Accommodations and Services For Students

Disability Services provides a wide variety of services to students with disabilities. Our office promotes the empowerment of people with disabilities and their full integration into campus life and the community.

Accommodations

An accommodation is a modification or adjustment to a course, program, service, job, activity, or facility that enables a qualified student or employee with a disability to participate equally in a program, service, activity, or employment at the University. A “reasonable” accommodation refers to an accommodation that is appropriate as well as effective and efficient, and is agreed upon by the University and the consumer with a disability.

Many accommodations are available at the University to ensure that students with disabilities participate fully in academic and student life. They provide a student with a disability equal access to the educational and co-curricular process, without compromising essential components of the curriculum. Accommodations are determined on an individual basis, based on the student’s documentation.

For accommodations to be timely, they must be arranged well in advance. Students are responsible for contacting Disability Services at the beginning of each semester so that reasonable accommodations can be made in a timely manner (first two weeks of classes, or first week of summer or winter session).

Common Accommodations For Students

The accommodations most frequently provided include, but are not limited to:

Academic Access Assistants
Access Assistants
Additional time to complete assignments
Alternate Formats for Printed Course Materials
Alternate Types of Exams
Assistive Technology
Captioning Services
Extended Time on Exams
Extension of Statute of Limitations
Modification of Graduation Requirements
Note-Taking Services
Paratransit Services
Prepared Materials Before Class
Readers/Recorded Books
Reduced Course Load
Sign Language Interpreters and Oral Transliterators
Tape Recorders
Test Proctoring

Academic Access Assistants are specially trained to make available the most up-to-date learning skills, tools and tactics available and to provide individualized instruction for students with information processing disabilities. Academic Access Assistants use specific teaching modalities that incorporate the needs of students with disabilities and take into consideration the specific strengths and weaknesses of diverse learners.

Access Assistants are available to address physical barriers for students with mobility and visual disabilities. They assist with laboratory exercises, notetaking, library research, multi-media presentations and other related classroom activities. Students needing such assistance must alert their consumer manager to request this accommodation. To insure receipt of this accommodation at the start of the semester, it is best to submit requests immediately following registration for the upcoming semester.

Alternate Formats for Printed Course Materials are available for eligible students. A variety of formats are provided including large print, audio tape, electronic computer text, and Braille. Careful consideration is given to the needs of each student and to the quality and quantity of each printed document to determine the most effective modality. Students who require alternate formats must document their reading disability, review their request with their consumer manager, and meet with the Coordinator of Information Access Services. Acquiring alternate formats requires a significant amount of time. In order to receive alternate formats as early as possible, students are encouraged to submit requests immediately after registering for the upcoming semester.

Additional sources for obtaining course materials in alternate formats are available for eligible students. Students are encouraged to become individual members of Recordings for the Blind & Dyslexic and The Braille and Talking Book Library at the Perkins School for the Blind. Applications for these organizations are available in the Disability Services Office. Students are also encouraged to take advantage of assistive technology, such as the Kurzweil 1000 and Kurzweil 3000, scanning and reading programs. Both applications are available in various computer classrooms on campus as well as the Assistive Technologies Center located in the W.E.B. DuBois Library. Assistive Technology refers to any computer equipment or software program that provides access for people with disabilities.

The Assistive Technologies Center (ATC) offers technology services to any member of the University community with an ADA-defined disability. To use ATC services, you must register with Disability Services and hold an active OIT Account.

Captioning Services are receptive communication access whereby deaf or hard-of hearing consumers read simultaneous (or as close to simultaneous) transcript of all verbalized information being presented. Examples include C-Print and CARTT (Computer Aided Real Time Transliterating). Access can be obtained by means of an individual laptop or small screen if there are two or more consumers in an event. Most users tend to be late-deafened, cannot benefit from amplification devices, do not know ASL, do not have good speech-reading skills but have excellent expressive English skills and often speak for themselves. The goal of CARTT is 100% verbatim (word-for-word) of the spoken message. "Message" equivalency is the goal for C-Print but more experienced C-Print captioners are capable of 100 % verbatim transcription.

Note-Taking Services are available. Supplemental notes are provided to students who are eligible for this service. A student first meets with their consumer manager to determine which classes may need supplemental notes. A faculty accommodation letter is then sent asking the instructor’s assistance in securing the needed notes. Notes are provided either directly from the instructor or TA, or from a student registered in the class. Classmates copy their notes in the Disability Services Office and leave them there for the disabled student to pick up. For more details see the Disability Services Note Taking Procedure Flowchart.

PVTA Paratransit Services provides a shared-ride, door-to-door van transportation for individuals with disabilities that prevent them from riding the fixed route bus service. PVTA is dedicated to providing accessible public transportation to passengers in the Pioneer Valley. For more details, please read the Paratransit Rider Guide or contact PVTA's ADA Department at 1-800-752-1638. TTY: (413) 594-2349.

UMass Transit Special Transportation Services or "SpecTrans" provides free transportation service around the Amherst campus to students, staff and faculty with a disability. People who need service on a long-term basis must register with Disability Services first. Temporary passengers can register directly with SpecTrans by calling (413) 545-2086.

Readers/Recorded Books are available for eligible students. Students are encouraged to obtain books on tape through Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic and Perkins School for the Blind. Applications for these organizations are available in our office. Disability Services can help arrange course credit through the School of Education for volunteer readers provided they meet the necessary requirements. Students are also encouraged to take advantage of current assistive technology on their own computers or in the Assistive Technologies Center located in the W.E.B. DuBois Library. Again, to be most effective students must request books on tape well in advance of when they may actually need them.

Sign Language Interpreters and Oral Transliterators are available. These communication access services are only effective if the consumer is experienced in the methodology provided. For example, someone who does not know ASL (American Sign Language) will not benefit from an ASL interpreter as will someone who is a native ASL user not benefiting from the communication style practiced by an Oral Transliterators. Either methodology can be successfully utilized by a consumer with early-onset hearing loss.

A sign language interpreter listens to a spoken language and interprets the message into a visual language - American Sign Language. Sign language interpreters are certified by the Registry of Interpreters of the Deaf (RID), a national organization which tests practitioners for qualifications, maintains records of professional development and continuing education and monitors practices in the profession. The ASL Deaf consumer must be fluently receptive and understand American Sign Language in order to receive the spoken message as interpreted into ASL.

Oral Transliterators take the message and make it visible on the lips and with supporting body movement or gestures, convey the speaker's message. It is essential that the deaf consumer be able to speech read, understand subtle nuances of facial expression and body movement/placement to fully comprehend the spoken message.

Late deafened consumers tend not be skilled in either ASL or OT methodologies – preferring instead to use captioning services. However, this is not to say that a late-deafened deaf individual cannot learn to speech read or to learn ASL.

Test Proctoring is available for students who are eligible for this service. A student first meets with their consumer manager to determine eligibility. A faculty accommodation letter is then sent asking the instructor’s assistance in accommodating the student’s needs. If the instructor cannot provide the accommodation, the student contacts the Disability Services office to schedule a test time. Common accommodations include: extra time, a distraction-free setting, an accessible space, scribes, and readers. For more details see the Disability Services Test Proctoring Procedure and the Exam Accommodation Procedure Flowchart.