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Students with Disabilities

Deana at the se3rvice window helping a student

Students with Disabilities

When a student has a documented disability, the Office of Student Services works with the student, and any other department of the university necessary, to assure that the student’s needs are accommodated in the classroom environment to the greatest extent possible. In addition, Student Services maintains a special “testing center,” where students with special needs may take exams in an environment suited to their needs.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) expanded the definition of a disability in 2008. The new law allows for more people and more types of disabilities to be included under the law. However, the law also expanded the proof required (documentation) to be eligible to receive reasonable accommodations, support services or academic adjustments. The law defines a disability as a permanent, longstanding condition that significantly limits one or more of the major life functions (including but not limited to: seeing, hearing, walking, breathing, learning, working, concentrating, etc).

The law stipulates that in the college or university setting, a student does not qualify for accommodations or services until they have obtained documentation using the university form provided (see the documentation guidelines below), and submitted the completed form to the Dean of Students. After evaluating the documentation, the Dean issues a letter for the student to give to an instructor when he/she wishes to be accommodated (See: Procedure for Obtaining Disability Accommodations).

Documenting a Disability: Selecting the Right Form

Depending upon the type of disability you have, you will need to obtain the documentation form that corresponds to your disability by downloading it from the NUHS website or securing a hardcopy from Student Services.

These documents provide guidelines necessary to establish the impact of the disability on educational performance and participation within University programs and activities, and to validate the need for accommodations. Documentation submitted to the Dean must be current, comprehensive, and complete in order to avoid unnecessary delays in granting the accommodations. Students may be asked to update their documentation if their condition is potentially changeable and/or previous documentation doesn’t include sufficient relevant information.

Download Forms

Information Sheets