Information is available on this site concerning typical accommodations for students with disabilities. Information about classroom accommodations is also available for both students and faculty.

Typical Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

Flexibility and effective communication between student and instructor are key in approaching accommodations. Although students with similar disabilities may require different accommodations, it is helpful to be aware of typical strategies for working with students who have various types of impairments.

Learning disabilities are documented conditions that may affect reading, information processing, memory, calculation, and spatial abilities. Examples of accommodations for students who have specific learning disabilities may include:

  • Notetakers and/or audiotaped class sessions, captioned films
  • Extra exam time, alternative testing arrangements
  • Visual and tactile instructional demonstrations
  • Computer with voice output, spellchecker, and grammar checker

Mobility impairments may make walking, sitting, bending, carrying, or using fingers, hands, or arms difficult or impossible. Mobility impairments result from many causes, including amputation, polio, club foot, scoliosis, spinal cord injury, and cerebral palsy.

Typical accommodations for students with mobility impairments may include:

  • Notetaker, lab assistant, group lab assignments
  • Classrooms, labs, and field trips in accessible locations
  • Adjustable tables, lab equipment located within reach
  • Class assignments made available in electronic format
  • A computer equipped with a special input device (e.g., voice input, Morse code, alternative keyboard)

Health impairments affect daily living and involve the lungs, kidneys, heart, muscles, liver, intestines, immune systems, and other body parts (e.g., cancer, kidney failure, AIDS). Typical accommodations for students who have health impairments may include:

  • Notetaker or copy of another student’s notes
  • Flexible attendance requirements and extra exam time
  • Assignments made available in electronic format, use of email to facilitate communication

Mental illness includes mental health and psychiatric disorders that affect daily living. Examples of accommodations for students with these conditions include:

  • Notetaker, copy of another student’s notes, or recording of lectures
  • Extended time on assignments and tests
  • A non-distracting, quiet setting for assignments and tests

Hearing impairments make it difficult or impossible to hear lecturers, access multimedia materials, and participate in discussions. Examples of accommodations for students who are deaf and hard of hearing may include:

  • Interpreter, real-time captioning, FM system, notetaker
  • Open or closed-captioned films, use of visual aids
  • Written assignments, lab instructions, demonstration summaries
  • Visual warning systems for lab emergencies
  • Use of electronic mail for class and private discussions

Blindness refers to the disability of students who cannot read printed text, even when enlarged. Typical accommodations may include:

  • Audiotaped, Brail or electronic-formatted lecture notes, handouts, and texts
  • Verbal descriptions of visual aids
  • Raised-line drawings and tactile models of graphic materials
  • Braille lab signs and equipment labels, auditory lab warning signals
  • Adaptive lab equipment (e.g., talking thermometers and calculators, light probes, and tactile timers)
  • Computer with optical character readers, voice output, Braille screen display, and printer output

Low vision refers to students who have some usable vision, but cannot read standard- size text, have field deficits (for example, cannot see peripherally or centrally but can see well in other ranges), or other visual impairments. Typical accommodations may include:

  • Seating near the front of the class.
  • Large-print handouts, lab signs, and equipment labels.
  • TV monitors connected to a microscope to enlarge images.
  • Class assignments made available in electronic format.
  • A computer equipped to enlarge screen characters and images.

Accommodation Information for Students

A frequent term you will hear when you work with Student Disability Resources staff is "reasonable accommodations." The definition of reasonable accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act is: "any modification or adjustment to any activity to allow equal participation in the activity by a person who has a disability." Equal participation means an opportunity to attain the same level of performance or to enjoy equal benefits and privileges as are available to a similarly situated student without a disability. The University is obligated to make a reasonable accommodation only to the known limitations of an otherwise qualified student with a disability. To determine reasonable accommodations, the Student Disability Resources staff may seek information from appropriate University personnel regarding essential standards for courses, programs, services, activities, and facilities.

Not all students require the same accommodations, even if they have the same disability.
Determining reasonable accommodations is done on a case-by-case basis to address the individual needs of the student. Accommodations are determined by the functional limitations as noted in your documentation. Once you have provided documentation of your disability to the Student Disability Resources staff person, they will review the documentation and recommendations that have been made by the medical professional that provided the documentation. In the review of your documentation, the staff member will work with you to help you understand your academic strengths and areas in which you will need assistance due to your disability. You play an active role in determining what reasonable academic accommodations are effective for you. These do not remain static throughout your career at Penn State. You may find that in certain classes you do not need accommodations and in others, you need additional accommodations than originally planned. The important thing to remember is that the accommodation requested and/or received should not fundamentally alter the nature or essential requirements of the class.

Before Talking With Your Instructor:

  1. Know what you need
    Meet with Student Disability Resources staff to discuss the types of classroom and testing accommodations you may need. After careful review of diagnostic reports a staff member will prepare a memo for your instructors outlining your disability and make recommendations for special testing accommodations and/or in-class assistance. If you are given a faculty memo with recommendations, be sure you have read it and understand the recommendations given. Each accommodation form is only applicable to one semester. You must report to Student Disability Resources each semester to update your file.
  2. Know how to say it
    Sometimes it is difficult to discuss a disability with others. It is completely up to you if you choose to disclose the nature of your disability or specific diagnosis. You need to remember that your instructor may not know much about disabilities in general, and may feel uncomfortable at first. Along with discussing your particular needs, it is a good opportunity for you to educate the instructor about your disability and to set them at ease. You also need to communicate to the instructor that special classroom accommodations will give you the opportunity to succeed in the class.

