1. Director, Office of Student Disability Services
Working with Students with Disabilities: Focus on Accessibility, Awareness, & Inclusion
Tawny L. McManus
Director, Office of Student Disability Services
Fall 2016

2. Office of Student Disability Services (SDS)
sds.umbc.edu
Office of Student Disability Services (SDS)
Mission: To ensure equal access to all UMBC courses and programs to enrolled students with disabilities through accommodation provision.
Goal: To provide a welcoming, encouraging, and empowering environment to students with disabilities.
Contact Us:
Math/Psychology Building, 212
(410)

3. SDS Mission Statement
The mission of The Office of Student Disability Services (SDS) is to ensure that UMBC students with disabilities are afforded an equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from the programs, services, and activities of the University through the provision of accommodations and reasonable modifications that result in equal access and full inclusion.

4. The Laws: ADA, ADAA, Section 504 & Section 508
Reasonable accommodations must be provided for students with disabilities who “qualify” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA and ADAA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, who request and are eligible for services
All UMBC courses and programs must be accessible to individuals with disabilities as mandated by federal law.
What do these laws mean? They prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability.

5. The laws are meant to protect individuals with disabilities from discriminatory practices.
How can we be compliant with the law?
Practice inclusion and create an environment with a universal design perspective. 
Who enforces it? Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Civil Rights (OCR), Dept of Education

6. To be accessible is more than removing physical barriers.
What is accessibility?
“Accessible” means a person with a disability is afforded the opportunity to acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services as a person without a disability in an equally effective and equally integrated manner, with substantially equivalent ease of use.” 
To be accessible is more than removing physical barriers.

7. Who requires Accessibility?
Accessibility is for everyone, but it is required for individuals with disabilities.
A "person with a disability" is defined by federal law as any person who;
(a) has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities,
(b) has record of such an impairment, or
(c) is regarded as having such an impairment (42 U.S. Code § 12102).
“Major life activities” affected may include: walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, working, caring for oneself, and performing manual tasks.

8. What is an accommodation?
Academic accommodations are adjustments that provide equal academic opportunity for students with disabilities. 
Accommodations are designed to provide equal access to courses and programs, but they do not guarantee an outcome or a level of achievement.
ACCESS does not = SUCCESS
Accommodations are approved through the Office of Student Disability Services (SDS).

9. Accommodations may include, but are not limited to:
Exam administration (e.g., extended time or a reduced distraction environment). Only for registered SDS students.
Note-taking assistance (e.g., obtaining class notes from peers, SDS loaned Smart Pens, audio recording note programs)
Sign language ASL/oral interpreters, transcription, captioning
Scribes and readers
Assistive technology (e.g.., Kurzweil, Jaws, ZoomText, Dragon, Read & Write Gold)
Alternate format text (e.g.., Digital textbooks, accessible PDFs)
The Accommodations approved are based on the disability and the student’s challenges/barriers.

10. Confidentiality
The student has a right to privacy and confidentiality; we must both respect and protect those rights to be compliant.
The student has a right to choose whether or not to self-disclose the fact that he or she has a disability, as well as any information about the disability. Students choose whether they want to seek University supports or accommodations.
Professors and staff have no right to know if a student has a disability or their diagnosis and should not ask.

11. Performance Standards
Performance standards should be the same for all students. However, some students with disabilities may need to exhibit their knowledge or achieve course requirements differently than their peers. For example, a student may need to type an essay exam rather than write it by hand, but the standard for evaluating the work should not be different. You grade the content as you would any other student using the same rubric(s).

12. How does a UMBC student obtain accommodations?
Students with disabilities are not required to register with SDS, but those who wish to utilize accommodations must be registered with SDS.
To obtain academic or housing accommodations for a disability:
Students must disclose a disability to SDS through completion of a request for services application (done online through our Accommodate software)
Students will provide documentation of a disability by an appropriately qualified professional
Students will identify the accommodations they are requesting
Students will be scheduled for an intake appointment with a UMBC disability specialist to discuss the challenges, the documentation, and to determine appropriate accommodations
Information on requesting services can be found on the SDS website at sds.umbc.edu, in the Math/Psychology Building SDS office- Room 212, via at or by phone at (410)
New Fall Accommodate software became available online through our website! Students can register, request appointments, schedule tests, etc…

13. Ask us questions. Seek advice.
The Office of Student Disability Services “SDS” is here to help, support, and serve as a resource for students, faculty and staff.
Ask us questions. Seek advice.
And remember, ACCESS is a campus-wide, shared responsibility. The goal is inclusive excellence.

14. Ten Commandments of Etiquette for Communicating with People with Disabilities
1. When talking with a person with a disability, speak directly to that person NOT through a companion or sign language interpreter.
2. When introduced to a person with a disability, it is appropriate to offer to shake hands. People with limited hand use or who wear an artificial limb can usually shake hands.
3. When meeting a person who is visually impaired, always identify yourself. When conversing in a group, remember to identify the person to whom you are speaking.
4. If you offer assistance, wait until the offer is accepted. Then listen to or ask for instructions. For example, a person may not want you to push their wheelchair for them.
5. Treat adults as adults. Address people who have disabilities by their first names only when extending the same familiarity to all others. (And never patronize people who use wheelchairs by patting them on the head or shoulder.)

15. 6. Leaning on or hanging on to a person’s wheelchair is similar to leaning on or hanging onto a person and is generally considered annoying. The chair is part of the personal body space of the person who uses it.
7. Listen attentively when you’re talking with a person who has difficulty speaking. Be patient and wait for the person to finish, rather than correcting or speaking for the person. If necessary, ask short questions that require short answers, a nod or shake of the head.
8. When speaking with a person who uses a wheelchair or a person who uses crutches, place yourself at eye level in front of the person to facilitate the conversation.
9. To get the attention of a person who is deaf, tap the person on the shoulder or wave your hand. Look directly at the person and speak clearly, slowly, and expressively to determine if the person can read your lips. Not all people who are deaf can read lips. For those who do lip read, be sensitive to their needs by placing yourself so that you face the light source and keep your hands away from your mouth when speaking.
10. Relax. Don’t be embarrassed if you happen to use accepted, common expressions such as “See you later,” or “Did you hear about that?” that seems to relate to a person’s disability. Don’t be afraid to ask questions when you’re unsure of what to do.
And one more: Do not pet, play with, or feed service animals, typically dogs.