Welcome to the website of Indiana University Bloomington’s Office of Disability Services for Students (DSS, for short). As an instructor, you are an important partner with DSS as we work to fulfill our designated mission: to ensure that students with disabilities receive equal access to University programs and services. We hope you will find useful information here or answers to your questions. If you do not, please check out the last section below, where you will find an opportunity to ask questions (confidentially) of DSS staff. We monitor this page frequently and will be updating it on a regular basis. Or, if you prefer, you are welcome to contact us by calling 855-7578 or emailing one of our staff:
To make FAQS more useful to you, we have divided it into the following sections:
Creating Accessible Learning Environments
How can I let students in my class know that I am approachable and willing to make accommodations for disabilities?
One of the easiest and most effective things you can do is include a statement on all syllabi inviting students with disabilities to contact you and/or the DSS office. A sample statement might read as follows:
If any student will require assistance or appropriate academic accommodations for a disability, please contact me after class, during my office hours, or by individual appointment. You must have established your eligibility for disability support services through the Office of Disability Services for Students in Franklin Hall 006, 855-7578.
Will having a student with a disability make my job more complicated and difficult?
We won’t lie to you.
Probably not. Any student might do that for you.
You may, however, notice that some students will attend office hours often and/or ask questions more frequently in class. We think this sounds like enthusiastic, active, and engaged learning. If, however, you begin to feel that you are not meeting student need, contact us and let’s talk about it.
You may be requested to arrange for modified testing conditions, assist in locating a peer note taker, share the spotlight with a sign language interpreter, or allow a student to scribe answers directly on a copy of the test. If you have no clue about any of the above, contact us at 855-7578.
What about changes to the way I prepare tests, giving students oral questions rather than written, forgiving missed assignments, extending deadlines, and making exceptions in general?
These are difficult issues. The short answer is to call us when you receive such requests because they probably did not originate with our office.
The longer answer is that we do not believe you should alter teaching style, make comprehensive changes to the way you assess student learning, or provide unlimited extensions of deadlines.
What might be helpful is to remember that the student with a disability should be expected to do all essential work in your class with or without reasonable and appropriate accommodation.
Should I reduce my expectations of someone with a disability or do I need to grade the student differently?
Absolutely not.
The student is otherwise qualified to be in your class. In other words, they have met IUB’s admissions standards. They have earned the right to be there and they deserve the opportunity to do their best. In common with other students on this campus, some will be hugely successful and some will not.
The accommodations/academic modifications recommended in the memo have been determined by staff in DSS and are based on documented limitations of disability. They will not give the student an easy grade or an advantage over other students. They are designed to counter the effects of disabilities where they may pose a barrier to the education process.
That being the case, the student should be expected to do all essential/required work in your class. Give us a call, however, if you continue to have questions or concerns.
Is there really such a thing as a learning disability?
A learning disability (LD) is not so easy to define. Learning itself involves a cluster of cognitive abilities such as short term (working) and long term memory, processing of information, and receptive and/or expressive abilities. In most people, these components are roughly consistent with each other but for a person with a learning disability, one or more of these components may function at a considerably lower level. It takes a skillfully administered series of evaluative tests to discover the presence of a learning disability and it may not be easy to detect upon casual acquaintance.
How can I ensure that a person with a visual impairment will have access to all of the materials in my classroom?
A student with a visual impairment will bring you a letter specifying that s/he needs to have one or more of the following: desk copies of handouts and board work; enlarged print copies of tests or handouts; Brailed handouts, etc. Be sure to discuss accommodations with the student to learn more about how the student will best be able to access printed materials.
Enlarged print can be prepared easily enough if the material is already on a disk. Simply make a change in the font size before you print.
If you have preplanned lectures and know with some degree of precision what work you will be putting on the board during each lecture, prepare copies of the work on plain paper and give them to the student at the beginning of class. Perhaps you have an AI who can assist you to prepare materials.
Overheads can be copied on any copy machine.
Contact the Adaptive Technology Center (856-4112) for assistance with brailled materials. The ATC is located in Wells Library.
Work with DSS and the ATC to enable students to convert textbooks to alternate formats in a timely manner. Students using alternate texts need to have class materials at the same time as their peers. Conversion can be a time-consuming process therefore, it is critical that you choose the textbooks for your courses well before the start of the semester.
Still have questions? In that case, contact DSS or the ATC for more options.
