Disability Accommodations Overview

Academic Accommodations | On-Campus Housing Accommodations | Temporary Injury or Impairment

Disability accommodations are individualized based on your needs and are determined through an interactive process that involves you, the Accessibility Services team, and your faculty (and/or other relevant campus offices) for implementation each semester. Early and active engagement with Accessibility Services and communication with your faculty are the best ways to ensure that accommodation requests are facilitated effectively.

The following includes information on:

  • Academic Accommodations
  • Housing Accommodations
  • Service and Assistance Animals
  • Temporary Injury or Impairment

The following includes specific guidance on typical accommodations, as accessed in post-secondary settings:

Academic Accommodation: Course Policy Adjustments

→ Certain aspects of course policies may require flexibility or alternative timelines.

Academic Policy Adjustments Can Involve:         
  • Course-specific determination, as approved by the course faculty member, of reasonable adjustments or flexibility for assignment deadlines and attendance
  • Short-term reduction to the number of courses taken in a given semester
Course Policy Adjustments Do Not:
  • Fundamentally alter course or program requirements
  • Require individualized instruction or different modes of teaching and learning
  • Allow for unlimited or extensive absences or deadline flexibility

Academic Accommodation: Accessible Formats

→ The Accessibility Services office can provide course materials in accessible formats as needed.

Accessible Formatting Includes:               
  • Alternative text formats, font size, or creation of accessible digital content
  • Audio Descriptions
  • Speech-to-text and text-to-speech conversions
Accessible Formatting Does Not:
  • Alter required readings (number of pages) or content
  • Change course or program requirements
  • Require students to pay for text conversion services

Academic Accommodation: Communication Access

→ Students with communication-related disabilities, including those who are Deaf or hard-of-hearing, may require access to communication professionals in the classroom, or sound amplification.

Communication Access Includes:
  • The use of personal or classroom audio amplification (e.g. FM trainer system)
  • Real-time captioning and/or captioned media
  • American Sign Language (ASL) interpreting services
  • Alternative methods of communication
 Communication Access Does Not:
  • Prevent students from working with peers or in experiential settings
  • Change course or program requirements
  • Require students to pay for ASL or captioning services

Academic Accommodation: Testing

→ Students may need additional time, technology or quiet setting to demonstrate their learning on timed assessments.

Testing Accommodations Can Adjust:
  • The amount of seated time to complete a test
  • The number of test-takers in a room
  • Technology used to complete tests
  • Seating/furniture
  • Break time
Testing Accommodations Do Not:
  • Allow for unlimited testing time
  • Change the number or type of test questions
  • Convert in-person to take-home tests
  • Change test dates

Academic Accommodation: Access to Lecture Notes

→ Note-taking accommodations create equitable access for students whose disabilities limit their ability to take detailed, hand-written notes in class.

Access to Lecture Notes May Include:
  • Technology such as apps, smart pens, and software to facilitate independent note-taking
  • Audio recording
  • Use of a laptop, tablet, and/or stylus
  • Access to instructor notes if available or permissible; peer note-taking assistance
Access to Lecture Notes Does Not:
  • Eliminate the need to take lecture notes
  • Alter participation or attendance requirements in class
  • Allow for recordings to be shared, posted, or saved post-semester
  • Give permission to video record

Housing Accommodations

Residential life is an integral part of the Wheaton College student experience, and the Accessibility Services team is here to help reduce environmental barriers that may significantly limit your access and inclusion in on-campus housing. We work with the Office of Residence Life and the Dean of Students Office regarding accommodation requests, and review each student’s needs individually based on comprehensive disability documentation.

Determining Your Housing Needs:

Accessible options for each residential space vary; housing accommodations can include:

  • Accessible bedroom
  • Elevator access
  • Accessible bathrooms
  • Physical access to common areas

Social connections and friendships are important to your residential experience, but they are not part of the criteria we use to determine reasonable accommodations based on disability. Requests for proximity to specific peers or preferred residential locations should not be made through the Accessibility Services office.

