South Puget Sound Community College

Welcome to Disability Support Services at South Puget Sound Community College. We look forward to meeting you and providing you with exemplary services. Each year, we assist students with physical, learning, and psychological disabilities by providing and arranging for reasonable accommodations. Students are given individualized services to ensure their needs are addressed in a thorough and reasonable manner. We assist students with advising, as well as teach self-advocacy skills. In addition to working with students, Disability Support Services acts as a resource to the entire campus community, collaborating with staff and providing ideas to ensure all programs, activities, services and infrastructure are accessible to all.

If you are a student with a physical, learning, and/or psychological disability, you are welcome to visit Disability Support Services at any time during your enrollment at SPSCC; however, it is recommended that you come to our office as early as possible. We are located on the first floor of building 25 (in the Student Support Services area), to discuss services and academic accommodations.

Overview of Services Provided

Some examples of auxiliary aids or services provided by DSS include:

• audio taped textbooks
• note takers
• readers and/or scribes for exams
• Braille text or e-text
• use of tape recorders
• large print text and handouts
• extended time on exams
• closed captioned decoders
• sign language interpreter
• use of adaptive equipment/assistive technology
• alternate classroom assignments
• preferential seating (e.g. front of classroom, ergonomic chair)
• real time captioning
• telecommunications devices for deaf persons (TDD)

Services NOT provided by DSS

• Tutoring/individual instruction
• Personal aides or attendants
• Personal devices or equipment (e.g. eyeglasses, wheelchairs, hearing aids, guide animals, etc)
• Diagnostic testing for a Learning Disability
• Transportation services

Procedures to Become Eligible for Service

If you are a new student to SPSCC and/or to DSS, you will need to make an appointment for an intake interview with the Coordinator of DSS. You will also need to provide documentation of disability that meets SPSCC guidelines. Accommodations and the student's need for accommodations are determined on a case by case basis.

It is the student's responsibility to meet with instructors at the onset of the quarter to discuss accommodations. If the student is concerned about meeting with an instructor, the Coordinator of DSS will meet with both the student and instructor to facilitate a discussion of the accommodations.

Arranging for GED Test Accommodations

Students requesting accommodations for the GED test should make arrangements to meet with the GED Chief Examiner to obtain necessary guidelines and paperwork. The GED Chief Examiner, Shanon Millman, can be reached at the following telephone numbers:

Main number: 360 596-5238

The e-mail for Shanon Millman is: smillman@spscc.ctc.edu

The GED testing procedures are exact and follow rigid federal and state standardized requirements. GED testing procedures require that certain forms need to be completed by a qualifying professional. Please see the GED Testing Service Web site for more information.

You will need to request one of the following forms from the GED Chief Examiner:

The South Puget Sound Community College DSS office does not have the authority to assess documentation. However, the DSS Coordinator can assist the student with this process. Documentation needs to be provided to the GED Chief Examiner in advance of the placement testing date. Ten (10) working days are recommended to allow for accommodation arrangements after the certifying professional has completed the documentation and it is on file in the GED office.

Arranging for Placement Test Accommodation

Prospective or admitted students requesting accommodations for the placement test must provide DSS with documentation that supports the need for accommodation (e.g. reader, scribe, use of calculator, etc). Such documentation needs to be provided to the DSS Coordinator in advance of the placement testing date. Five (5) working days are recommended to allow for assessment and coordination of services.

After documentation has been provided, and appropriate time allowed for assessment and coordination, contact DSS to schedule an appointment to take the placement test with accommodations.

College Disability Office Responsibilities

• DSS is responsible for reviewing and interpreting documentation of disability.
• DSS is responsible for assessing accommodation needs of students on a case-by-case basis.
• DSS is responsible for preparing Letters of Accommodation for each student’s instructors.
• DSS is responsible for explaining DSS policies and procedures.
• Upon request, DSS is responsible for helping the student and/or instructor with the coordination of an accommodation.
• DSS is responsible for serving as an advocate, as necessary and appropriate, for students with documented disabilities to ensure that they are reasonably accommodated in the classroom and other College activities.

Faculty Responsibilities

• The faculty member is responsible for providing academic accommodations as outlined by Disability Support Services in the Letter of Accommodation.
• The faculty member is responsible for discussing with each student having a Letter of Accommodation, methods for providing and coordinating accommodation(s) in specific situations/classes.
• The faculty member is responsible for consulting DSS when s/he has questions regarding a student’s accommodations.

