Frequently Asked Questions on Disabilities

Why aren't faculty notified in advance of the beginning of a course that an enrolled student needs alternative assignments or exams?

Whether a faculty member is notified before the beginning of a course depends on several factors. Before a faculty member can be notified, the institution must be notified. Once the institution is notified, if the student has a physical or psychiatric disability, which will require unusual coordination, the faculty member is notified about the student and asked to contact the Office of Disability Services. Students with learning disabilities and Attention Deficit Disorder are expected to advocate for themselves and notify the instructor of the need for accommodations at the beginning of the course. The Office of Disability Services must authorize appropriate accommodations. Frequently students don't complete their course schedules until after faculty leave campus for the summer. In these cases, faculty are notified but may not get the letter until they return to campus in for the fall semester.

Disclosure and Documentation

What is the process for disclosure?

It is a violation of the law to ask students about disabilities during the admission process. Some students do disclose during this process and are connected with the Office of Disability Services so their documentation can be in place prior to the start of the academic year. Many students do not disclose until after they start classes and begin to have difficulty. In either case, Southern New Hampshire University has strict documentation guidelines, which must be followed before a student can be provided with accommodations. When a student discloses to a faculty member, it is very important that the student be referred to the Office of Disability Services for assistance. The faculty member must not provide accommodations when the institution does not have appropriate documentation. Once a student has disclosed a disability he or she meets with the Office of Disability Services and is given documentation forms to be completed by the professional making the diagnosis. After those forms are returned to the Office of Disability Services, appropriate accommodations are discussed with the student and an accommodation form is prepared. Students are encouraged to provide all faculty with the accommodations form. Faculty members may not decide that an accommodation is not appropriate for their class without discussion with the Office of Disability Services.

How late is "too late" for self-disclosure?

Students may disclose a disability at any time. The institution and faculty are not responsible for changing what happened prior to disclosure but must accommodate the student within a reasonable amount of time after the disclosure. For most classroom accommodations a "reasonable" amount of time is usually considered to be two weeks; therefore, if a student discloses that s/he needs extended time the day before the midterm, that is not a reasonable amount of time to prepare accommodations. That student would need to be accommodated for the rest of the course but not for the midterm. It is important to note that if a student discloses to a faculty member at the beginning of a course and is not referred to the Office of Disability Services and the faculty member does not follow up, then a request the day before an exam may need to be accommodated.

Why can't faculty see the documentation of a student's disability?

The student is required to provide documentation that a) establishes that s/he has a disability as defined under the law and b) supports the need for the accommodation(s) requested. Southern New Hampshire University is entitled to complete medical reports regarding the disability in question, including not only the diagnosis but also the results of the clinical tests used to make the diagnosis. Students are entitled to confidentiality regarding their diagnosis and clinical reports so that only those individuals responsible for determining whether the documentation is adequate have a right to access those records.