Services We Offer

Services We Provide:
Some of the services we provide for students with documented disabilities include:

Accommodative Testing Services
These are provided through the use of the Proctored Exam Center (PEC)

• Distraction-reduced Environment
• Extended Time
• Computer or Technology Aided Assistance
• Orthopedic Accommodation
• Scribe/Proctor

Alternate Format for Printed Material

• Text on CD
• Braille
• Enlarged Text

In Class Accommodations

• Note Takers
  • If your documentation qualifies you for this service, you may have peers in your classes take notes for you. Once this accommodation is approved by your ASD counselor, you must meet with the Manager of Accommodative Services (April Crawford). At that time you will sign a contract and be given a form to take with you to class so that you may identify a note taker.
• Stenographer
  • This is a real-time captioning service in class, provided for those who qualify. Once your ASD counselor has approved this accommodation, you must meet with the Advisor for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. This service is provided on a first come, first serve basis.
• Transcriber (TypeWell)
  • This is a service provided in class for those who qualify. Once your ASD counselor has approved this accommodation, you must meet with the Advisor for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. This service is provided on a first come, first serve basis.
    TypeWell is a method of providing real-time communication access to Deaf and Hard of Hearing students through the use of speech-to-text transcription services. TypeWell allows a typist, commonly referred to as a transcriber, to increase the number of words per minute typed by using abbreviated forms of words, which eliminates unnecessary keystrokes. The TypeWell abbreviation system is spelling based, and use of the abbreviation system becomes an extension of a transcriber's already existing typing skills. TypeWell does not provide verbatim transcripts, but instead aims for a meaning-for-meaning transcript, similar to an interpretation provided by a sign language interpreter.
• Sign Language Interpreters
  • ASL and CASE available
• Cued Speech Transliterator
  • This is a service provided in class for those who qualify. You must first have this accommodation approved by either your ASD Counselor or the Advisor for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. This service is provided on a first come, first serve basis.
    The cueing of a traditionally spoken language is the visual counterpart of speaking it. Cueing makes available to the eye(s) the same linguistic building blocks that speaking avails the ear(s). Until the advent of cueing, the term spoken language accurately described what had been the only way of distinctly conveying these building blocks: speaking. In fact, until that time, the sounds of speech and the building blocks were thought of as one and the same. (found on http://web7.mit.edu/CuedSpeech/cue_definition.html)

Orthopedic Accommodations
Auxiliary Aids and Assistive Devices** Available:

• Adaptive computer software and hardware
• Auditory amplifiers (i.e. Comtek)
• Computer screen enlarging programs
• Computer text scanning equipment
• Computer voice synthesizers
• Orthopedic chair
• Speech recognition software
• Tape recorders
• Text enlarging devices

** Auxiliary aids and assistive devices are constantly being upgraded and new equipment is being purchased as technology changes, as new needs arise, and as funding is available.

Accessibility Services Accommodative Computer Lab
The Accessibility Services Accommodative Computer lab is a great resource open to all ASD students. It is located on the 4th floor of the library in room 417.

Fall/Spring - Lab Hours of Operation
Monday	8:00 a.m	6:00 p.m
Tuesday	8:00 a.m	9:00 p.m
Wednesday	8:00 a.m	9:00 p.m
Thursday	8:00 a.m	9:00 p.m.
Friday	8:00 a.m	6:00 p.m
Saturday	10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Sunday	Closed

Some of the programs/equipment available in the ASD Lab are:

