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Quick ADA FAQs

Who is considered an “otherwise qualified” individual with a disability?

• An “otherwise qualified” individual is one who meets the academic and technical standards for admission or participation in the educational programs or activities of the college in spite of the disability.

 

• Because we are an open enrollment institution, virtually anyone with a disability would meet admission standards. Some of our programs have additional admission and technical standards that students are required to meet.

 

 

What qualifies as a learning, physical or psychological disability?

A disability is an impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities of the individual. Examples would include but not be limited to hearing, seeing, walking, talking, learning, breathing, sleeping, working, eating or performing manual tasks.

 

What about people with psychological disabilities like depression, manic depression, obsessive compulsive disorders, etc?

If the disability impacts a major life activity to a “significant degree,” it is probably covered under the ADA. However, not all disabilities require reasonable accommodation. For example, a person with depression, who is compliant with medications, may not need any accommodations. This will be assessed in the intake and documentation process.

 

What do students have to do to qualify to obtain reasonable accommodations?

Students must provide documentation of a qualifying disability to the designated office for services to students with disabilities at the college they attend. The student may self-refer by calling or coming to the ADA office. See the DSSO directory to find out who is the ADA counselor designated to your HCC college. 

 

How do students learn about services for disabilities?

Information and procedures for obtaining services is readily available to all students through the college catalogue, the student handbook and information posted in prominent places around campus. Students will receive a syllabus. Your ADA counselor information is also available through the class syllabus with the following statement: "Any student with a documented disability (e.g. physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing, etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations must contact the Disability Support Services Office at the respective college at the beginning of each semester. Faculty are authorized to provide only the accommodations requested by the Disability Support Services Office."

 

When would you consider an accommodation to be unreasonable?

Accommodations are considered unreasonable if they:

 

• Provide an unfair advantage to a student with a disability.
  Example: Open book, open notes, unlimited time for testing

 

• Compromise the essential elements of the program.

 

• Endanger the safety of self or others.
  Example: a blind student working alone in a chemistry laboratory

 

• Require the provision of services off campus. The college is not required to go to someone’s home to test them for a distance education class or any other service.

 

• Involve personal attendants. We do not provide personal attendants for students. Normally, attendants are provided by outside agencies. In most cases, the attendant would be expected to wait outside of the classroom. If the attendant is needed in the classroom, faculty should notify the ADA office.

 

• Involve service animals that cannot abide by standards of conduct. We are required to allow service animals in the classroom, in most cases, but the service animal must remain quiet and not be walking around the classroom. 

 

• Fundamentally alter the nature of the service program or activity.

 

Do students have any responsibilities under the ADA?
Yes, students must:

 

• Self-identify to the Disability Support Service Office (DSSO) at the college they plan to attend and request reasonable accommodations for their disability.If the student chooses not to self-identify to the designated office, the college is not obligated to provide accommodations. Faculty will honor only those accommodations requested by the DSS Office.

 

• Provide documentation of a qualifying disability to access support services. Visit the ADA office for required documentation needed to receive reasonable accommodations.

 

• Request accommodations early to allow time to obtain appropriate documentation and prepare a letter for reasonable accommodations. This is critical for students who may need interpreters or specialized adaptive equipment for their classes.

 

• Inform the assigned counselor if the accommodations are not adequate, need to be adjusted, or are not being provided in accordance with the letter for reasonable accommodations. It’s important to maintain an open communication with your ADA counselor.

 

 

How do students obtain assistance?

• Self-referred

 

• Referred by faculty, administration or staff only after student has self-disclosed

 

• Referred by outside agencies or individuals (e.g.,  DARS, MHMRA, TCDHH, etc.)

 

What process and procedures are used to qualify students for support services from the DSSO?

Every student who comes to the DSSO for assistance will participate in an intake interview to determine eligibility for DSSO assistance. If no documentation is available, the counselor may refer the student to an outside agency for assistance. Some of the outside agencies we use include Texas Rehabilitation Commission (TRC), Mental Health and Mental Retardation Agency of Harris County (MHMRA), The Commission for the Blind (TCB), The Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (TCDHH) the Neuhaus Learning Center, and the University of Houston. It is not required to use the above agencies.

 

In addition, we have a list of qualified diagnosticians that we give to students if they need to have a full psychological evaluation to determine whether or not they have a learning disability. The college is not required to provide psychological testing for learning disabilities and does not do so.

 

Once students have documentation of a disability, they must call the ADA counselor designated to the HCC college they will attend and set up an appointment to complete the following forms:

 

• Participant Profile - Intake Form. This form contains basic demographic information such as name, address, telephone number, agencies the student is working with and other personal information provided by the student.

 

• Accommodation Letter of Request. This form ultimately will be used to establish reasonable accommodations for the student. It contains a list of the most commonly requested reasonable accommodations and some of the direct support service a student might need.

 

• Information Release Form. This form is required to allow the DSSO to communicate with faculty regarding reasonable accommodations. A second part of the form allows us to keep documentation of the disability on file.

 

• Medication Form (if any). Students who are using medications are asked to complete this form and keep it up-to-date. This information is needed in the event a student experiences a medical emergency on campus.

 

• Office of Disability Support Service/Orientation Form. This form provides the ADA office with the assertion that the student has understood the process of becoming an ADA student and the reasonable accommodation services the student will receive per the documentation the ADA office has received.

 

• Assessment Testing Form. Students with appropriate documentation may be eligible for accommodations on the TABE, ASSET and COMPASS placement tests. This form is completed and given to the student to take to the testing office.

 

• Second Appointment/Follow-Up Session (usually after placement testing). This session with the student focuses on the documentation, review of test scores, identification of an appropriate program (workforce, academic or special) for the student, and establishment of a set of reasonable accommodations designed to address the specific learning or physical needs of the student, on a case-by-case basis. The counselor prepares a letter requesting reasonable accommodations for the student. The student presents a copy of the accommodation letter to each faculty member and self-advocates for the accommodations: If the student chooses not to present the letter, faculty members will not provide accommodations. By law, students are not required to reveal information about their disabilities. Confidentiality of a student’s disability or any other information will be honored; confidentiality is a major provision of the ADA.