We do encourage students to have a conversation with their instructors about their accommodations. These conversations can be helpful for both parties. DSP Disability Specialists can also help facilitate these conversations and assist faculty with setting up an agreement with students about accommodations (for example, Disability Specialists can help instructors and students confirm the parameters for acceptable numbers of absences or timelines for assignment extensions). However, we cannot require students to have a conversation about their accommodations with their...
Each Letter of Accommodation lists the name and email address of the Disability Specialist assigned to work with the student for whom the letter was issued. The assigned Disability Specialist is your best first point of contact in addressing questions and concerns you may have about an individual student’s Letter of Accommodation.
Instructors are not required to provide any disability accommodations in the absence of a Letter of Accommodation (LOA) from DSP. Faculty should refer students to DSP rather than provide informal accommodations. Informal accommodations may not meet a student’s disability-related access needs.
If a student is not yet active in DSP and has an immediate concern, instructors can provide the same consideration for extenuating circumstances that they would provide for students without disabilities. For instance, if a student breaks their hand the...
An accommodation is an adjustment to a practice or policy that removes a barrier that exists based on the impact of an individual’s disability in the context of the practice or policy. Academic accommodations allow for disabled students to have equal access to participate in their academic programs at UC Berkeley. While in elementary and secondary school settings it is permissible for accommodations to change the goals and standards of the curriculum, in the postsecondary setting, instructors are not required to fundamentally alter their course goals or standards in order...
Not every student with a disability attending UC Berkeley is utilizing DSP services. The decision to connect with DSP is an individual choice for students with disabilities. If a disabled student believes that they will require accommodations to have equal access to participate in their academic program at UC Berkeley, they need to take the formal step of applying for accommodations.
Students first apply online to create an account with DSP that will allow DSP to keep their disability records separate from their academic and other campus...
