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How do students with learning disabilities, hearing/visual impairments as
well as mobility limitations receive services to assist them? As the Counselor
for Students with Disabilities (CSWD), I am the professional staff person who
consults with students about specific academic adjustments and accommodations.
The student must first provide the CSWD with appropriate documentation
specifying their disability. At that time, I can begin working with the student
to assist them with their needs. Frequently requested, student-directed services
include:
Further, I am available to assist faculty in matters related to disabilities
services. If you have a question or concern regarding how to provide reasonable
accommodations to a student, I encourage you to contact me for clarification. It
is the student’s responsibility to provide faculty with a copy of an
accommodations request form that has been issued from the CSWD. I inform those
students who identify themselves as having a disability about this process. I
instruct them to provide faculty with this form as early in the semester as
possible, preferably during the first two weeks of class. To facilitate this
process, it is helpful for faculty to have a statement on the course syllabus
regarding disabilities services. The following is a sample disabilities
accommodations statement:
Please notify the instructor about any special needs
during the first two weeks of the semester. Those students needing
accommodations due to a disability must provide an accommodations request
form obtained from the counselor for students with disabilities located in
Room 202.
While we are legally obligated to provide accommodations to prevent
discriminating against a student’s disability, these accommodations are not a
guarantee that the student will always be successful or even pass the courses in
which they enroll. Instead, it is most important for us to make a good faith
effort to assist the student by giving them access to academic opportunities
through "reasonable" accommodations. "Reasonable" sounds
somewhat vague, but actually leaves the educator room for negotiating requested
accommodations. More specifically, if an accommodation has been requested that
an instructor determines is not appropriate for a particular course, a
reasonable alternative may be substituted. Remember, I am available to assist
with these and other issues related to disabilities services throughout the
academic year. Please contact me if
you have questions.
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