- While UCF’s goal is to be proactively accessible, accommodations may still be needed to ensure students with disabilities have equitable access to their education.
- An accommodation should create access by removing or modifying a barrier present in the environment (physical space, policy, written/auditory/electronic information, and/or attitude) that nondisabled peers do not experience.
- The goal is to adjust the method in which academic tasks are accomplished without substantially altering the task itself or the academic rigor required. For example, a student may need additional time to take an exam, rather than reducing the number of questions or difficulty of an exam.
- Accommodations are not meant to ensure academic success, provide comfort, or reduce discomfort, but ensure that students with disabilities are not disadvantaged in their education simply because of their disability.
- Accommodations are academic adjustments that allow a student with a disability to have an equal opportunity to meet an academic standard or requirement.
- Accommodations do not reduce the established course standards or learning objectives.
- Accommodations also do not lessen the expectations required of a college student to fulfill general academic responsibilities.
Disabilities may fall into one of the following diagnostic categories but may also be present in additional ways:
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
- Blind or Low Vision
- Deaf or Hard of Hearing (DHH)
- Intellectual Disability
- Orthopedic
- Health Conditions
- Mental Health Conditions
- Specific Learning Disability
- Speech/Language Disability
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Temporary Disability (Broken arm/hand/leg, concussion, etc…)
The Americans with Disability Act (ADA) defines disability as:
- a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities;
- a person who has a history or record of such an impairment;
- a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment.
Individuals who fall into the first two categories may be eligible for accommodations if they are experiencing barriers because of the interaction of between their disability and an inaccessible aspect of their education. Reasonable accommodations are not determined based on disability or diagnosis alone. A student’s disability plus any specific academic impacts shapes what accommodations may be reasonable.