Determination of Accommodations
Accommodations are based on two considerations:
- The specific nature of the student's functional impairment, and
- The educational or testing environment in which the student will be functioning. Each student's disability is considered on a case-by-case basis.
Many students with disabilities have developed a variety of strategies that work for them. Even when disabilities seem quite similar, individuals may seek or be entitled to different accommodations based on their training and experience.
Requesting Accommodations
Disclosing a disability and requesting accommodations are personal decisions. As such, Brandeis neither imposes accommodations upon a student or pre-empts that student's responsibility to disclose and define his or her need for accommodations. No student is required to disclose the existence of a disability, but students who wish to request accommodations must do so.
After submitting appropriate documentation, and receiving certification of that documentation, students requesting accommodations for the first time are encouraged to meet with Beth Rodgers-Kay to discuss what types of accommodations are appropriate and reasonable. Beth Rodgers-Kay will then prepare confidential letters for the student to take to each instructor.
These letters outline which accommodations have been granted, but will not identify the nature of the disability. While these letters serve as the official notification to faculty of the need to provide accommodations, it is also the hope that they will serve as a starting point for an ongoing conversation between student and faculty member and will facilitate communication and self advocacy on the part of the student.
At the beginning of each semester, it is the student's responsibility to notify Beth Rodgers-Kay of your course schedule and to request that letters be generated for that semester. If at any time a student wishes to seek further accommodations or modifications of the original accommodations, the student should make an appointment with Beth Rodgers-Kay, or the appropriate graduate school disability coordinator. Make an appointment to discuss the situation with Beth Rodgers-Kay.