Disability Information

What is a Disability Condition? A person has a disability if he or she has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or mre of the major life activities (walking, standing, seeing, speaking, hearing, breathing, taking care of oneself, learning, working). *When determining if a person is substantially limited, consider the condition, manner or duration under which an individual can perform a particular major life activity. Reasonable Accommodations A reasonable accomodation is a modification or adjustment to a course, program, service, job, facility, or activity that enables a qualified person with a disability to have an equal opportunity to participate. Institutions are obligated to make reasonable accomodations only to know limitations of an otherwise qualified individual. Accomodations are unreasonable when: Fundamentally alter the nature of the training program Compromise the essential elements of the program Cause an undue financial or administrative burden Endanger the safety of patients, self or other Tools Academic Standards Test scores, GPA, class rank, required courses Technical Standards All nonacademic criteria that are essential to participate in the program (skills, attitudes, experiences, and physical requirements) Essential Requirements/Components The expected or desired outcomes of the program or course, including skills, knowledge, judgements and attitudes, demonstrated with or without reasonable accomodation.

Disability Services Guidelines for Obtaining Adequate Documentation of Disability

Staff from DS request disability-related documents from the appropriate licensed professional to certify an employee or student as having a disability and to determine reasonable accommodations. The cost of obtaining documentation is borne by the student/employee. If the initial documentation is incomplete or inadequate to determine the extent of the disability and reasonable accommodations, the office has the discretion to require additional documentation. Any cost of obtaining addtional documentation is also borne by the employee/student. If the University desires a second professional opinion, the University bears the cost.

WHAT MAKES DOCUMENTATION ADEQUATE? Documentation must come from a licensed professional, qualified in the appropriate specialty area. There must be a good match between the credentials of the individual providing the documentation, and the condition being report (e.g., an orthopedic limitation might be documented by a physician or chiropractor, but not a licensed psychologist). Documentation must include both diagnostic information and an explanation of the current manifestations or functional limitations of the condition. It should be thorough enough to demostrate whether or not a major life activity is subtantially limited, i.e., the extent, duration, and impact of the condition. In most cases, documentation should be relatively recent; a suggested guideline is less that 3 years old. However, discretion may be used in accepting documentation of conditions which are permanent or non-varying (e.g., a sensory disability). Likewise, some chronic and/or changing conditions will warrant more current documentation and/or more frequent updates in order to offer an accurate picture of functioning. The documentation must be thorough enough to support the accomodations that are being considered. Accommodations are determined based on an analysis of the current impact of the person's disability on academic or work performance. For example, if an individual requests accommodations due to symptoms not reported in the documentation, further information should be obtained. NOTE: a telephone consultation with a provider to update or clarify information regarding the condition may be obtained and noted in the casefile in place of a letter. Providers should be encouraged to follow-up with a letter, but reasonable accommodations supported by the consultation should not be withheld in the meantime. Should a new condition be diagnosed, a follow-up letter should be provided. Documentation of a chronic or progressive condition must include the degree and range of functioning. Documentation should include the impact of medication or other treatments on major life activities. Documentation which presents any question as to authenticity should be immediately followed up with a consultation to verify information, e.g., handwritten letters, letters not written on letterhead, diagnoses on prescription pads, those from a provider whose credenitals It is helpful when requesting documentation to give the provider a contet of the individual's employment or academic demands. This is especially important when accommodations for a specific job or course are being considered. A cover letter with the release of information form is helpful in providing such contextual information. Recommendations for accommodations may be solicited, but only if the provider has an accurate understanding of the environment in which the individual is operating (e.g., an LD Specialist vs. a medical doctor). Additional information should be obtained via a consultation if recommendations do no have a clear rationale or connection to the data presented. If recommendations are asked for, it must be made clear to the student or employee when the release is signed that any recommendations given may or may not be deemed to be reasonable accomodations. Documentation obtained by DS cannot be released to parties other than the individual employee or student, and then only with written consent. Generally, requests must be responded to within 5 working days, 10 days in extenuating circumstances. Releases of information are good for one calendar year after date of signature. The DS registration agreement and confidentality statment forms do not need to be updated annually, but it is advisable to re-visit the forms on an annual basis with clients to make sure they are aware of what has been signed previously. Pending receipt of adequate documentation, it may be warranted in some circumstances to provide accommodations on a provisional basis; for example, if it's been established that a person has a diability, but more current informaiton on functioning is needed. These situations should be responded to on a case-by-case basis, in consultation with a supervisor as necessary. University of Minnesota April 1997

Disability Services Considerations in Determining Essential Course/Program Components

The following considerations are intended to assist faculty in identifying essential skills/knowledge/attitudes within university courses or programs. They are not intended to identify specific accommodations. The first step is for faculty to establish specific learning objectives and/or outcomes. When considering outcomes, sometimes it is helpful to divide the outcomes into the following broad areas: skills, knowledge and attitudes. After the outcomes are determined, the process of determining whether or not the objectives/outcomes are essential begins. The exact definition of "essential" will be determined by individual faculty/academic departments. Some materials departments should have on hand when identifying essential program requirements include; licensing board requirements, course objectives, and if applicable a job descriptino from a general class of occupations such as dental hygienist, physical therapist, staff nurse, etc. when writing out essential components of a program it is helpful to start the statement with a strong verb, followed by the object and ending with the purpose. Keep in mind you need to focus on outcomes, not the means, by which a student achieves an outcome.

Specific Questions to Consider: Are the skills/knowledge/attitudes an integral part of the learning objectives of the course? Is there only one way for the skills/knowledge/attitudes to be demonstrated? Would elimination of the skills/knowledge/attitudes alter the learning objectives of this course/program? Was this course created to teach any of the skills/knowledge/attitudes? Would there be any significant consequences if the skills/knowledge/attitudes were not learned? Would there be any significant consequences if the skills/knowledge/attitudes were performed at varying levels of competency? Is it necessary for the student to be able to transfer the skills/knowledge/attitudes to another setting? Does the student need to be physically able to perform the skills/knowledge/attitudes themselves? Does the student need to be cognitively able to perform the skills/knowledge/attitudes themselves?

The above information was provided by Disability Services @ University of Minnesota

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