Our Mission
The College of Southern Idaho is sensitive to and understanding of its responsibilities to equal access, accommodation and support of individuals with disabilities. Staff and faculty alike provide resources, advocacy and collaboration across our campus community. Within our Counseling Center, the Coordinator, Student Disability Services builds and maintains partnerships with students, faculty, staff and administrators to promote an accessible, non-discriminatory learning, teaching and working environment meeting the needs and abilities of students with disabilities.
In accordance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended in 1992 and with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, our Office of Disabled Student Services is proactive in developing specialized accommodations to best support the abilities of each individual eligible for such services.
Services
Student disability services are individualized to the needs of each student. Students who wish to provide the needed documentation for services and make a formal request for services are encouraged to contact the Coordinator well in advance. The earlier the collaboration begins the more readily the selection of services can be determined and provided.
Passed by Congress in 1973, this is a civil rights statute designed to prevent discrimination against individuals with disabilities. It provides that:
"No otherwise qualified person with a disability in the United States…shall, solely by reason of…disability, be denied the benefits of, be excluded from participation in, or be subject to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance."
A"person with a disability"includes "any person who (i) has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more of such person's major life activities; (ii) has a record of such an impairment, or (iii) is regarded as having such an impairment."
Section 504 protects the civil rights of individuals who are qualified to participate and who have disabilities. A "qualified person with a disability" is defined as one who meets the requisite academic and technical standards required for admission or participation in the postsecondary institution's programs and activities.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (A.D.A.) of 1990 is the civil rights guarantee for persons with disabilities in the United States. It provides protection from discrimination for people with disabilities in the areas of employment in the public and private sectors, transportation, public accommodations, services provided by state and local government and telecommunication relay services.
A "person with a disability", as defined in the ADA, is anyone with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, such as caring for one's self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning and working. This definition includes people with a range of invisible disabilities. These include psychological problems, learning disabilities or some chronic health impairments such as epilepsy, diabetes, arthritis, cancer, cardiac problems, HIV/AIDS, and more.
A person is considered to be a person with a disability if he/she has a disability, has a record of a disability or is regarded as having a disability.
Section 504 states that colleges and universities receiving federal financial assistance must not discriminate in the recruitment, admissions, or treatment of students. Students with documented disabilities may request modifications, accommodations or auxiliary aids which will enable them to participate in and benefit from all postsecondary educational programs and activities.
The ADA upholds and extends the standards for compliance set forth in Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act to include employment practices, communications, and all policies, procedures and practices that impact on the treatment of students with disabilities. Title I of this Act covers employment issues. For all activities, public institutions are covered under Title II; private institutions are covered under Title III.
The increased enrollment of students with disabilities in our colleges and universities is bringing renewed attention focused on disability access. This focus includes the whole scope of activities here at the College of Southern Idaho including facilities, programs and employment.
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A postsecondary student with a disability who is in need of accommodations is obligated to provide notice of the nature of the disabling condition to the college and to assist the college in the identifying appropriate and effective auxiliary aids and adjustments.
In elementary and secondary schools, teachers and school specialists may have arranged support services for students with disabilities. In higher education, the students themselves must identify the needs and give adequate notice of the needs.
The student's notification is provided to the Student Disability Services Office in the Counseling Center. Unlike elementary and secondary schools, colleges and universities will ask the student, in response to a request for accommodations, to provide supporting diagnostic test results and, depending on the nature of the request, professional prescriptions for auxiliary aids and adjustments. Postsecondary settings also may obtain their own professional determination of whether specific requested accommodations are necessary.
When a student has been found eligible for services, the student's knowledge and experiences, the information found in the documentation and the insights of the student, the instructor and SDS work in concert toward the design of a 'letter of accommodation'. In a memo to the student's instructors, this 'letter' outlines those educational adjustments and auxiliary aids needed to accommodate the student's disability(s).
The letter of accommodation is given to the student who is encouraged to set appointments with instructors of those classes where accommodations will be needed. Instructors can anticipate being approached by their students to share in this information and to collaborate towards the provision of needed services. The perceived openness of each instructor can go along way towards inviting the student to come forward and create this partnership.
Students come to CSI with varying degrees of preparation for these responsibilities. Some are most articulate about the impact of their disability on their learning and other major life activities. Others find themselves ill prepared to describe their needs and how to accommodate those needs. CSI's SDS and faculty work with students to increase their confidence, self-knowledge, willingness and ability to be true participants in this process. Such personal growth towards the empowerment of self-advocacy is a life-long skill all of our CSI students can aspire to achieve.
As students, faculty and our SDS work together, it is clear that there is nothing "cookbook" about the provision of accommodations for students in higher education. The accommodation serves to address the impact of a disability on a specific setting, task, goal, etc. Given the impact of a disability, with this student, in this class, the 'reasonable-ness' of any potential accommodation varies. It is possible to find an individual student who is granted the use of an accommodation in this class and not in their next class given in the same room by the same instructor. The impact of the disability, the parameters of an educational activity and the essential elements of the course or program all come into play in the selection and design of accommodations.
Provided here is not a "menu" from which students or faculty choose accommodations, but rather examples of accommodations, which are used by students in colleges and universities. This list serves as a picture of the scope and breadth of the accommodation designs, which may meet the needs of your students.
The best accommodations are unique to the individual and develop from a cooperative relationship between the faculty member and the student, sometimes with the assistance of the Student Disability Services office. There are a variety of resources that can support faculty understanding and application of strategies for fully including students with disabilities in course activities. Case studies and answers to questions faculty members frequently ask about accommodating students with disabilities in their classes are a couple of the more popular ways information can be provided to instructors.
Students want to learn and their instructors share this goal. How can instructors design their instruction to maximize the learning of all students? The field of universal design can provide a starting point for developing an appropriate model for instruction. This body of knowledge can then be applied to instructional design and help instructors create courses where lectures, discussions, visual aids, videotapes, printed materials, Web resources and field work are accessible to all students
University of Washington DO-IT ~ Faculty Room doit@u.washington.edu
| Students with Low Vision | Large print lab handouts, lab signs and equipment labels TV monitor connected to microscope to enlarge images Class assignments made available in electronic format Computer equipped to enlarge screen characters and images |
| Students who are Blind | Audio-taped or Brailled lecture notes, handouts and texts Raised-line drawings and tactile models of graphic materials Braille lab signs and equipment labels Adaptive lab equipment Class assignments made available in electronic format Computer with optical character reader, voice output |
| Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing | Interpreter, transcriptionist, assistive listening device, notetaker Looking at student when speaking; use of visual aids Written assignments, lab assignments and demonstration summaries Visual warning system for emergencies Use of electronic mail for class and private discussions |
| Students with Learning Disabilities | Notetakers and/or audio-taped class sessions Extended testing time, alternative testing arrangements Visual, aural and tactile demonstrations incorporated into instruction Computer with voice input, spell and grammar check |
| Students who have Mobility Impairments | Notetakers/lab assistants; group lab assignments Classrooms, labs and field trips in accessible locations only Adjustable tables; lab equipment located within reach Class assignments made available in electronic format Computer with voice input, adaptive mouse/keyboard |
| Students who have Chronic Illness | Notetakers; Flexible attendance requirements and extended testing time; Assignments made available in electronic format; use of email to facilitate communication |