Rights and Responsibilities
SOU Disability Resources
SOU Disability Resources
Educational access is the provision of classroom accommodations, auxiliary aids and services, and accessible technology to ensure equal educational opportunities for all students regardless of disability. Creating equal educational opportunities is a collaborative effort between the student, the faculty member, and Disability Resources.
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, as amended, protect students with disabilities from discrimination that may occur as a result of misconceptions, attitudinal barriers, and/or failure of the institution to provide appropriate accommodations, auxiliary aids, or services.
Examples of accommodations and auxiliary aids include, but are not limited to: qualified interpreters, note takers, extra time for exams, and educational materials in alternate format (i.e. Braille, audio, electronic format, enlarged print).
A - Accessibility
C - Communication
C - Confidentiality
E - Eligibility for Accommodations
Disability resources is the office designated to determine eligibility for federally mandated academic accommodations and services.
S - Student Responsibility
Students have a responsibility in ensuring they get the necessary services.
S - Support
Both faculty and Disability Resources work together to support students in their legal right to access an education.
Documentation
Request verification of a student’s eligibility for any requested accommodations. Such verification will be in the form of an email generated by the student from an online database.
Disability Resources is the only office designated to review disability documentation and determine eligibility for appropriate accommodations. Faculty should not view this documentation.
Accommodations
Accommodations
Confidentiality
Communication
Clearly communicate your testing procedures with the student and with Disability Resources. Faculty do NOT have the right to ask students if they have a disability. For those students with documented disabilities, faculty do NOT have the right to ask about the nature of the disability. However, if students choose to disclose their disability, this information should be treated confidentially.
Confidentiality
Accommodations
Documentation
Confidentiality
Accommodations
Communication
Act as your own advocate. Work with counselors on developing advocacy skills and communicating your specific needs and accommodations to faculty.
Documentation
Accommodations
Documentation
Confidentiality
Accommodations
Communication
Advocacy
Alternative Media
Auxiliary Aids
Exam Accommodations
Legally mandated services that allow students with disabilities to exhibit their knowledge on exams by using auxiliary aids which include but are not limited to: extra time, a reader/scribe, computers, large print, CCTV, distraction reduced environment, etc.
Universal Design
An approach to designing course instruction, materials, and content to benefit people of all learning styles without adaptation or retrofitting.
Universal design provides equal access to learning, not simply equal access to information. Universal design allows the student to control the method of accessing information while the teacher monitors the learning process and initiates any beneficial methods.
This publication was developed by Patricia Carlton, Jennifer Hertzfeld, and Ann Yurcisn and was funded by the U.S. Department of Education under project #F738322
Reproduced here with the permission of The George Washington University HEATH Resource Center
2121 K Street, N.W. Suite 220 • Washington, DC 20037