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When Students Disclose Disabilities
A student just brought me a letter from DSS. I don’t understand what I’m supposed to do with it.
The student has given you a memorandum identifying him/her as a student with disability, entitled to receive specific modifications to the classroom and/or testing environment. The modifications are listed in the memo and will need to be arranged for this student for each of your tests.
The DSS memo doesn’t tell me what the student’s disability is. Why not, and what am I entitled to know?
Memos do not identify the disability because it is the prerogative of the student to disclose this information which is considered highly confidential.
The memo tells you what it is important for you to know which is how to offset the impact of the disability where it unfairly limits the student in the classroom.
I'm just an AI; do I have the authorization to make test modifications?
Unless a listed modification alters something essential to your course, each modification must be provided. If you are not sure if you are authorized by your department to arrange these accommodations or if you do not know how to do so, please contact your supervisor immediately.
Can I limit the period of time in which I will allow students to bring me a letter from DSS?
No, you cannot set a time limit for disclosure. A student may not even be diagnosed until part way through the semester and cannot be refused accommodation. However you are entitled to receive adequate advance notice from the student that modifications will be needed. We generally interpret “adequate” to mean one week prior to the test
We encourage students to bring memos to all their instructors during the first two weeks of the semester. Early notification means accommodations will be in place for the majority of the semester and also makes it easier for instructors to arrange accommodations.
What if a student claims to have a disability but does not have a memo from DSS?
Provide disability modifications only for students who bring you accommodation memos from DSS. You will not incur legal difficulties because it is the prerogative of the university (of which you are a part) to require students to establish eligibility for disability assistance before they may be accommodated. DSS is the office designated to collect and maintain confidential disability materials and to coordinate accommodations for students.
- If a student brings you the documentation of a disabling condition, make an immediate referral to DSS. If the student is not already aware of this, it will be important that they know our office exists and is established to assist in all matters of disability. You, on the other hand, have been designated to be an expert in the area you teach.
- PLEASE NOTE THIS EXCEPTION: Excuses for ordinary medical absences do not constitute disability documentation except under very proscribed circumstances and when you have also received a DSS memo identifying the student as subject to disability related absences.
What if a student has not disclosed it, but I suspect s/he has a learning disability?
If you cannot be sure of the student’s reaction to knowing you suspect a learning disability, it may be better for you to keep your thoughts to yourself.
Unfortunately, the prevailing misconception of LD is that it means STUPID. If the student has never been diagnosed with a learning problem, s/he may not be receptive to being perceived as “stupid”.
A student with an LD has the right not to disclose this fact—don’t blow their cover.
If you feel strongly about broaching the subject with this student, arrange to discuss that IU offers a variety of academically supportive resources such as Writing Tutorial Services, Student Academic Center, departmental study sessions, residential programming in a variety of subjects, etc. In this context, it would be appropriate to include a mention of DSS services.
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Modified Testing
Who is responsible for administering exams to DSS students who are eligible for accommodations?
Due to the very limited space available to the Office of Disability Services for Students (DSS) we rely on instructors to provide simple test modifications (see below). If the test requires more complex accommodations, students can be referred to DSS for administration of the test.
Can you clarify the modifications I am expected to provide?
You will arrange modifications for students with one or more of the following accommodations:
- 50% extended time (time and one half)
- A quiet, distraction reduced setting
- Use of a simple calculator
- Enlarged print tests
- Permission to record answers directly on a copy of the test instead of onto a Scantron answer sheet
- Provide written instructions
What is the first step in arranging these modifications?
The student will bring you a memo from our office explaining the modifications to which they are entitled. At this time, you should discuss how the modifications for your course will fit into the student’s schedule. It is important that students not miss one class to have their testing modifications for another. DSS recommends that you and the student schedule all remaining semester tests, including the final, at this meeting.
What other considerations must be made when arranging modified testing?
Keep the following questions in mind as you work with the student:
- Can the student begin at the same time as the regular class and be provided the extra time without overlapping the next class?
- If not, can the student begin extended time before the rest of the class and complete the test at the same time as the class?
- If not, is it possible for the student to schedule the test at an alternate time on the day of the test? Should you have concerns about the integrity of the test, you might consider having the student sign an honor statement not to share information with others in the class.
- If the student has no other time to take the test on the day it is scheduled, you will have to set this up for another day and time. (Fortunately, this is a very unusual circumstance.)
What is a quiet distraction-reduced setting?
