Disability Services

Disability Services is the place to go for students who require special accommodations. In Disability Services, students with documented disabilities can find the forms necessary for getting housing accommodations, such as a single room or a double room that has a fire alarm with a strobe light. If a student requires academic accommodations, they may be spending a good deal of time in Disability Services.

Disability Services offers students the option of having a note taker and of using a program called Kurzweil. Students who have disabilities or for whom English is not a first language can request note takers for each of their classes. In confidentiality, these note takers copy notes they take in class and drop them off in Disability Services for students to pick up. For students who have trouble reading, Disability Services offers the use of a program called Kurzweil, which can read the text aloud for a student. Staff from Learning and Disability Services scan the students’ textbooks into the program and put them in a file that can be accessed by any computer on the school network that has the Kurzweil program. Instead of buying this expensive program, students can simply use the computers in Disability Services that already have Kurzweil installed.

Because Disability Services is currently housed in Learning Services, there is no stigma place upon students who walk through the doors. Even students without disabilities can benefit from some of the services offered. Tests can be proctored in Learning Services for students who require extra time or specific environments, as well as for students taking online courses. Students can also be screened by Shirley Deichert to use Irlen color overlays, which can help students with and without disabilities to read more easily. Because Disability Services and Learning Services have joined under one director, students seldom think of the two as separate entities. Together, Learning and Disabilities Services have plenty of resources for all students to use and benefit from. What more could you ask for from a college?