – If you are unsure why a certain type of accommodation exists, how to implement an accommodation, or have a concern that an accommodation may be a fundamental alteration to the course, reach out to your disability services office… disability services and faculty are allies in supporting student success and retention.
WHERE can a student connect with disability services?
Disability services is most commonly found in student services, though at times it is a part of a different office. Every college may have a unique name for the program. Some examples of titles for disability services are: Office of Disability Services, Disability Resource Center, Accessibility Center, or Office of Accessibility Services.
Takeaway #3 – Make sure you know the name of the disability office at your campus, where the office is physically located, and the contact information. A best practice is to list how to connect with your campus’s disability services in your syllabus as well as post it in your online classroom (Blackboard, Moodle, etc.)
Extra takeaway for supporting military-affiliated students – Some colleges have an embedded disability professional on staff in the Veteran Resource Center or Veteran Services Office to make it easier for student veterans to connect with disability services.
WHEN should students register with disability services?
Disability services are available year-round. That being said, registering for disability services is an involved process, which students may not be aware of. Services are available all semester long, and students may enroll in services at any point in the academic calendar. Students may seek services at any time during their academic journey. Any time courses are being offered, disability services should be available for students to engage with (this includes summer or winter sessions). It is important to know that there are usually a couple of steps to registering with disability services, so informing students to plan ahead is helpful.
The steps to register with disability services typically include:
- Providing professional documentation about the disability — Some medical offices take longer to provide documentation than others. So, students need to plan according to the wait-time of their particular providers “request for documentation” timeline.
- Review of documentation by a professional in the disability office — These professionals may have the term “specialist,” “counselor,” or “advisor” as part of their titles, e.g., Accommodations Specialist or Disability Counselor.
- Intake appointment that includes an interactive discussion between disability staff and student to determine reasonable academic accommodations.
Takeaway #4 – A best practice is to remind students about disability services at the start of the semester and to encourage the normalcy of such support in addition to other academic supports you may recommend.
WHY might a student use disability services?
Here are some examples of why a student may benefit from disability services and what may be an accommodation to support them…
A student had an Individualized Education Plan in high school for their learning disability of dyslexia and would like to continue to get their textbooks in an alternate format.
- Students who had an IEP or 504 in high school will now work with the disability office for accommodations instead of an IEP/504 Team.
A student veteran with service-connected musculoskeletal chronic pain finds the hard chair in their English lecture is aggravating their back, so they’d like an ergonomic soft chair available to them.
- Student veterans with (and without) service-connected disabilities may find this office to be helpful, especially if they have a VA Disability Rating and/or ongoing VA medical appointments.
A student broke their dominant arm and is now having trouble completing any work that requires them to write or type, so they’d like dictation software and note-taker.
- Included in the temporary category are issues related to pregnancy complications, broken bones, surgeries, etc.
Takeaway #5 – Going back to the “who” of disability services, be kind and patient as each student may be at a different place in their disability identity and comfort with seeking support.
- Don’t assume every student with a disability is enrolled with disability services, nor should every student be expected to (if they do not want to use services, that is their decision).
- Encourage and support students who disclose disability information and inquire about disability services.
- Whenever possible, directly introduce a student to a disability staff member or the office (this is also known as a warm hand-off).
That’s it for now. I hope you have found this guide to be helpful. A well-developed relationship between faculty and disability services helps to create holistic support for students with disabilities. Disability professionals understand that disability topics can still be a sensitive topic and not always easy to talk about. To ease the conversation around disability services with students, check out this “College Disability Handout for Students” from Hira Byrne Consulting.
Final note: Regardless of what campus you are associated with, if you have questions about this article or handout, please feel free to contact the author Hira Byrne Paulin, CRC.
