New Students
How to request Academic Accommodation notices for your classes at SUNY Orange:
New students must self-identify and complete an intake process with the Office of Accessibility Services. This includes completing the application for services and submitting documentation of disability. Once a new student has registered for a New START workshop, please contact us to schedule an intake appointment. At this appointment, the Disability Specialist will discuss your academic accommodations requests. Approved academic accommodation notices will be shared via SUNY Orange E mail with you and your class instructors.
Accessibility Services for Students
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Under IDEA, children with disabilities are absolutely entitled to a "Free and Appropriate Public Education." |
Equal access to education is the order of the day - no one is entitled to anything, but rather students have civil rights, and they must advocate for themselves in order to enjoy those rights.
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| Section 504 in the public schools includes "Free and Appropriate Public Education" language. Accommodations may include a shortening of assignments or the use of notes on tests, options which are not available to other students. |
Section 504 is the first civil rights legislation that applied to colleges. It upholds the institution's right to maintain the academic standards, and no accommodations may be permitted to reduce that standard for any student. Thus there is no "free" education. |
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Plans, either the IEP or a 504 plan, drive all services and accommodations, and involve the teachers, counselors, and absolutely require a parent's signature. |
There is no plan, and instructors are not contacted, except by the student. In fact, parents may not receive a student's grades without the student's permission. |
| Placement is determined by he child's team, and outlined in the plan, and must, by law, be in the least restrictive environment. |
Placement integration is assumed, and is the order of the day. We adjust the environment through accommodations, but we don't deliberate and select the environment for the student in advance.
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Students are qualified for public education simply by being the appropriate age and because they have a disability. |
Otherwise qualified, in college, means that the student must meet all entrance and academic requirements, whether they receive accommodations or not. |
| Everyone is aware of a student's placement, and practically, everyone signs the student's plan. Each teacher knows about the student, even before meeting them in-person. Teacher's have a good understanding of what the student's needs are. |
OAS never contacts a professor without written permission from the student. Thus, the student must initiate all actions regarding accommodations with each instructor, for each course, every semester. In addition, students have the civil right to refuse accommodations that they don't need or want; and if they do not request an accommodation, it is assumed that they do not want it. |
| Public schools, for the most part, are responsible for appropriate assessment of a student's disability. |
Higher education does not have to assess the student, but can expect the student to provide proof of their disability within accepted guidelines. |
| Assessment, physical or other therapy, or personal care are provided by the school while the student is attending the school during school hours. |
The student is responsible for personal services - personal care, medical needs and related services, just as if they were living independently and not attending school. |
| Students often received un-timed tests if they have a disability. | Un-timed tests are not a reasonable, but time extensions may be reasonable. Typically, time-and-a-half is the accommodation provided, but no more than double time. |
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Teachers may be expected to learn all they can about the disability of the student in one of their classes. |
Instructors need know only that which applies to the accommodations that the student requests. |
