Disability
A memo from
Disabled Student Programs and Services
In This DSPS Memo Page 1: What
is a disability? Page 1: What
is a reasonable accommodation? Page 2: What
is Universal Design? Page 2: Sample
statements for course syllabi Page 3: Confidentiality
and access to student information
Quad
2 on the Main Campus
Hours: 7:30 AM – 5:00 PM
Monday – Friday
January 2003
Number 3
What is a disability?
A person is considered
disabled if he or she has a mental or physical impairment that substantially
limits a person’s engaging in one or more major life activities.[1]
A
substantial limitation is one that affects the ability, condition, manner or
duration of one’s performing an activity when compared to that of most
people. Major life activities
include:
·
Learning
·
Walking
·
Seeing
·
Hearing
·
Eating
·
Breathing
· Attending to matters of personal care
What is a reasonable accommodation?
Reasonable
accommodations are modifications or adjustments to a course, program, service,
job, activity, or facility. The reason for the accommodation or adjustment is
to provide a qualified individual with an equal opportunity to obtain the same
benefit or enjoy equal benefits and privileges as those available to a
similarly situated individual without a disability.
Butte College (as well
as all public postsecondary institutions) is only obligated to make reasonable
accommodations to otherwise qualified individuals with disabilities. The District is not obligated to provide accommodations that
would fundamentally alter the essential components of a course of study or
accommodations that are unduly burdensome. Providing accommodations and ensuring access are never done
at the expense of the essential standards applied to all students. Rather than guaranteeing success,
accommodations and access provide opportunity to otherwise qualified
individuals with disabilities.
The determination of an appropriate
and reasonable accommodation is made on an individual basis. Reasonable accommodations are determined
by reviewing:
·
The physical and/or
programmatic barriers resulting from the interaction between the documented
disability and the course requirements or campus environment.
·
The possible
accommodations that might remove the barriers.
·
Whether or not the
individual has comparable access without accommodations.
·
Whether or not
essential elements of the program of instruction, service, job, or activity are
compromised or fundamentally altered by the accommodations.
· Whether or not the accommodations would result in
an undue financial hardship for Butte College.
The law allows for
postsecondary institutions to establish reasonable procedures that guide the
provision of reasonable accommodations.
Requiring the student to self-identify and to present disability
documentation prepared by a qualified professional in a timely manner are
examples of appropriate procedural guidelines.
The Butte College Board
of Trustees has designated the Office of Disabled Student Programs and Services
as the District office responsible for reviewing disability documentation and
determining appropriate and reasonable accommodations.
What is Universal Design?
Definition:
The design of curriculum, products and environments that is usable, to the
greatest extent possible by all people, without the need for adaptation or
special design.
Universal
Design is a relatively new approach to address the access needs of individuals
with disabilities. At Butte
College, Universal Design concepts promote designing the academic environments
and curricula to be accessible by all students, regardless of disability
status. Rather than providing a
variety of accommodations to each student based on specific functional
limitations, the disability is viewed as a natural student difference
and the campus community is encouraged to design the educational experience to
meet the needs of all learners.
Universal Design is consistent with a socio-political view of disability
(rather than the traditional medical view) and shifts assumptions about teaching
students with disabilities in several important ways:
·
Students with
disabilities fall along a continuum of learner differences, rather than
constituting a separate category (e.g., the Disabled).
·
Faculty adjustments
for learner differences should occur for all students, not just those with
disabilities.
· Curriculum materials should be varied, diverse
and flexible to accommodate all learner differences without the need for
“special modifications.”
While the use of
Universal Design principles may not eliminate the need for individual
accommodations for students with disabilities, it will improve the campus
climate and attitudes toward disability that are often the most handicapping
aspects of any disability.
Sample Statements for Course Syllabi:
Accommodations and Availability of
Alternate Media for Individuals with Print Disability
Academic
Accommodations Statement:
· Students have the right to request reasonable
modifications to college requirements, services, facilities or programs if
their documented disability imposes an educational limitation or impedes access
to such requirements, services, facilities or programs. A student with a disability who will be
requesting a modification, accommodation, or access to an auxiliary aid is
required and responsible for identifying himself/herself to the instructor and,
if desired, to the Disabled Student Programs and Services (DSPS) office. Students who consult or request
assistance from DSPS regarding specific modifications, accommodations or use of
auxiliary aids will be required to meet timelines and procedural requirements
established by the DSPS office.
· If a student believes that he or she may need an
accommodation for a disability, please make an appointment to see me during my office
hours or initiate contact with the Office of Disabled Student Programs and
Services.
Alternate
Media Statement:
· Students with a print disability – a
visual limitation or reading difficulty that limits access to traditional print
materials – may request
printed materials in alternate media.
Examples of alternate media formats include electronic format (e.g.,
text on CD), Braille, tactile graphics, audiotape, and large print.
Students
can make alternate media requests through the Office of Disabled Student
Programs and Services (DSPS). The
DSPS office is located on the main campus, Quad 2, and can be contacted by
calling 895.2455 or via email at dsps@butte.cc.ca.us. All requests for alternate media
production requires the student to provide documentation of a print disability.
Confidentiality and access to student information
The Family
Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), sometimes referred to as the "Buckley Amendment,"
provides for certain personnel of a given institution to have access to the
educational records of enrolled students.
However, medical information is not considered educational
information and is specifically exempted from this policy. Because some disability-related
information is clearly medical in nature[2]
and because the ADA promises no lesser level of protection to someone with one
disability than another, it seems an appropriate extension to consider all
disability-related information to be medical information and to hold it with
the same degree of confidentiality.
While the DSPS Office can confirm whether or not a student has made
contact or has supplied documentation of a disability, the diagnosis or other
detailed clinical information regarding the disability is confidential. When appropriate, students are
encouraged to sign a Consent to Share Information when issues of personal
safety (e.g., seizure activity, diabetes, etc) could be compromised.
Disabled Student Programs
and Services Quad 2, Main Campus
895.2455 [voice] 895.2308 [TTY] 895.2235 [FAX] 895.2246 [CARLO Center] dsps@butte.ca.cc.us
[email] Richard Dunn
Coordinator Susan Thorsell
Disability Specialist (Learning Disability, ADD, ADHD) Kathi Olausen
Disability Specialist (Physical, Developmental, &
Psychological Disability) Myra Lerch
Assistive Technology & Alternate Media Linda
Galloway
Special Programs Assistant (American Sign Language Interpreters)