Who Participates in DSP?
DSP currently serves more than 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled at UC Berkeley. At present, the majority of students receiving our services have non-apparent disabilities, including psychological disabilities (such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress), learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, and chronic health conditions. Some students have life-long disability identities, and some students have recently-acquired or recently-identified disabilities. The students who comprise the UC Berkeley disability community are a diverse group. Students with disabilities are an integral part of the scholarly and diversity fabric of the school, and we work to support students with disabilities in finding an academic and cultural home at UC Berkeley.
How We Support Students
We seek to ensure that students with disabilities have equal access to their academic programs at UC Berkeley. We do this by considering the impact students' disabilities have in the context of the learning environment at Berkeley and identifying barriers that students may encounter. We then determine accommodations that serve to remove or mitigate such barriers.
In addition to determining classroom practices and environments that may require modification for students with disabilities to have equal access, our office also provides needed Auxiliary Services to support students' equal participation in the learning environment. These services are individualized to each student's unique disability identity, experience, and program of study. Services may include technology to support independent note taking, alternative formats of course texts, real-time course captioning, and specialized exam settings.
All students who are active in the Disabled Students' Program are assigned a Disability Specialist they can contact with questions or concerns. Disability Specialists generate accommodation letters for students, and these letters protect students' access to the classroom by specifying the services and supports that they require. Disability Specialists can also assist students as they communicate with their instructors, connect with campus resources, and develop personal strategies for disability management.
