The Accommodation Process

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, (1973)

• Covers all education

• Federal law that prohibits discrimination the basis of disability

• Requires all institutions receiving federal funding must provide accommodations or otherwise they could lose all funding

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, (1975)

• Covers K-12 schools

• Ensures access to education for all disabled children

• Mandates the school to create an accommodation plan for the student 

Americans with Disabilities Act as Amended (1990)

• Covers higher education among other entities that cater to the public 

• Requires institutions of higher education to provide effective access to all programs and services offered to all students 

• Establishes the legal, 3 prong definition of disability: "A qualified individual with a disability is defined by the ADA as having 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."

There are a variety of lens that influence how people interact with disabled students; some are outdated, some are emerging with current discussions of civil rights for all. All material is adapted from AHEAD 2019 National Conference. 

Charity Model Lens
Office frame:
The mission of the office is to help to students with special needs.
Leads to student thinking:
“I am the problem.”
“I am so grateful to get your help.”
Perceptions of others:
Accommodations = help. Providing them is a nice thing to do to help students who need extra support.

Deficit Lens
Office frame:
The mission of the office is to support and provide assistance to students with disabilities so that they can achieve their full potential.
Leads to student thinking:
“I am the problem.”
“I tried doing it on my own, but finally decided I couldn’t do it without help.”
Perceptions of others:
Students need to overcome their limitations if they want to succeed.

Compliance Lens
Office frame:
The mission of the office is keep the university in compliance with federal law and to avoid law suits.
Leads to student thinking:
“The university is only doing this because they have to.”
Perceptions of others:
What does the law require? Students with disabilities are litigious. The ADA is causing us so much extra work. Fear factor. Meet the minimum standards.

Civil Rights Lens
Office frame:
The mission of the office is ensure access for each and every student with a disability.
Leads to student thinking:
“I have a right to access.”
Perceptions of others:
Accommodations allow students to gain equal access.

Social Model Lens/Environmental Lens
Office frame:
The mission of the office is remove barriers in design so that everyone has equal access.
Leads to student thinking:
“I’m not the problem. The design is the problem.”
Perceptions of others:
Access is the responsibility of the designer. 

Social Justice Lens
Office frame:
The mission of the office is to work to create a campus where access and inclusion are seamless for people with  disabilities.
Leads to student thinking:
“I belong.”
Perceptions of others:
Creating accessible spaces is the right thing to do.

Diversity Lens
Office frame:
The mission of the office is to promote disability as an aspect of diversity.
Leads to student thinking:
“Being Disabled is my identity.”
Perceptions of others:
We need to hear from disabled people on this.

TWU DSS operates from a mix of compliance, civil rights, social model, social justice and diversity.

Students are required to self-identify with the university as disabled. When they apply online via myDSS, they should provide documentation of disability via upload to the application. Students should explain how they are impacted in the education setting and the housing setting. We can review student applications, and type out case notes from the application view. 

Things to keep an eye on: 

• Did the student provide their 7 digit student ID number? This can be found in Colleague.

• Did they upload documentation that matches our guidelines?

• Is the student registered for classes? 

• Are they a FTIC student or non-traditional? 

• Did they request accommodations for the intake meeting?

All coordinators must maintain an appointment schedule within their Google calendar that will be used for students scheduling meetings. 

From application:

When processing new student applications, the GAs will send an email template to students, allowing them to self schedule meetings with coordinators. 

Follow up meetings: 

Coordiantors should manage their own schedule outside of welcome meetings. They can use the self schedule links or manually schedule meetings via Google calendar. It is not recommended to schedule the appointments through myDSS as this can interfere with the self scheduling feature in Google calendar. 

During the Welcome Meeting, it is our job to set the stage for the student attending TWU as a disabled scholar. 

There are several topics you should cover that will aid you in determining reasonable accommodations (the next step). These topics are below in bold with sample questions and things to consider (hint: the topics will also form the headers for your case notes).

Major & Classification:

• What degree are they pursuing

• Are they a freshman/sophomore/junior/senior/master’s/doctoral level student

• For Denton students, is the student living on campus or commuting

• Is the program in-person or 100% online

Disability & History:

• What diagnoses does the student have that they feel contribute to academic and/or housing barriers?

• Do they have documentation of their disability(ies)? (Please refer to DSS documentation guidelines)

• What is going on in the student’s life that may be exacerbating disability symptoms?  For example, do they have added stressors, such as do they work?  Do they have a family that they are responsible for?  Are there any relationship issues?  Financial issues?  Health issues that are not disability-related?  Are they food insecure?  Are they not able to return to their home? (The coordinator does not have to ask all of these specific questions, but these are things to consider.  This is a good time to explore what additional issues the student may be facing.  This will help in being able to refer the student to appropriate resources and aid the student with the most effective support.) Know or ask when it is appropriate to complete either a Student in Distress report or a Title IX report. 