A “quiet, distraction-reduced setting” is a setting that is quieter than the usual classroom. Suggested appropriate settings may include a conference room, seminar room, empty classroom, empty office, or other suitable space within your department. Several students with the same or similar accommodations may test together in these locations.
A hallway or a department office where there is foot traffic or office noise is not an appropriate setting.
Why can’t students take an exam with extended time in the regular classroom?
It is unnecessarily disruptive for a student to begin a test in one location and be relocated to another in order to complete the test. It doesn’t happen to the other students and should not be imposed upon students with disabilities.
What if I can’t find an alternate location for my students to test?
Call Classroom Scheduling (855-2489) for availability of rooms in your building or a building nearby. If nothing is available call DSS (855-7578) and we will help you find an alternate location.
Who will proctor my exams?
What about teaching assistants or AIs? If no one is available and you’re all out of ideas, contact DSS for assistance but do so at least a week in advance of the test. We may also be able to provide payment for proctors at $6/hour provided the proctor will contact the DSS Tests Coordinator at 855-3508 to be placed on our payroll.
Are there any cases in which students will test with DSS?
Students with one or more of the following accommodations may be sent to DSS for testing:
- 100% extended time (double time)
- A private or individual setting
- A test reader or an audiotaped version of the exam
- A word processor for essay exams
- A scribe to record exam answers
Is there anything I need to do if I am sending a student to test with DSS?
Yes.
- First complete and sign the Testing/Exam Request Form (TERF) that is found on the back of the student's Academic Modifications Memorandum. The information you enter on this form will let us know approved tests conditions and specify how tests will be sent to DSS and how we are to return them to you.
- Next, give the form back to the student. It is the student's responsibility to return this form to DSS and to arrange scheduling with the Test Coordinator. Please note: the student must do this a minimum of 7 days prior to the first test to be proctored by DSS and finals should be scheduled two weeks in advance.
How will I know if the exam arrangements have been made?
You will receive a confirmation e-mail approximately one week prior to each test. This will also serve as your reminder to send the test to the DSS office.
My tests will be given in the evening. Will DSS be able to proctor tests after 5pm?
Afraid not.
Our testing hours are Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5 pm. We suggest that for tests given after 5:00 pm, you allow the student to begin the test earlier. Permission to do so may be marked in the appropriate place on the Testing/Exam Request Form (TERF).
Alternatively, you could contact DSS and request our assistance in locating a proctor.
What if I am not comfortable letting my students begin the exam earlier than the rest of the class?
We suggest that you request the student to sign an honor statement promising not to disclose exam information to anyone until after the class has completed the test.
IT BEARS REPEATING:
An instructor who chooses not to allow a student to take a test during DSS hours of operation must arrange ALL testing modifications.
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Large Print, Interpreters and Other Forms of Accommodation
I have a letter from a student specifying that s/he needs to have one or more of the following: desk copies of handouts and board work, enlarged print copies of tests or handouts, brailled handouts, etc. How do I do this?
Enlarged print can be prepared easily enough if the material is already on a disk. Simply make a change in the font size before you print.
If you have preplanned lectures and know with some degree of precision what work you will be putting on the board during each lecture, prepare copies of the work on plain paper and give them to the student at the beginning of class. Perhaps you have an AI who can assist you to prepare materials.
Overheads can be copied on any copy machine.
Contact the Adaptive Technology Center (856-4112) for assistance with brailled materials. The ATC is located in Wells Library.
Still have questions? In that case, contact DSS or the ATC for more options.
There is a student sitting next to a person with a lap top during my class. What’s going on?
Chances are the student is hard of hearing and the other person is a trained court stenographer who is transcribing lecture and discussion so that the student will have access to what you are saying. Did you ask??
Do I have to allow the sign language person into my class?
Only if they are there to interpret for a student in the class who happens to be deaf.
Seriously, yes, you do.
Won’t the interpreter be distracting to the other students?
We don’t think so, especially since your lectures are so very interesting.
There’s a student in a wheelchair (or a person who cannot sit in the little desk) in my class and s/he seems to need a table or something. Can you help?
Yes. Please call us right away and we’ll make arrangements.
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Class Notes
A student brought me a letter from the DSS office stating that s/he is entitled to receive a copy of class notes. What do I do now?
The note taking assistance letter from the DSS office states that you are responsible for providing notes or finding a volunteer note taker in your class.
