Disability Services

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FAQ

Students who do not have documentation or are unsure if their documentation is sufficient are encouraged to schedule a meeting with the DS Director to discuss and learn more about relevant assessments and where to obtain them.
If additional documentation is needed, the DS Director can work with the student and diagnostician to clarify what information is needed.

Please reach out to ds@seattlecolleges.edu to schedule an appointment.

As soon as possible after registering for classes. Please note some services may require 4-6 weeks or more to arrange. This is based on a number of potential factors, including: the nature of a student’s academic accommodation requests, the availability of appropriate supporting documentation, and the availability of local resources (e.g., qualified interpreters and other third-party vendors, alternative text production, et cetera).

ASL Interpreting requests require at least 4 weeks advance notice to ensure that services are provided in a timely manner.

Contact the DS office as early as possible in your educational planning to avoid delays in service.

DS does not share information about a student’s disability with faculty, staff, parents, caseworkers or other individuals without written permission from the student. Additionally, DS cannot confirm whether or not a student is receiving services or disclose information about their accommodations. When talking with instructors, DS discusses only the accommodations that are needed, not the disability itself.

Additionally, student disability status will not appear on their academic record. 

The DS office may be required to release information on a need-to-know basis determined necessary in the facilitation of the accommodation process in accordance with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) or WAC 478-140.

Once accommodations are identified and approved, a Letter of Accommodation (LOA) will be sent to the eligible student and their faculty members via email. This email explains the accommodations the student will need and any other pertinent information the faculty may need to be aware of to ensure the accommodations are met. The student is encouraged to meet with their faculty as soon as possible to plan how accommodations will “work” in their class.

Students who have a documented disability and provide documentation of the disability that impacts their academic performance may be eligible for our services. In other words, anyone who has received a formal diagnosis which impacts them at school. Additionally, if you received accommodations in your K-12 education through a 504 plan or IEP, you may be eligible for our services.

For more information, please see our Eligibility page.

Disability Services primary purpose is to ensure that students receive accommodations for their access needs in the classroom setting. 

Accommodations are different for every student and approved based on documented needs. A “reasonable accommodation” is a modification to a course that supports a student with disabilities, without changing the learning objectives of the course.

Accommodations may include but are not limited to: 

  • Extended time on tests or assignments
  • An adjustable height chair or desk
  • The ability to type rather than handwrite assignments, or vice versa
  • ASL interpreting
  • Supplementary notes
  • Alternate formatting of texts (braille, enlarged print-outs, screen-reader compatible, etc)

Students who work with Disability Services may be unsure of what to expect when they meet with the Director. Here are a few things to know before you attend your meeting:

  • An Access Planning Meeting is a 1-on-1 meeting with the Director of Disability Services, either in-person or via Zoom. The meeting can take anywhere from 15 minutes to 1 hour depending on student need. 
  • Your Access Planning Meeting (APM) is your chance to share your experience with your disability. This is your opportunity to share the impact your disability has had on your educational experiences.
  • You will have a chance to share how your disability impacts all aspects of your academics and what barriers you may face in class, during exams and quizzes, and how it may affect the out-of-classroom activities required of your program.
  • During the APM, you may be asked what you think would be most helpful to address the barriers you have described. It is okay to say you are not sure. We can brainstorm what might be helpful and what resources may be available to you on campus.
  • If you have received accommodations in the past (at another college or in high school), share what has or has not worked in the past.
  • In your APM we will determine accommodations and explore different support options that are available to you at North.

Once you have had your accommodations approved, our office will send you and your instructors a copy of your Letter of Accommodations. However, there are a few more things we recommend students do to make sure they are getting the most benefit from their accommodations.

  1. Talk with your instructors about your accommodations. 
    1. Instructors will receive a copy of your Letter of Accommodations, but it may still be helpful to have a conversation with your instructors about those accommodations. This does NOT mean that you need to share the details of your disability with instructors. However, you might want to talk with them about when is the best time frame to take your accommodated exams, the best way to notify them that you will be using a particular accommodation in class, or which accommodations you anticipate being most relevant to their specific course. For more information about how to discuss your accommodations with your instructors, please see our tips for talking to your instructors. 
  2. Schedule your accommodated exams. 
    1. When you want to use your accommodations for an exam, you will need to schedule your exam through the Testing Center. The Testing Center requests five school days of notice to schedule an exam, but you can schedule exams much further out than that! Many instructors will have exam dates listed on their syllabus. Scheduling your midterm or final well in advance means that you will have a less stressful time preparing for exams. To schedule an exam, please fill out our Exam Scheduling Form. 
  3. Prepare for future quarters. 
    1. Remember that you will need to request to renew your accommodations every quarter that you attend North Seattle College. We recommend you do this around the time you are registering for classes, so that you and your instructors receive your Letters of Accommodations in time for the start of classes. To request to renew your accommodations for the quarter, please fill out our Request to Renew Accommodations form. We recommend requesting to renew your accommodations every quarter that you attend North, even if you think you might not need them—this way, if a need arises you will already be set up.

To use your approved accommodations on an exam, you will need to schedule your exam at the Testing Center. The Testing Center requests five school days notice to schedule exams, and you can request to schedule an exam by using the Exam Scheduling Form.

We recommend that you work with your instructors to find the best testing date prior to filling out the form—this will expedite the process of having your exam set up successfully.

The Testing Center is not managed by Disability Services, so please direct inquiries regarding accommodated testing to dstest@scedu.onmicrosoft.com.