What Are Common Services for Students With Disabilities

Services for students with disabilities (SSD) ensures that disabled students get equal access to the academic experience. The program achieves this by using an eligibility criterion and approval of reasonable accommodations. The program is also involved in outreach across colleges and universities to make the learning environment inclusive and welcoming for learners with disabilities.

You need to pass a standardized testing accommodation for your disability or learning difficulty to qualify for SSD. Unfortunately, the testing procedure for many testing companies is not always straightforward, making the process intimidating. You don't have to worry since DoNotPay is familiar with these tests and can figure it out for you.

What You Should Know About Testing Accommodation

Testing accommodations are changes made to the regular testing environment that supports disabled learners to show their current aptitude on standardized exams.

What Are Some of the Testing Accommodations?

The typical testing accommodation offered through the SSD program includes:

• Braille to make typing easy
• Large print exam booklets in case you have a visual disability
• Screen reading technology to help if you have poor vision or color blindness
• Extended time. If your disability wears you out, you are offered extra breaks to refresh yourself mentally and continue with the exams.
• Testing stations are accessible by wheelchair. Staircases might be challenging to use, and thus pathways leading to the examination room should be flat to accommodate the movement of the disabled.
• Access to rooms free of distractions to increase your concentration in exams
• Permission to take medication during exam time

Testing accommodations is tailored mainly to cater to physical disabilities such as deafness, blindness, etc. The above physical disabilities result in learning disabilities, including:

1. Dyscalculia. It is a learning disability involving difficulty doing mathematics and counting
2. Dyslexia. It is also a common learning disability and involves reversing letters when reading.
3. Dysgraphia entails problems in visual perception, which prevent one from effectively writing and drawing.

What Are the Documentations Needed to Prepare for a Testing Accommodation Request?

You have to provide documentation to the testing entity to prove that you need the SSD. The documentation must be reasonable and precise to the need for requesting testing accommodation. Narrowed-down documentation is essential in determining the nature of your disability and specifying the testing accommodation needed.

Types of documentation include:

1. A recommendation from a professional
2. Past testing accommodation proof
3. Educator observations
4. Psycho-educational results
5. History of diagnosis
6. Your statement regarding your history of testing accommodations

How Long Should a Testing Entity Respond to Your Request for Testing Accommodation?

Testing entities must respond promptly to ensure that students with disabilities receive the same opportunities as the rest. They should ensure that the review and the approval in a timely way give the students adequate time to register and get ready for the test.

The process should allow the applicant to respond to any question from the testing entity. Failing to act in time results in delay that lead to denial of equal opportunity for a disabled person in an examination setting.

What Happens After You Make Your Accommodation Request?

After submitting your request to your respective instructors, they should engage in an interactive process to determine the type of accommodation that would best suit your needs. If your instructor does not approve your request immediately, be sure to receive a request for the following:

• Additional medical documentation
• Clarification question on the type of disability to help them find the best accommodation

A delayed response from your instructor could also mean that they are consulting with other knowledgeable members in the department to see the way through.

Discover How You Can Request Services for Students With Disability by Yourself

Follow these steps to request SSD on your own:

1. Request for accommodation through Accommodation Letter request link on the SSD website
2. Download the letters and submit them to the respective instructors
3. Discuss how you want to be accommodated by each instructor. It is advisable to meet instructors in the regular working hours
4. You must repeat steps 1 to 3 every semester
5. After requesting the accommodation, instructors have a five-day grace period to provide approved accommodation.

Here’s how you can reach SSD for an accommodation request or get more information:

Note that accommodation letters have confidential information, and thus you should handle them with care. Using DIY methods makes the accommodation request process harder than it should be due to the hefty documentation needed. DoNotPay, through its Testing accommodation product, can help you request it in a faster way.

Discover How You Can Request Services for Students With Disability Using DoNotPay

DoNotPay guides you in three simple steps:

1. Search for testing accommodations on DoNotPay.

2. Start our Request My Testing Accommodation product by telling us which test you intend to take.

3. Answer some questions about your specific disability and testing plans.

Find Out What Else DoNotPay Can Offer

We can also help you:

• Learn about LSAT-accommodations
• Request MCAT accommodation
• Learn about ADHD accommodation
• Get ACT accommodations

Do you want to request testing accommodation services for students with disabilities? DoNotPay is here to help. Sign up today!