DSPS Intake Meeting: What to Expect
Students who apply for Disability Services may be unsure of what to expect when they meet with a Disability Counselor. Here are a few things to know before you attend your meeting:
- Your meeting with Disability Services is your chance to share your experience with
your disability. While we will have read your application and reviewed any documentation
you have provided, this is your opportunity to share the impact your disability has
had on your educational experiences.
- We will typically start by asking you a few questions to get to know you better before
asking you to share specifics about your disability.
- 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 Intake/Eligibility Meeting, you may be asked what you think would be most
helpful to address the barriers that you have described. It is okay to say you are
not sure. You and the counselor will 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.
- The outcome of the meeting and interactive process is to determine your eligibility
for disability services and to develop an accommodation plan. This includes obtaining
your signature on forms to acknowledge that you understand and agree to the college鈥檚
policies and procedures.
- In preparation for your intake meeting, please note the following. There is a significant
difference between the laws that govern the K-12 system and those that govern the
postsecondary setting. Therefore, there may be some differences in the accommodations
that you received in high school and the ones you are approved for in college. This
is because the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) covers students
with disabilities in postsecondary settings and focuses on student access. Students
with disabilities are provided with accommodations that remove barriers in the academic
setting to help ensure that they can participate equally. However, the goals and standards
that students with disabilities are required to meet must remain the same as the goals
and standards that students without disabilities are required to meet. The bottom
line is the K-12 legal standard is success and the legal standard for college is access
and equal opportunity to participate. This legal standard is applied in the process
of considering and approving accommodations.
- Some accommodation requests may require an additional meeting with a Learning Disability
Specialist.
- Finally, your intake meeting does not have to be your only meeting with Disability Services. We encourage you to meet with a disability counselor as often as needed to discuss new challenges that you are facing as a student and/or to address barriers that you are experiencing. You are required to meet with Disability Services annually at the minimum to review your academic progress.