SERVICES PROVIDED

WHO RECEIVES SERVICES?

Students with documented disabilities (physical/learning/mental) receive services through the disAbility program at Amarillo College.     

WHY ARE DISABILITY SERVICES PROVIDED?

Services are provided to students with disabilities in order to assure equal access to programs and services at Amarillo College.  Our goal is to assist students in receiving the accommodations, training, education, and support needed to achieve their educational and life-long goals. 

Services to students with disabilities are provided to meet the state and federal guidelines governing the provision of services in an institution of higher education.  Amarillo College provides services under the guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Title II), Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act of 2009, and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504). 

HOW DO STUDENTS RECEIVE SERVICES?

Student Responsibilities:

1. Students must self-identify to the disAbility Services office.
2. A disAbility services file is initiated.
3. Appropriate documentation of the student’s disability is obtained and remains confidential.
4. The student meets with the disAbility Services staff to develop an Accommodation Plan.
5. The student is then provided a copy of the Accommodation Plan through their Amarillo college email. 
6. The student then sends the Accommodation Plan to the instructors either through email or by printing the form and taking it in person to each instructor.
7. An Accommodation and Testing Procedure form is signed and a copy provided to each student.  This indicated accommodation and testing procedures are reviewed each semester.
8. The instructor and student are encouraged to communicate privately about the best way to provide the needed accommodations.
9. The student is responsible for using the needed accommodations and notifying disAbility Services of unmet needs.

Faculty Responsibilities:

1. Communicate the importance of contacting disAbility Services when discussing syllabus.
2. Review the Accommodation Plan when received from the student.
3. Let the student know you received the Plan.
4. Plan to visit privately with the student regarding their particular needs.
5. Never ask a student what their disability is or demand to see documentation.
6. Always consider "people first language" remember the student is a person with a disability.  The disability does not define the student.

WHAT SERVICES ARE PROVIDED TO STUDENTS

Extended Test Time:  This is designed to assist students in allowing for additional time for symbol recognition, decoding, cognitive processing, or to reduce the stress of a testing event.  Extended Test Time may be completed in class or at an alternative location.

Alternative Testing Site:  This is designed to reduce the impact of a disability by reducing external stimuli that compete with cognitive processing or cue a stress related reaction.  Testing is offered in an environment with reduced noise, light, and activity.

Readers and/or Scribes for Tests:  These assist an individual by providing an alternative format of information assimilation and expression.  Readers and scribes augment symbol recognition and decoding skills of students with visual impairments or cognitive processing disabilities.  Readers and scribes are not allowed to interpret or change the material being tested.

Use of Spell Check/Calculator:  Use of these materials during testing is designed to reduce the impact of a disability by correctly sequencing information or improving memory recall of symbolic information.

Note-takers/Voice Recorders for Lectures:  These allow reduction of the impact of a disability by providing support for symbol recognition and the decoding process or to decrease the physical fatigue associated with taking notes.  They may also be used to augment a student’s notes when issues of distraction are prevalent. These devices assist with deficits in short term memory, cognitive processing, or visual processing difficulties. 

Materials in Alternative Format:  Alternative texts (enlarged, Braille, or electronic) reduce the impact of a disability by providing access to written materials for students with visual, physicals, or cognitive disabilities.

Preferential Seating:  Designed to assist the student with learning or physical disabilities.  It may range from provision of a padded chair and a table to seating in the front of the room.

Sign Language Interpreters:  Reduce the impact of a disability through providing an alternative means of communication for students who are deaf or hard of hearing.  The interpreter is there to facilitate communication and voice/sign the material presented by teacher/student.  He is not an additional teacher to the student.

Permission to Leave Classroom:  This allows for the reduction of the impact of a disability for students with physical or cognitive impairments.