During your meeting with Accessibility Services regarding housing, please be prepared to discuss the following:
  • Which major life activities could be substantially limited in campus housing?
  • What is the severity and duration of your disability, and how are you impacted in a residential community?
  • What is your personal history and experience living in a residential community or away from home?
  • What significant health or safety concerns will you have without housing accommodations?
Important Information on Single Rooms:

Living within a community is central to your Wheaton College residential experience. You should expect varying degrees of noise, activity, and engagement with peers while living on-campus. Because of shared facilities, resources, and the number of people living in each building, it is not always feasible for the college to provide quiet or private places to live or study. When we review your needs, we must also explore alternative accommodations to singles. Single bedroom accommodations are implemented only when significant access barriers are identified that make your residential experience inequitable.

Important Information for Residential Students with Temporary Injuries:

Students with a temporary injury should register with the Accessibility Services office. If we determine that your current housing does not meet your needs, our team will work with the Office of Residential Life to identify an accessible room.

Environmental Allergies:

Living in a new environment may create concerns if you have allergic conditions. Precautions are taken in all residences to mitigate the impact of environmental allergens, and these standards are applied equally across all residential buildings. We cannot therefore indicate that any particular residential buildings have fewer allergens (e.g. dust) than others.

Service & Assistance Animals

Service and assistance animals are critical in providing equal access for many students. Before bringing an assistance animal into residence, you will need to complete the Accessibility Services office registration process and meet all requirements for approval.

Students with service animals should register with Accessibility Services and complete a service/assistance animal agreement form, including emergency contact information. Please submit up-to-date vaccination records and a photograph of the service animal.

Some environments such as labs, athletic facilities, and clinical settings may pose safety risks to service animals. Please consult with Accessibility Services to discuss these concerns.

Service Animals:

Students with service animals are welcome in all living and learning environments at Wheaton College. A service animal is a dog (or miniature horse) that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability.

Service animals must be harnessed, leashed, or tethered, unless these devices interfere with the service animal’s work or the individual’s disability prevents using these devices. In that case, the individual must maintain control of the animal through voice, signal, or other effective means.

Assistance Animals:

Animals whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support do not qualify as service animals under the ADA.

An Assistance animal (also sometimes referred to as emotional support, therapy, or comfort animals), is defined by the Fair Housing Act as an animal that provides emotional support or comfort that alleviates one or more symptoms of a person’s disability and is necessary for an individual’s equal opportunity to use and enjoy housing.

An assistance animal does not need to be trained or certified as a service animal and may be an animal other than a dog. An assistance animal is not a pet and is required for a disability. Typically, only one animal will be approved as a reasonable accommodation. If approved by Accessibility Services, assistance animals are allowed to reside only in the student’s bedroom in their residence. They are not permitted in other campus locations, such as classrooms, library, or dining halls.

Students are not permitted to have animals living in residence before fully completing all steps of the process with Accessibility Services; this includes while the application is pending.

Steps for Assistance Animal Review:
  1. Complete the Accessibility Services registration in the Accommodate Portal
  2. Submit supplemental documentation. This form will guide your provider through answering our specific questions.
  3. Complete a meeting with Accessibility Services (if approved, continue to steps 4-7)
  4. Submit animal’s up-to-date vaccination records and photograph to Accessibility Services
  5. Complete a meeting with the Office of Residential Life
  6. Review and sign service/assistance animal agreement form, including emergency contact information
  7. Move your animal into the residence on the agreed-upon date

If approved by Accessibility Services, assistance animals are allowed to reside only in the student’s bedroom in their residence. They are not permitted in other campus locations, such as classrooms, libraries, or dining halls.

Animal Allergies:

If you have a documented allergy or health condition and are concerned about being in proximity to service or assistance animals, please register with Accessibility Services to discuss accommodations. Academic and residential buildings cannot guarantee animal-free floors or spaces, but reasonable measures can be explored.

Information for Students with Temporary Impairment or Injury

The Accessibility Services office works with students experiencing a temporary impairment due to injury or surgical recovery to establish reasonable short-term accommodations. Temporary impairments refer to non-recurring medical conditions of short duration (generally six months or less) that significantly impact a major life activity.

Students requesting accommodations for a temporary impairment should complete an Accessibility Services registration form online and attach supporting documentation in an email to [email protected]. Documentation for temporary impairments should indicate the current impact of the condition and provide an estimated recovery time.

If you are unable to access your housing due to an injury and need immediate assistance, Accessibility Services will prioritize your application and address your needs as soon as possible. In these cases, please also inform the Office of Residence Life. Requests are reviewed Monday-Friday during regular business hours.

Contact: [email protected]