Classroom barriers:

How is the student impacted in the classroom?  Is it attention-related?  Do they get over-stimulated and have to exit the classroom? If they get over-stimulated in the classroom, do they need to consider certain items to decrease the over-stimulation, such as noise-reduction headphones or earplugs, fidget toys, sensory items,  Do they need to sit in a particular location?  Do they require physical accommodations in the classroom?  Ask open-ended questions so the student can think and explore where they have strengths and where they struggle, and how that is related to their disability.  For example, what is your experience in the classroom?  Do you ever have to exit the classroom?  Why?  Does it matter where you sit in the classroom?  Why?  Some students may need to bring in devices, some may need to have access to food and drink, some may need to have a different chair.  These accommodations have to make sense as it relates to their disability, though.

Note-taking barriers:

Is the student able to keep up with the instructor when taking notes?  Do they have a note-taking system in place that they like or are they searching for a better way to take effective notes?  Are they able to record lectures with a product like Glean, or do they need to consider a peer note-taker?  It is helpful to get familiar with the Glean product and look at the different short how-to videos in the skills portal on the Glean website.  This will allow the coordinator to give a good description of how it works, the advantages of it, etc.  This page on the Glean website can also be shared with the student so they can view it.

Testing barriers:

It is helpful to have the student explain their experience in the testing setting.  Some questions to consider:  Have you ever received testing accommodations before?  Which ones did you find helpful/would you like to continue?  What is your experience when you test?  Have you ever run out of time?  If you are given an hour long exam, how much time do you think you would need to complete the test?  Are you distracted by others?  Usually that will come up, as well as issues with spelling, reading (either due to a learning disability or low vision/blindness), etc.  A student may have to take breaks due to cognitive, psychological, or physical diagnoses.  A student may require access to food or drink to manage their disability, or have their smart device within access as they wear a monitor that is linked to it that is regulating a body system.

Reading barriers:

Does the student struggle to read?  Do they benefit from both reading and hearing the words at the same time?  If so, they may benefit from E-text, or alternative text format.  We can provide them with accessible PDF files of their books that they can drop into reader software so they can visually read along with their books and hear the words at the same time.  Do they need their text magnified? Do they need their exams printed ona certain color of paper to provide the right kind of contrast?  These are just some of the things that come up and we provide various accommodations based on the reading barriers the student describes.

Writing barriers:

Does the student report or have documentation of Dysgraphia?  Does the student indicate that writing is physically difficult for them or that their penmanship is very difficult for others to understand?  These are some examples when you may want to explore speech-to-text accommodations with the student.

Housing barriers:

When it comes to housing accommodations, most students are able to readily identify what accommodations they need to remove barriers.  A common accommodation request is a single room for various disability reasons. If the student is living in a dorm that has community bathrooms they may require a private bathroom due to disability.  Some reasons may be due to an increased risk for infection if they have to perform procedures such as self-catherization, if they have a skin condition where they have open sores and they need to keep their bathing area sanitary, etc.  If the student brings up concerns for the housing setting, it is a good place for them to start to explain how they are impacted in that setting.

Resources:

In this reporting section, please list all resources that you and the student discuss.

Accommodations:

In this reporting section, please list all of the accommodations that you and the student determine in the intake appointment. 

Accommodations must be reasonable, contingent on the design of the course and the program. All cases should be given individual consideration before denying any accommodations. 

Things to note about accommodations:

• Accommodations do not preclude any student from satisfying course objectives. 

• Accommodations should not create an unfair advantage for students.

• Accommodations are federally mandated; faculty should not deny them without the interactive process.

• Accommodations do not guarantee success or failure, they guarantee access.

The formula for accommodations:
Student self-report + documentation + professional observations + program/course requirements = accommodations

• Self report should always be given the greatest weight in the formula. The student is the expert on their disability.

• Documentation gets the second greatest weight in the formula. Often, providers will write up suggested accommodations, but they are not always reasonable for college. Consider the limitations imposed by disability per the provider in the determination. Sometimes additional documentation is needed when the student self-report is weak and the documentation doesn't provide enough detail. 

• Professional observations/wisdom is the third greatest weight in the formula. Consider what you know about a typical presentation of a disability and how it could impact a student's performance in college 

• Program/course requirements should be given the last weight in the formula. For the majority of courses and accommodations, there will be no issue with accommodations. In the event that there is a fundamental alteration, there must be an interactive process.

Accommodations that require committee approval (ARC): 

• Emotional Support Animal

• Single Room 

• Flex plan

Accommodations that require director approval: 

• Disability management supplies: testing memory aid

• Exam formatted in pre-determined sections with breaks in between.

• Class Presentation/In-Class Participation Modification

• Group work modification 

• Remote Class Attendance

Utilize the pre-made template in myDSS to write your Welcome Meeting notes. The notes should be detailed enough that we can understand the determination behind accommodation approval/denial at a later time. 

All interactions with students beyond the Welcome Meeting should be documented. You can use the "email forward" feature in myDSS to quickly document emails.