• Kurzweil
  • Reads scanned and electronic text aloud using human sounding synthetic speech. Words are highlighted in contrast as they are spoken. A useful tool for students with learning disablities and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).
• Naturally Speaking
  • Voice controlled word processor. Allows the user to dictate sentences to the computer by converting voice into text. The program can be used to compose E-mail messages, create reports, draft letters, edit proposals, and more, just by speaking.
• JAWS (Job Access With Speech) for Windows
  • Works with Dragon to provide computer access to students who have a visual impairment, blindness, or a learning disability. JAWS verbally reads back what has been typed on the document. A useful tool for having the computer read aloud a text based document.
• View Enlargers
  • Both hardware and software (screen Magnifier). Presents the ability to enlarge either printed or electronic documentation
• Jawbone
  • Ties Dragon Dictate and Jaws together. Learning disabled and blind students can benefit from this program
• Duxbury Translation Software
  • Braille translation program. Takes written text and converts it to Braille.
• Read and Write
  • This is a support program to help people with reading and writing difficulties while using their computer. It can read text aloud and help you construct words and sentences using word prediction. It has a talking spell checker and a built in screen reader.

There are also many other tools in the lab to aid the student to a successful college experience.

• Screen Magnifier
• Optical Character Recognition
• Macintosh Text Reader
• Adjustable Tables (to accommodate wheel chairs)
• Portable Fluorescent Lightbox
• Telesensory Enlarger
• Hands Free Magnifier
• Hand Held Magnifier
• Video Phone (Sorenson Media)

You can schedule appointments or reserve resources by contacting one of the following:


(back to top)
Who Qualifies
Students who have a disability as defined under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) are eligible to receive accommodations at UVSC. If you have a previously diagnosed disability, you may submit the proper documentation to receive services. If you suspect that you may have a disability, please schedule an appointment to meet with an Accessibility Services Department Counselor (801) 863-8747. Our counselors may refer you for specific types of testing on campus at the Student Health Services, or may provide you with other helpful information and resources. Students MUST meet with an Accessibility Services Department counselor EACH semester in order to obtain accommodative services for that semester.

(back to top)
Documentation
It is the student's responsibility to submit documentation from a licensed professional to the Accessibility Services Department. Accommodations are not provided retroactively. Documentation may be submitted at the time of an appointment or may be faxed to our office at (801) 863-8377.

A diagnosis in and of itself is not necessarily considered a disability. In order to qualify as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the following will need to be addressed in writing by a licensed professional with expertise in the area of the diagnosis: diagnosis, including diagnostic code(s); medications and mitigating measures; after considering mitigating measures describe the functional limitations and their impact on major life activities as well as recommendations for accommodations. The documentation should demonstrate that the diagnoses substantially limits a major life activity in comparison to the average person.

If you have had testing done at another facility, or have submitted documentation to another entity, you may need to give them a release form so that they can send us your documentation. You may use the following release form. If you are requesting your documentation from Vocational Rehabilitation, ASD can fax the release form for you, once you have filled it out.
(back to top)
How to Apply
UVSC STUDENTS:
In order to determine eligibility for, and to receive accommodative services you must do the following:

1. Schedule an appointment to meet with a counselor in the Accessibility Services Department
2. Complete an Initial Intake packet and return it to your counselor; (these may be obtained at the ASD front desk or you may print it out and turn it in to the ASD front desk).
3. Obtain a copy of your documentation (from a licensed professional) addressing each of the following items:
   • Medical and/or Psychological Diagnosis with ICD-10 or DSM-IV-TR codes.
   • A list of medications and/or other mitigating measures
   • Any and all functional limitations, their nature and effect on major life and learning activities.
   • Any suggested or recommended learning or campus accommodations.

If you are requesting documentation from a licensed professional (Physician, Psychiatrist, Psychologist, etc.) for the first time, please make them aware of what must be included (as indicated in the above list.) The documentation and/or diagnostic evaluation must have been completed within the past three years.

It is important to recognize that there will be a processing period for the documentation to be reviewed by a counselor. The counselor will determine if the documentation is sufficient to establish the presence of a disability as defined by and covered under the ADA. The academic accommodations requested and approved are supported in and by that documentation. It is your responsibility to meet with your counselor and make sure that sufficient documentation is provided.
(back to top)
Services for Deaf and Hard of Hearing