There is nothing that you need to do to implement these accommodations. Some accommodations listed on the Letter of Accommodation are there to provide context to the manner in which a student may participate or be present in class. Some students may need to wear sunglasses or a hat with a brim to address the impact of sensitivity to classroom lighting, and including this accommodation in the letter is intended to prevent instructors from interpreting such actions as disrespectful or distracting. Similarly, some students may be unable to remain seated for the duration of a...
If you have any concerns about whether a student’s absence from class is disability-related, please contact the student’s assigned Disability Specialist, listed at the end of the student’s Letter of Accommodation, for guidance. Instructors should not ask students to provide disability documentation or medical records. If the student has disability documentation or medical records to share, they should provide that information to their assigned Disability Specialist directly.
The answer to this question will differ depending on the role that synchronous attendance plays in fulfilling the academic goals and performance standards of the course.
For instance, if the student is in a lecture course with 500 students enrolled, and the instructor of the course delivers a weekly lecture that is recorded and posted after class, a student may be able to miss a significant number of classes without impacting their ability to access, engage with, and apply the content of the course. However, if the student is in a 3-person...
While you can offer the student the option of dropping the missed exam as their lowest score, you cannot require a student with the accommodation of make-up exams to drop a missed exam if they would rather take a make-up exam. If the student has an accommodation allowing for them to make up exams that they missed due to the impact of their disability, they need to be provided with this option.
Some students have specific accommodations from DSP to receive typewritten notes from a student note taker in their class. If this is the case, the note taker should be allowed to use their laptop in the classroom after they have identified themselves to you.
As a compliance office, DSP is required to document correspondence from parties engaging in the interactive process and the fundamental alteration process. If you are engaging in email correspondence with a Disability Specialist regarding implementing a student’s accommodations, your messages will be saved in the staff notes module of that student’s AIM file. This module is not directly available to students in AIM. However, all student records at UC Berkeley, including staff case notes, are subpoenable if the student is engaged in a grievance or legal process, and all...
Yes, you need to share your PowerPoints/Slides with students who have this accommodation listed on their Letters of Accommodation (LOAs).
There are a number of reasons why students may have this accommodation. To accommodate the impacts of their disabilities, some students are using their personal screenreading technology in order to convert the text in the slides to speech so they can hear the information on the slides; some students are using technology to support their independent note taking that allows them to integrate their personal...
A student’s accommodation letter may note that the student requires a seat in a specific area of the classroom, such as the front, back, or aisle, or near a door, window, or source of sound. Most students are able to secure an appropriate seat independently. If the student asks you for assistance, it can be helpful to have the student identify seats that meet their access needs, and then to have the first staff member to enter the room for each class meeting place a piece of paper with RESERVED written on it on the student’s chosen seat. If another student sits in that seat...
While instructors may choose to provide any exam accommodations if they have access to the resources to do so, the DSP Proctoring Office prioritizes implementing exam accommodations that can be challenging to arrange, including private rooms, scribes and readers, and access to specific technology (such as screen readers or speech to text programs). It is a recommended practice for instructors to submit a Testing Agreement to the DSP Proctoring Office at...
Students may be approved for this accommodation for a number of reasons. Most students approved for this accommodation may need to engage in disability management techniques or interventions that can be distracting to their peers or that need to be addressed in privacy. Students approved for this accommodation should be permitted to leave and reenter the room as needed.
Students with and without disabilities may require use of a restroom during the administration of an exam, and having a policy that allows students to step out if needed will...
