General definitions
Disability: A substantial limitation in one or more major life activity. Students should not be asked to describe or disclose their disability to faculty members.
ADA/Section 504: The Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 are the relevant statutes with regard to WSU students (and employees) with disabilities. The intent of the law is to ensure that no otherwise qualified person with a disability will be denied access to, or the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination by, any program or activity provided by any public institution or entity. These laws are enforced by WSU’s Office of Civil Rights Compliance and Investigation, the Washington Human Rights Commission, the Office of Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice, in conjunction with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In addition, individual litigants can enforce these laws through lawsuits.
Functional limitation: This refers to what an individual cannot do on a regular and continuing basis as a result of the disability. These limitations may vary, depending on the severity, frequency and pervasiveness of the condition(s).
Faculty Notification Letter: The Faculty Notification Letter (FNL) is the official document that lets Faculty know there is a student in class requiring accommodations. Faculty will automatically receive Faculty Notification Letters via email. The subject line in the email will be: “Notification of Accommodations.” The FNL outlines the accommodations for which a student has been approved and advises instructors on how they are to proceed. If you have any questions about accommodations, or aren’t sure what your role is, please contact the Access Center.
Reasonable accommodation: A modification or adjustment to an academic course, program, service or activity that enables a qualified student with a disability to have an equal opportunity to learn or participate in and benefit from the academic community by eliminating or reducing disability-related barriers.
Testing accommodation definitions
Extended time: This accommodation addresses many limitations such as lack of focus, anxiety, processing speed issues, reading disorders, compromised memory, etc. The most common accommodation is 1.5x or 2x the allotted class time.
Distraction-reduced environment: This accommodation addresses issues of concentration, lack of focus, use of assistive technology, anxiety, space to address chronic medical conditions, etc. Most students with this accommodation test in the Access Center’s testing services classroom (Classroom Building, Room 160A), and in rare cases, an individual private testing room (Classroom Building, Room 160 GA-GD).
Memory aids: For students with certain cognitive impairments (traumatic brain injuries/seizure disorders/strokes/side effects from medication), a memory aid is reasonable. Authorized memory aids usually consist of one or more 3X5 index cards (written on both sides) that contain information that will help to jog a student’s memory. Examples include: unlabeled formulas, unlabeled diagrams/flow charts, terms and definitions written in student’s own understanding, etc. A memory aid is not to contain answers to tests or compromise the integrity of the exam in any way. Instructors must approve all memory aids at least 48 hours prior to the scheduled exam. If students take their exams at the Access Center, instructors then send the memory aid with the examination materials to the Access Center. The memory aid must have the instructor’s signature to indicate approval. It may also be emailed directly from the instructor.
Computer access: For certain disabilities (physical limitations, certain processing disorders), students must be able to answer essay questions with the use of a computer.
Testing integrity: Any cheating during tests or any inappropriate sharing of information will result in the student being referred to the Center for Community Standards for further action.
Lecture accommodation definitions
Rest/medication breaks: Students may need to leave class for a short period of time to accommodate their psychological or medical condition. Some students may need to stand for a short amount of time.
Livescribe Smartpen: Smartpens capture everything that a person writes and hears and therefore gives the student more independence and control of the note taking.
Note taker: If a student has been approved for a student note taker, the Access Center note taking services assistant will recruit students through the class roster and may contact the instructor to discuss procedures.
Access to lecture PowerPoints before class: Students with certain disabilities (e.g., ADHD, specific learning disabilities, traumatic brain injuries, information processing disorders) have great difficulty writing down information posted on PowerPoints and capturing what the lecturer is saying at the same time, due to processing speed limitations or reduced ability to retain information in memory for several seconds/minutes. Having access to PowerPoints before class reduces the amount of material a student has to capture and increases a student’s understanding of the material heard in class. Instructors, who are concerned about posting PowerPoints before class or sending them electronically to a student, may instead give a student a paper copy as they enter the classroom.
Digital recorder: Students with processing disorders/memory loss benefit from recording lectures.
Laptop or tablet usage: Certain limitations require that a student take notes on their computer as opposed to handwriting.
Closed captioned/transcribed audio materials: Deaf or hard of hearing students must have audio materials transcribed or closed captioned. This accommodation also assists students with auditory processing disorders. The Access Center will inform all instructors if they have a deaf or hard of hearing student in their course to expedite the closed captioning process and as much as possible will do so one month in advance of the start of the term. A closed captioning request can be submitted via the closed captioning request web form.
Course Content and Materials Usage Agreement: All students who record lectures or who receive lecture notes/PowerPoints as accommodations sign a Content and Materials Usage Agreement, agreeing they will not share the materials they receive as an accommodation.
Disability-related Flexible Attendance: This accommodation potentially provides relief from requirements for physical attendance in classes due to the nature of their chronic, episodic or temporary disability. The student is responsible for all course material, including materials covered or work done during such disability-necessitated absences. Students with this accommodation are still required to meet all of the course’s core learning objectives and curricular outcomes. The student and instructor should have an interactive discussion regarding this accommodations, and complete and sign the form within the first two weeks of the semester or after being approved. If any questions, please contact the Access Center Coordinator for guidance.
Disability-related Flexible Assignment Deadlines: This accommodation may provide extension of assignment deadlines for students with chronic, episodic or temporary disabilities. In some cases, allowing students to turn in work beyond the date normally allowed in a course is a reasonable accommodation. The student and instructor should have an interactive discussion regarding this accommodations, and complete and sign the form within the first two weeks of the semester or after being approved. If any questions, please contact the Access Center Coordinator for guidance.
Other accommodations: The nature of certain disabilities sometimes require accommodations that are out of the ordinary, such as taking a test in an alternate format (e.g., oral exams instead of written exams, an essay exam instead of multiple choice, etc.); or the ability to take an exam over a span of several days; or the ability to give an oral presentation to only the instructor. The student and instructor should meet to discuss these accommodations. If any questions, please contact the Access Center Coordinator for guidance.