Staff

Index

Accommodations

4.1   Admission

All students, those with and those without disabilities, must meet the same criteria for admission, and once admitted are assumed to be academically qualified to participate in the educational process of the University. Recent data indicate that 91% of students admitted to Queen's do in fact graduate, so the entrance criteria seem to be effectively selecting those who can succeed. This includes students with disabilities, although specific information about retention of students with disabilities is not yet available.

4.2   Registration at the Disability Services Office

After general registration at Queen's, students who require service from the Disability Services Office must book an appointment to meet with the Disability Services Advisor, or the Learning Disabilities Strategist. They can do this by telephoning (613) 533-6467, by email, or via a walk-in visit. Registration forms are provided to the student for completion and documentation regarding their disability is expected at the initial assessment interview.

Registration at the Disability Services Office is voluntary and is not required for accommodation. Students who have documentation but choose not to register with the Disability Services Office are still to be accommodated.

Returning students can re-register with the Disability Services Office online, provided there are no changes to their accommodations.

4.3   Assessment

The goals of the initial assessment interview are a) to review the documentation of a disability to ensure that it is adequate and b) to develop a plan of accommodation. The first includes the receipt, by the Disability Services Advisor, of documentation from a licensed professional specifying the presence of a disability.

Recommendations for accommodation of a disability are determined annually in an individual interview with the student and the Disability Services Advisor. Medical, family, work, and educational histories, as well as previous accommodations received in secondary or other post-secondary schools, are reviewed. Academic goals, current curriculum requirements as identified by the student, and barriers to participation in any aspect of university life which may be posed by the educational or physical environment are also investigated. Documentation of the disability is reviewed, updates or further information is requested if necessary, and current status is evaluated.

A plan of action is designed to provide an opportunity for the student with a disability to participate fully and equally in university life. Typically, the plan includes recommendations for reasonable accommodations for the disability, referrals to other services or departments, financial assistance, and related liaison if needed. Recommendations for accommodation are not made until documentation from a licensed physician, psychiatrist or psychologist is on file; they are developed with flexibility and consideration of the individual and the specific course requirements involved. Once the recommendations have been determined, approval forms identifying the appropriate accommodation are sent to the course instructors, with copies also going to the student.

4.4   Documentation of Disability 

1. Documentation is in the form of a written statement from a student's physician, registered psychologist or psychiatrist; this will be kept on file in the Disability Services Office. The purpose of the documentation is to make better informed decisions with respect to accommodations and as evidence of a disability. Generally, students bring their documentation to the Disability Services Office for their first appointment, or as soon after as can be managed. In some cases, the Disability Services Office may obtain the documentation with the written consent of the student.  
2. Documentation includes the following: a brief history, the diagnosis, description of resulting impairment(s), a doctor's signature, credentials, and address.  
3. Documentation is reviewed annually if the condition is subject to periods of remission or may have resolved. 

4.5   Documentation of a Learning Disability

Similar rigorous standards apply to the documentation of a learning disability. This involves: 

1. A qualified professional must conduct the evaluation.  A report, prepared by a member of the College of Physicians and Surgeons or the College of Psychologists,  documenting the results of a battery of standardized tests, including measures in the areas of:
   • intelligence (for example, WAIS-R)
   • academic achievement (as a minimum: reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic)
   • information processing (including processing speed, if relevant)
   • socio-emotional functioning (may be based on interview or on formal testing)
   • memory, attention and concentration (if relevant) 
2. Documentation must clearly identify a learning disability (based on a deficit in a specific area of information processing), and its implications for post-secondary education.  
3. Documentation should also make clear the student's current strengths and weaknesses and recommend appropriate accommodations at university.  
4. The assessment must have been completed within the past three years. Documentation which is more than three years old must be updated, or repeated, if necessary.  
5. After a screening appointment, students may be referred for additional assessment and verification of a learning disability. Initial appointments with the LD Specialist are generally one hour in length. At that time, the Specialist will decide whether or not further assessment is necessary; complete psycho-educational assessments require six to ten hours to complete.  
6. Since many students arrive at Queen's without adequate documentation, comprehensive assessments are provided at the Regional Assessment and Resource Centre (RARC). Students who are requesting accommodations for a learning disability, must register with Disability Services, at which time any existing documentation is reviewed. If there is sufficient evidence of a learning disability, interim accommodations may be recommended until testing is completed. Interim accommodations are not permitted for final exams. 

4.6   Release of Information

No information, written or verbal, can be released to a third party without the written consent of the student. This applies to faculty members and office staff of the entire university, not only the Disability Services Office. Students' disabilities are a private matter; it is their information to share or not as they see fit, and the same applies to the use of accommodation for those disabilities. It is not appropriate to reveal the use of accommodation on exams or in other settings, to other students, or when providing a reference for a student to either another program or an employer. If the accommodations are appropriate, the student's performance is achieved in a fair and equitable fashion, and reflects ability to the same degree any student's performance reflects individual ability. Therefore, there is nothing to be gained by divulging the use of accommodations, and there is much to be lost in the student's trust, privacy and right to confidentiality of such information.

4.7   File Review/Audit

Files are reviewed and updated after each appointment, or after any significant change in status of the disability, documentation, registration, or accommodations required.