Supporting Student with Disabilities
What is our duty to accommodate?
We have a duty to provide access to College programs, services, and facilities for students with disabilities. We meet our duty to accommodate by removing barriers to access through provision of reasonable accommodation.
In addition, by working to design our facilities, programs, and services to meet the needs of diverse learners, we also enhance the accessibility of our programs and services for all students including those with disabilities.
How are reasonable accommodations made?
The Accessibility Coordinator on your campus reviews students’ documentation of disability to understand the impacts of the student’s disability. They then work with you and the student to determine which reasonable academic accommodations students qualify for based both on the impacts of their disability and the nature of the program and its learning outcomes.
Academic accommodations are designed to level the playing field for students with disabilities, and do not change the expected academic standards and the students’ need to meet the essential learning outcomes of courses or programs. To learn more visit our FAQ.
What is a disability?
A disability can include a range of medical/health situations.
Students may experience physical, cognitive, developmental, learning, sensory (ex., visual, hearing), and mental health related disabilities or medical conditions that have an impact on the way they learn or their ability to demonstrate their knowledge.
Disabilities may be permanent or temporary. For example, a student may temporarily access services while they use a wheelchair to recover from a motor-vehicle accident.
Disabilities can be visible to others, such as someone who is visually-impaired who uses a white cane or service dog, or invisible, such as someone who experiences anxiety or a learning disability.
Under our Policy on Accommodating Students with Specific Disabilities, Selkirk College defines a person with a disability as:
- having a significant and persistent mobility, sensory, learning, or other physical or mental health impairment which may be permanent or temporary; and
- experiences functional restrictions or limitations of their ability to perform the range of life’s activities; and
- may experience attitudinal and/or environmental barriers that hamper their full and self-directed participation in life.
Read the complete policy at Selkirk College Policy 3300.