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How to Implement Accommodations

Once a student has registered with Student Disability Services by meeting with a Coordinator and providing any necessary documentation, a Faculty Notification Letter will be emailed to the faculty member and will be copied to the student. The student should then initiate a conversation with his/her faculty during office hours to discuss those accommodations. If a student requests accommodations from a faculty member without verification from Student Disability Services, please refer that student to SDS. The student should request a new and updated accommodation notification email to his/her faculty each semester, including Jan Term, even if the student has had a previous course with the same instructor.

Materials in Alternative Format

Some students qualify for materials in alternative formats, such as books in electronic format or books in audio format.  Faculty should provide written information (syllabus, handouts, textbook information) and a list of classroom videos in advance when you are aware of a student enrolled in your course who needs materials in an alternate format. This allows Student Disability Services to provide alternate format course materials in a timely manner. It can take up to four weeks to convert the material into audio format, and even more time if the book/document needs to be transcribed into Braille or captioned.

Resources for working with students on the autism spectrum

Training

• Training: by Dr. Jane Theirfeld Brown and Laurie Ackels on February 25, 2019.  
• Training: for faculty facilitated by Dr. Peter Alter on 04/10/19. 
• Asynchronous Short Course (2024):

Articles

• Article: 
• Article: 
• Article: 
• Handout: . What you may notice in the classroom and strategies to address 
• Article from Inside Higher Education:

Electronic Accessibility

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires individuals be able to access all educational materials. Faculty should keep in mind that if they use classroom software (Moodle), web pages, links to videos, etc. as part of their course, those materials need to be accessible to students with disabilities. Faculty who question the accessibility of their web page or classroom software should contact Student Disability Services.

See our Accessibility page for more information, resources and training.

Confidentiality

Student Disability Services strives to treat all personal information with the strictest confidentiality and as a rule, specific information about a student’s disability will not be shared.   Students may choose to disclose to faculty but are not required to. Information shared by SDS on a need to know basis with faculty and administrators is required to be kept confidential.

No party outside of the Student Disability Services office can require students to disclose the nature of their disability in order to receive accommodations extended by SDS.

Video Tutorials for Faculty

• SDS Portal Tutorials 
• Faculty Accessibility Tips