If you have legible, comprehensive notes, give these directly to the student. If not, you must solicit a volunteer from the class and make arrangements with the volunteer to share his/her notes with the student.
If the student has not requested anonymity, you may wish to connect the student and the volunteer so they can make arrangements on their own.
If you have any questions, contact DSS.
I use Power Point presentations in class. Can I just give the student my slides?
Absolutely.
If you email the slides or make them available online before class, the student will have the opportunity to review them ahead of time and pay closer attention to the lecture during class.
My notes are messy, my lectures are unpredictable, and/or my classes are driven by discussion. How should I go about providing note taking assistance?
You should solicit a volunteer note taker from the class.
You can do this by making an announcement to the class that a student (do not name the student without express permission to do so) needs a back up set of notes. You may also wish to convey this information through a class email list. Use your best judgment in selecting a volunteer note taker.
I think it’s important for students to gain the skills involved in taking notes. Do I have to provide this accommodation if I don’t feel comfortable doing so?
Yes. You must provide this accommodation, unless note taking is one of the essential components of the class and all students are being graded on their ability to take notes.
Students are determined to be eligible for this academic adjustment in an effort to offset the effects of a disabling condition. To disallow the use of this service would create an inaccessible classroom. If you have further questions, please contact DSS.
It’s time-consuming for me to make a copy of my lecture notes just for one student. Is there an easier way to do this?
We encourage you to provide notes for all your students. A current trend in education is to move away from an accommodative approach to disability and toward a universal design for instruction. Providing notes to all students (through an online class site, for example) reduces the need to accommodate individual needs and makes the class content more accessible to all students.
Does a student with this accommodation receive notes even if they don’t go to class?
No. Note taking assistance is not a substitute for class attendance. Volunteer note takers and faculty are instructed not to provide notes when students do not attend class.
Isn’t it a violation of copyright law for a student to tape record my lectures?
No. It is legal for a student to tape record a lecture as an alternate method of accessing the class content. If you have concerns about how the material will be used after it is recorded, please contact DSS. At your request, the student recording your lectures can sign a privacy statement.
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Disability and Academic Standards: Keeping them Compatible
Should I reduce my expectations of someone with a disability or do I need to grade the student differently?
Absolutely not.
The student is otherwise qualified to be in your class. In other words, they have met IUB’s admissions standards. They have earned the right to be there and they deserve the opportunity to do their best. In common with other students on this campus, some will be hugely successful and some will not.
The accommodations/academic modifications recommended in the memo have been determined by staff in DSS and are based on documented limitations of disability. They are designed to counter the effects of disability where they may pose a barrier to the education process. They will not give the student an easy grade or an advantage over other students.
That being the case, the student should be expected to do essential/required work in your class.
What do you mean, exactly, “essential/required” work?
Essential and required work refers to work that is directly related to the defined academic purpose or purposes of the course or the mastery of key competencies being taught in your class.
Providing substitutions or waivers of such work are academic decisions but, as always, DSS reserves the right and the responsibility to discuss these matters with you, just as you have the right and responsibility to discuss recommended accommodations with us.
Attendance is essential in my course and a student just brought me a memo stating they are entitled to be absent. What gives?
Check out the wording of that memo again, please. It should contain encouragement for you to contact us when you feel concern about additional absences.
DSS policy is never to recommend unlimited absences for any course. We do, however, ask for consideration of reasonable flexibility in attendance (or participation) policies and we invite discussion as to what is actually “reasonable”. It will vary, depending on the course. We actually want to talk to you about this one. Please give us a call at 855-7578.
A student is not doing well in my class and is telling me that the accommodations are not working; that several additional modifications must be made. I am uncomfortable with the suggested modifications. What do I do now?
This may be one for a phone discussion or, better yet, a meeting with DSS, you, and the student.
The short answer, however, is that unless you have a DSS memo authorizing additional modifications, immediately refer the student back to DSS to discuss these concerns with us.
If you’re stuck for something to say to the student, confess that in becoming an expert in your field, you neglected to become well versed in disability matters.
It’s past mid-term and a student who is doing poorly in class just brought me a memo requesting additional time on tests. Furthermore, the student says that I have to re-administer all previous tests from this semester so that they are accommodated to disability and can improve their grade. Must I do this?
You do not. Academic adjustments cannot be retroactive because there is no way to know for sure that poor performance did not result from poor study habits. You will, however, be responsible for providing accommodations on all remaining tests in the semester.
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YOUR QUESTIONS
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