What is a disability?

A disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more life activities, such as caring for one’s self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning and working.

Examples of some disabilities may include, but are not limited to:

• Cerebral palsy
• Muscular dystrophy
• AIDS
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Ulcerative colitis
• Deafness or hard of hearing
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Depression
• Learning disabilities
• Multiple sclerosis
• Cancer
• Diabetes
• Epilepsy
• Visual impairments
• Bipolar disorder
• Traumatic brain injury
• ADD/ADHD
• Cardiac conditions
  
  A number of temporary conditions are excluded from the category of disability and, therefore, individuals with these conditions are ineligible for services through the Office of Disability Services. Some of these are listed below:

• Advanced age, in and of itself, is not a disability, although severe hearing loss and arthritis could be considered disabilities.
• Temporary impairments, such as a broken leg, sprain, or infection that is expected to heal quickly .
• Illiteracy or poverty.
• Impairments that do not limit a major life activity.
• Pregnancy.
• Individuals for whom English is a second language.
  

Documentation Requirements

Documentation provides the Office of Disability Services with verification of a student’s disability. It is the student’s responsibility to provide such documentation. Documentation requirements vary depending upon the specific disability. In general, the less obvious the disability, the more information is required to determine a student’s needs and to develop accommodation recommendations. Documentation should be recent, relevant and comprehensive. Where appropriate, documentation should contain test scores and interpretations (e.g., learning disability reports, audiograms, etc.). If the original documentation is incomplete or inadequate to determine the extent of the disability or reasonable accommodations, Disability Services may require additional documentation.

Confidentiality

Disability documentation is considered confidential and does not become part of a student’s academic transcript. All disability-related information is maintained in the Office of Disability Services. Disability documentation shall be released only in accordance with the law and USC Aiken policies and procedures.

Disclosing Disability

Students are under no obligation to disclose their disability unless an accommodation is being requested; likewise, faculty and staff have no authority to see disability documentation or have any information concerning a student’s disability without a legitimate educational need to know. Pending the receipt of appropriate documentation, Disability Services reserves the right to deny any accommodation requests.

An Individual Education Plan (IEP) in itself is not considered qualifying documentation for purposes of higher education because of the differences in services that are provided in the K-12 system. The free and appropriate education stops when the student reaches college, and “may benefit from” language is no longer applicable. Although an IEP or Section 504 plan may help identify services that have been used by the student in the past, they generally are not sufficient documentation to support the existence of a current disability and need for an academic adjustment for an institution of postsecondary education. Assessment information and other material used to develop an IEP or Section 504 plan may be useful to document a current disability or the need for an academic adjustment or auxiliary aids and services.

In addition, a student receiving services under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) must be provided with a summary of his or her academic achievements and functional performance that includes recommendations on how to assist in meeting the student’s postsecondary goals. This information may provide helpful information about a disability and the need for academic adjustments.

Documentation that postsecondary institutions require should include the following:

How it is packaged (psychoeducational evaluation, Summary of Performance, declassification document, confidential educational and psychological evaluation report or even a transition plan) and current status (documentation cannot be older than three years at the time of admittance to a college or university) is important and must contain the above information. In some cases there will not be previous accommodations or services in high school or other educational institutions. That fact does not preclude someone from receiving services at the postsecondary level. Conversely, simply because someone received services in high school does not guarantee similar assistance at postsecondary. The documentation, the current impact, the setting/expectations/requirements and reasonableness of accommodations will determine what is appropriate for each student.

• A diagnosis or a clear reference to one;
• Evaluation by an appropriate, qualified professional physician for medical, or a school psychologist, psychoeducational evaluator; licensed/certified specialist in the area of diagnosis; or psychologist/psychiatrist for psychological or learning disabilities. Indication of tools, assessments, tests, etc. used to come to conclusions should be noted.
• Identified functional impact(s) related to the disability AND how it presents currently in the educational arena
• Stability or changing nature of the disability, as well as medications

Last updated 9-17-08