Providing Documentation

Eligibility for services is based on Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act. In order to determine if a student is eligible, documentation, including medical and psychological reports and other records, are examined to determine whether or not a student is disabled. Acceptable disability documentation would consist of a diagnosis and, depending on the disability, could include the following:

• Medical evaluation by an appropriate practitioner
• Measures of visual perceptual/visual motor skills
• DSM-IV diagnosis, medications currently taking, and impact of disorder
• IQ and aptitude measurement
• Achievement tests measuring levels of reading/language development and math development
• Other tests relevant to the disability

Please note that if you are a high school student relying upon an Individualized Education Program (IEP) as documentation, many times the IEPs do not document an actual diagnosis and are sometimes no longer sufficient, by themselves, for a student to receive accommodations. However, IEPs are still helpful and beneficial to have on file with the Academic Support/Student Assistance Office. If you are submitting an IEP as documentation, some things to keep in mind are:

1. Make sure that the IEP is current and specific when describing the student's identified areas of need.>
2. Include the most recent educational assessments, such as the Woodcock-Johnson. >
3. If testing is older that three years, the school psychologist should provide a written statement that outlines or summarizes the student’s disability and his or her current performance level.

Requesting Accommodations

Students who request an accommodation based on a documented disability are advised to make the request known as soon as possible to ensure timely service.

1. After being admitted into IWCC, you must contact the Academic Support/Student Assistance Director to complete an Accommodations Request form.
2. Submit current documentation of your disability to the Director.
3. With the Director, you will determine which accommodations will be appropriate for your individual needs.
4. You will then receive an Instructor Accommodation Letter indicating which accommodations are available to you. It is important for you to give this letter to your instructor(s) and discuss your learning needs with them EARLY in the term. Instructors have office hours and are often available before or after class. It is YOUR responsibility to keep instructors informed of your needs.

If, at any time during the semester, you have difficulty receiving appropriate accommodations, please contact the Director.

Housing Accommodations

Disability-related housing accommodations should be arranged as follows:

• Students with disabilities must follow the established Housing Office sign-up procedures.
• Students with disabilities requesting housing accommodations should also contact the Academic Support/Student Assistance Director and identify accommodations needed.
• The Director will arrange accommodations with the Housing Office.
• All requests must be initiated at least four weeks prior to scheduled housing assignments.
• Students must provide documentation (see below for specific information).

Documentation Guidelines for Housing Accommodations

The provision of all reasonable accommodations and services is based upon assessment of the impact of the student’s disabilities. Documentation must be timely. Evaluation must have been completed within three years of date of submission and review. Therefore, it is in the student’s best interest to provide recent and appropriate documentation relevant to the student’s living environment. It may be appropriate to update the documentation, since the purpose of the documentation is to determine the student’s current need for accommodations.

Students making requests for housing accommodations due to disabilities must provide the following documentation:

• Medical or clinical diagnosis of the disability by a licensed professional in the appropriate area of specialization.
• Name of the assessment instrument(s) used.
• Clearly define the impact of the disability on the student’s housing needs.
• Severity factors of the disability must be stated.
• Prescriptive treatments and/or medications must be noted.
• Housing requests must be directly related to the diagnosed disability and must be directly related to the housing needs of the student.
• Recommendations that would assist the Housing Department in serving the student.

All documentation should be on letterhead, typed, dated, signed and otherwise legible. If accommodations are not clearly identified in the documentation, the Academic Support/Student Assistance Director will seek clarification and, if necessary, more information. The final determination for providing appropriate and reasonable accommodations rests with the college.

Testing Accommodations

Placement Testing

All students who wish to enroll as a full-time student at Iowa Western Community College must take a placement exam. Additionally, we offer placement-testing services to people who plan on attending another school. If a student requests to take a placement exam with accommodations, he or she needs to contact the Academic Support/Student Assistance Director prior to scheduling a testing time. In order to allow accommodations for the placement exam, the Director must have disability documentation on file before the test is taken.

Accommodations for Classroom Tests

• After enrolling at Iowa Western Community College, the student must contact the Academic Support/Student Assistance Director in Clark Hall (Room 006) in order to receive accommodations.
• During the first week of each semester/session, the student should meet with instructors to discuss accommodations and future tests. The student and instructor should agree on an accommodation plan. The instructor should inform the student of what type of tests will be given (i.e., multiple choice, essay, short answer, etc.).
• If the student needs special adaptive equipment and/or special services (i.e. an interpreter, test reader or scribe), he or she will need to fill out a Test Accommodation Request with the Director. This needs to be done at least three (3) days before the student is scheduled to take the test. Please make sure the information put on the request is accurate.
• It is extremely important that the student be on time for tests. A trained volunteer may administer the test, if necessary, as an accommodation to you. Please be considerate of the time that the volunteers devote to this service.
• Students must provide their own tools for testing (i.e. pencil, pen, calculator, etc.).