New Students

 

Schedule an Initial Appointment.

Schedule an appointment online or if you are unable to schedule online you may call or email access@lclark.edu to schedule an appointment. 

During your initial appointment, you and an OSA Staff Member will have an interactive discussion about your own experience of disability, past use of accommodations, adaptive strategies and devices, etc. This meeting may include the review of your documentation.

Submit Your Documentation

Documentation may include educational or medical records from a qualified licensed professional (i.e. doctor, therapist, psycho-educational testing). Submitted reports and assessments created by health care providers, school psychologists, teachers, or the educational system are all appropriate forms of documentation.

Your documentation may include information from a qualified licensed professional that addresses your 1. current functioning, 2. diagnosis, and 3. recommendations for appropriate accommodations.

We look for recent documentation (dated within the last five years). If you have older, relevant documentation, submit it so we can discuss it with you. We may ask that you obtain updated testing in order to get a clear picture of your current abilities and challenges.

Your documentation may be provided before, during, or after your initial appointment. 

If you do not have documentation, we can discuss this further during your initial appointment.

Complete Intake Form - Submit Documentation

Determining Reasonable Accommodations

When determining reasonable accommodations, we consider a variety of information, including our interview/meeting with you, your documentation, recommendations from other professionals, etc.

Accommodations are not active until you complete an Accommodations Agreement with OSA.

 

Depending upon your specific needs, we can set up a variety of accommodations in the classroom, and on campus in general. For a list of commonly-used accommodations, click here.

 

Your active involvement is necessary for helping us provide you with the best accommodations possible for your particular needs. Please don’t be shy about checking back with us if you ask for assistance and it doesn’t seem to be coming quickly enough.

It is also important to have frequent and open communication with your professors. They will appreciate talking with you directly about how things are going for you in class. If you would like some guidance on how to talk with your professors about your accommodations please arrange an appointment with an OSA Staff Member.

Graduate School for Education and Counseling : Graduate students with questions regarding exam accommodations can contact Associate Dean, Janet Bixby (bixby@lclark.edu).

Logistics

COMING FALL 2022-Digital Note Taking Platform:

A student requesting note taking as an accommodation is also responsible for taking their own notes. Starting FA22 the Office of Student Accessibility will begin providing students with note taking accommodations support via an intuitive note-taking web application that makes it easier than ever for students to take control of their own note taking and their own learning.

The accommodation of use of an audio recording device to record lectures as note taking allows students with disabilities to have an equal chance to receive and process information presented in class by supporting their note taking needs. Student will need to sign an Audio Recording Agreement form which includes some of the following conditions:

• Recordings of class lectures are only for the student’s personal use in study and preparation related to the class.
• The student may not share these recordings with any other person, whether or not that person is in their class.
• The student acknowledges that the recordings are sources, the use of which in any academic work is governed by rules of academic conduct at Lewis & Clark College, in addition to federal copyright laws.
• The student agrees to destroy any recordings that were made when they are no longer needed for their academic work.

Other Note Taking Options:

Individuals who cannot use the digital note-taking platform option outlined above must have a discussion with the OSA to determine additional strategies. Depending on the requirements and availability, a peer note-taker may be recruited and hired by OSA. However, if a peer note-taker cannot be secured in a timely manner, we will explore other options with you and your professor. A student requesting notes is also responsible for taking their own notes.

Who qualifies?

Students with disabilities related to auditory processing, graphomotor difficulties, memory, concentration

Please click here to visit our “Current Students” page to send your Accommodations Letter and request other approved accommodations.