Student Responsibilities

• Students are responsible for requesting assistance for a disability from DSS and providing, at his/her own expense, acceptable documentation that diagnoses the disability and supports requested accommodations.
• Students are responsible for requesting accommodations in a timely manner. Every quarter a student is requesting academic accommodations from DSS, s/he needs to come to Disability Support Services and complete a Letter of Accommodation (LOA) Request Form and attach a copy of his/her class schedule. In turn, DSS will provide Letters of Accommodation for the student to give to each of his/her instructors. These letters indicate which accommodations the student has qualified for and are intended to begin communication between the student and his/her instructor.
• Students are responsible for being their own self-advocates. Students must:
  • (1) meet personally with each of their instructors and provide a Letter of Accommodation
  • (2) discuss and work with each instructor to determine the best method of providing accommodation(s) in specific situations/classes.
• Students are responsible for honoring all deadlines for accommodation requests.
• Students are responsible for contacting DSS in a timely manner when problems or questions arise about their accommodations or academic progress.

How to Obtain Assistance

Non-Discrimination Policy

No student shall, on the basis of his or her disability, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or otherwise be subject to discrimination under any college program or activity. South Puget Sound Community College is committed to providing qualified students with a disability an equal opportunity to access the benefits, rights, and privileges of college services, programs and activities, in the most integrated setting appropriate to the student’s needs, in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and State of Washington Laws of 1994, ch. 105.

South Puget Sound Community College is committed, to providing reasonable accommodations, including core services to qualified students with disabilities.

Procedures to Obtain Services Once Found Eligible

Every quarter a student is requesting academic accommodations from DSS, s/he needs to stop by Student Support Services and complete a Letter of Accommodation (LOA) Request Form and attach a copy of his/her class schedule. In turn, DSS will provide Letters of Accommodation for the student to give to each of his/her instructors. These letters indicate which accommodations the student has qualified for and are intended to begin communication between the student and his/her instructor. Accommodations rely on a collaborative partnership between DSS, the student with the disability, and the instructor.

It is the student's responsibility to meet with instructors at the onset of the quarter to discuss accommodations. If the student is concerned about meeting with an instructor, the Coordinator of DSS will meet with both the student and instructor to facilitate a discussion of the accommodations.

Reporting Guidelines for Documenting Professionals

The documenting professional is responsible for providing a written report which:

• Clearly identifies the diagnosis, or diagnoses, and/or DSM-IV diagnosis, if applicable
• Lists the names of the tests used in the assessment process (please refer to Required Documentation to Become Eligible for Service for the appropriate guidelines for specific learning disabilities.)
• Provides a clear interpretation of the test results
• Discusses the functional limitations caused by the disability(ies)
• Includes the date and printed name and signature of the professional on the report, along with appropriate reference to credentials and contact information

Required Documentation to Become Eligible for Disability Support Services

Documentation of a disability must be generated by a medical or professional expert in the related field of disability and submitted in writing to Disability Support Services where it will be kept in a separate, confidential file. (Note: The cost and responsibility for providing this documentation shall be borne by the student.)

Please click on the disability for SPSCC guidelines for that particular disability, or please see our General Guidelines.

• The documentation should be current and include a description of the disability, names and results of tests administered (if appropriate), and a statement of how the disability impacts the student in an educational setting.
• For Learning Disabilities, the following guidelines are appropriate:
  • BOTH an IQ Test and an Achievement Test; administered at the adult learning level (within the last 3 to 4 years).
  • For the IQ test, the WAIS-III is preferred (in lieu of a WAIS III, a WAIS-R or two WISC-III tests that are correlated within 15 IQ points of each other may be acceptable.)
  • For the Achievement Test portion, the Woodcock Johnson or Woodcock Johnson-R is the most commonly used. (The WRAT-R and the WRAT-III tests are not comprehensive measures of achievement and therefore are not appropriate for documentation.)
  • Exact instruments used, test results (including subtest score data), written interpretation of the results, name, title, and professional credentials of the evaluator, and the dates of the testing.
  • Clear and specific evidence which identifies specific learning disabilities and reflects the individual's present level of adult functioning in processing and intelligence, as well as achievement.

SPSCC does not provide diagnostic testing for learning disabilities. The DSS office can provide you a list of LD evaluators and diagnosticians; however, we do not make any recommendations or referrals to any one specific person or company.

PLEASE NOTE: IEP's or ITP's, and 504 Plans DO NOT meet documentation requirements, but may be included as part of a more comprehensive assessment battery as described in this document. Additionally, individual "learning styles", "learning differences", "learning problems" and "academic problems" in-and-of themselves do not constitute a learning disability. Please click here for more information how college is different from high school.

If there should be any questions regarding appropriate documentation, please contact DSS at: (360) 596-5455.

Timeline to Obtain Services

Although a qualified student who submits acceptable documentation of his/her disability is eligible for accommodations at any point in a given quarter once the intake interview has been completed, some accommodations (e.g. interpreting services, text in alternative format [Braille, e-text], textbooks on audiotape, enlarged print, etc) require substantial advanced notice (15 to 30 working days or more). Therefore, it is the responsibility of the prospective or enrolled student to give sufficient early notice of such accommodation to DSS each quarter the student is enrolled in order to ensure timely coordination and availability of equipment, items, and/or services.

A good time to begin planning for accommodations for an academic quarter is early in the registration period for the quarter.

How to Obtain Assistance