Student Handbook

Policies and Procedures: Accessing Services at Storrs

Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD)

Any student with a documented disability may be eligible to receive services from the Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD). The purpose of accommodations and modifications is to reduce or eliminate any disadvantages that may exist because of an individual’s disability. The law does not require institutions to waive specific courses or academic requirements considered essential to a particular program or degree. Rather, they are mandated to modify existing requirements on a case-by-case basis in order to ensure that individuals are not discriminated against on the basis of their disability. Students wanting to access services must self-identify and provide appropriate verification of their disability. Eligibility for reasonable and appropriate accommodations will be determined on an individual basis.

Appropriate documentation will assist the student and the University in determining reasonable accommodations as stipulated under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and other pertinent state and federal regulations. Students requesting accommodations of either an academic or personal nature must meet with the appropriate disability contact person and present appropriate documentation prior to receiving services.

Documentation must be current, in most cases within three years of the current date, and must be submitted by a qualified practitioner. This documentation must be a comprehensive assessment including recommendations for accommodations as well as recommendations for treatment. The diagnostician must be an impartial individual who is not a family member of the student.

The following documentation guidelines are available on the Center for Students with Disabilities website at http://www.csd.uconn.edu/doc_guidelines.html

• Deaf or hard of hearing
• Head injuries or traumatic brain injuries
• Learning disabilities
• Physical and systemic disorders
• Psychological Disabilities, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Blind or low vision
• Visual disorders – such as ocular motility dysfunction/eye movement disorders, vergence dysfunction/inefficiency in using both eyes together, strabismus/misalignment of the eyes, etc.

Reasonable accommodations depend upon the nature and degree of severity of the documented disability. While the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 requires that priority consideration be given to the specific methods requested by the student, it does not imply that a particular accommodation must be granted if it is deemed not reasonable and other suitable techniques are available.