Trinity Washington University Providing Accommodations: Office of Disability Services Trinity Washington University Kimberly O. McManus, M.Ed., M.Div. (ABD) Director, Disability Support Services Main

Working with Students with Disabilities STUDENTS MUST SELF-IDENTIFY TO DSS. To document a disability, students must complete and submit all necessary. DSS creates INDIVIDUAL ACCESSIBILITY LETTERS for each student. STUDENTS SHOULD BE PROACTIVE in meeting with you, the faculty member, to present their accommodations EITHER at the beginning of the semester OR later, if they are still in the process of securing documentation. Please meet during office hours, before class, or after class. Please do not discuss a student’s personal requirements while other students are present. As the faculty member, please sign the accessibility letter. Keep one copy for yourself and give the other signed copy to the student, which the student will return to DSS. NOTE: Letters are only valid for one semester. PROVIDING ACCOMMODATIONS IS MANDATORY. Both DSS and you, the faculty member, are required to provide approved accommodations listed in a current accessibility letter.

PLEASE NOTE: 1.We cannot force students to use their accommodations. 2.Do not provide accommodations to students who do not present you with a current accessibility letter. Please direct the students to DSS. 3.Do not provide accommodations that are not listed in the letter. Only provide those accommodations that are listed in the letter. Some are provided by DSS, and some are provided by you, the instructor. 4.Do not force a student to self-identify. For example, “Hey, Zoe, it looks to me that you’re struggling with writing. Maybe you have a learning disability. Have you ever thought about that? Were you in special education in high school?” Instead, please include a brief statement in your syllabus and mention DSS on the first day of class. You may also reiterate this information around midterm; however, do not diagnose students and force them to self-identify. 5.Please be mindful that double-time is the maximum time allotted for students to complete exams or quizzes. Please do not tell students to take as much time as they need.

6.Providing cheat-sheets or study guides is not an accommodation. Only provide a study guide to students with disabilities if you provide it to the entire class. 7.When students take exams with DSS, please notify DSS of the deadline by which the student should take the exam. Students with disabilities should be given a reasonable period in which to take their exam(s) with DSS. However, students should not be allowed to take their exams “whenever” as doing so will cause them to fall behind in their assignments. 8.Regarding extension on assignments: Some students will tell you that they receive extensions on assignments. THIS ACCOMMODATION WILL BE LISTED IN THE CURRENT ACCESSIBILITY LETTER if it is applicable to the student. In this case, the student is to meet with you at the beginning of the semester after having reviewed the syllabus. The two of you decide what is a reasonable amount of time to complete an assignment. Please note that extensions are not provided past the end of the semester. 9.Students with disabilities must be “otherwise qualified” per the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Therefore, you may not alter the curriculum for a student with a disability. The academic standard required of the class and for other students must be the same standard required of students with disabilities. 10.When in doubt, please contact DSS.