Contact the Faculty Member:
Schedule an appointment with your professor to discuss your disability. Introduce yourself and tell the instructor a bit about yourself, your major, and why you are taking the course.

Describe the Classroom Accommodations You May Need:
For example, if you have a learning disability, it may be recommended that you have extended time when testing. You should clearly explain how special testing can be arranged. Another example would be if you need a sign/oral interpreter. Explain where you and the interpreter will sit and what will take place. Faculty may contact Student Disability Resources for further clarification or additional questions.

Offer Verification:
All evaluation materials kept in Student Disability Resources are confidential; however, you may wish to share information with an instructor. We will not release any information to others without your permission.

Know How You Will Be Evaluated:
Ask what will be required of you in terms of exams, in-class projects, out-of-class projects, research papers, classroom presentations, etc. If these are areas in which you need accommodations, address them to the instructor. If you and the instructor are not sure about the best and most reasonable accommodations, consult with the counselor in Student Disability Resources.

Evaluation:
Discuss with your instructor how your work will be evaluated. Will you be graded on oral work or written work if you have a hearing/speech impairment? Be sure both you and the instructor understand grading criteria and the type of exams you will take (i.e., oral, written). Also, special testing techniques, such as overheads, slides, or films, are sometimes used during test periods. If you have arranged with Student Disability Resources to take your exam outside of your classroom, other arrangements should be made with your instructor to compensate for that part of the exam.

If you will be taking accommodated exams through Student Disability Resources, give the instructor an information sheet on testing (available in Student Disability Resources). Be sure that both of you agree on the responsibilities involved in arranging for and taking accommodated exams.

Come To A Clear Agreement:
You and your instructor should have a clear understanding of the accommodations you will need. You may want to schedule future meetings with the instructor to discuss any concerns you have regarding the course. Thank the instructor for their time and help.

Accommodation Information for Faculty

At the beginning of the semester you may be approached by a student with a disability, who has a letter written by staff at the Office for Student Disability Resources (SDR). This letter will provide an explanation of how the student's disability impacts their learning. The letter will also contain suggested classroom accommodations for the student based on their disability. It is the student's responsibility to present this to you early in the semester so that accommodation procedures are clear from the start. It is best to meet with the student individually to discuss the accommodations and how they will be carried out. If you have any questions or need clarification regarding the suggested accommodations, you may contact the staff that has signed the letter.

NOTE: University faculty and staff do not have the right or a need to access diagnostic or other information regarding a student's disability; they only need to know that accommodations are necessary or appropriate to meet the student's disability-related needs. If a student has requested an accommodation, the student will be informed as to what information is being provided to the faculty or staff regarding the request. To protect confidentiality by assuring limited access, all disability-related information must be filed with Student Disability Resources.

Office for Disability Service’s responsibilities:

  • Review written documentation of the functional limitations and associated educational recommendations for each student
  • Prepare an “accommodation letter” summarizing the appropriate educational accommodations
  • Proctor exams which require any of the following:
    • Reader
    • Writer
    • Sign language or oral interpreter
    • A computer for word processing
    • Tape recording
    • Barrier-free site
    • An extended time of greater than “time and a half”

Student’s responsibilities:

  • Provide written documentation from a qualified practitioner that describes the nature of their disability, functional limitations due to the disability, severity of these limitations, and reasonable accommodations.
  • Review accommodation request with the Student Disability Resources Coordinator
  • Share the “accommodation letter” with each course instructor early in the semester and explain what accommodations are required
  • Appear on time and complete exams in accordance with University policies on academic integrity (Senate Policy 40-20 in 1995-96 Policies and Rules, pg. 43)
  • Notify Student Disability Resources if the accommodations are not satisfactory
  • Notify Student Disability Resources promptly if you are scheduled to take a proctored exam and the exam is canceled or if you are not taking the exam for some reason.

Course Instructor’s and Academic Department’s Responsibilities:

  • Review the “accommodation letter” and discuss educational recommendations with the student
  • Discuss options to accommodate the student’s testing needs including addressing issues related to the provision of a distraction limits space and quiet location
  • Contract Student Disability Resources to resolve any questions about disability documentation and testing recommendations made.
  • Provide a copy of the exam, to be proctored, within 48 hours of the scheduled exam date.

Other Issues:

  • Time of testing: Student Disability Resources administers exams as specified times indicated on the online request form.
  • Test materials: Student Disability Resources will ask the faculty about other materials that are allowed for the test such as calculators, textbooks, notes, formulas, etc. Only those items, which have been approved by the faculty, will be allowed.
  • Canceled test: in the interest of conserving our resources, it is critical to notify Student Disability Resources immediately if the test is canceled.
  • Alternate test formats: Example: Enlarging exams
  • Academic honesty: Students Disability Resources instructs its proctors to write a description of any behavior that is questionable, and which may breach policies regarding academic honesty. Proctors are instructed not to confront students