Services Offered
- Maintains confidential student records regarding their disabilities
- Receives and evaluates documentation provided by students verifying disabilities
- Consults with students and arranges appropriate individualized accommodations based upon documentation
- Certifies eligibility for accommodation services
- Serves as an advocate for students with faculty and/or administrators
- Arranges for students' use of auxiliary aides (devices or services that compensate for a disabling condition; i.e. qualified Interpreters or Captionists, assistive technology, etc.)
- Provides information, academic advisement, and individual counseling to students regarding disability issues, their legal rights and responsibilities
- Conducts informational and training programs regarding services to persons with disabilities for the university faculty and staff
- Consults with faculty regarding the instructional needs of individual students with disabilities
- Consults with other campus departments regarding the needs of students with disabilities (e.g. Facilities Management, Admissions, Registrar's Office, Student Accounts, Advisement and Counseling, Student Housing, Student Life, etc.)
- Communicates information regarding the DSS program to the campus community (e.g. brochures, relevant paragraphs in College catalog, Student Handbook, newsletters, etc.)
Common Accommodations
- Priority registration
- Assistance in scheduling classes in accessible locations
- Permission to be under registered
- Permission to audio record lectures
- Note taking services
- Extended testing time
- Interpreters
- Realtime Captioning. This is primarily for students who are severely hard of hearing and who do not know American Sign Language (ASL) and for whom an oral interpreter is not an adequate support. Resources are limited; therefore, this service is available to a limited number of students for whom equitable access to an academic program can be provided through no other means. A real-time captionist does not substitute for a student attending a particular class.
- Technology equipment that enlarges printed text (Closed Circuit Television)
- Access to assistive technology programs including Kurzweil 3000, ZoomText, Dragon NaturallySpeaking, and JAWS
- Network referral system of outside agencies which may further assist a student with a disability
- Housing. Please note that if a housing accommodation is approved through the DSS Office, there is no guarantee that the approved accommodation will be provided due to space limitations. The Student Housing Office will do its best to accommodate all students
Accommodations Not Provided Under the ADA
- The ADA does not require colleges to provide personal assistants or personal assistive technology - this includes transportation services for students with disabilities. Whenever possible, the DSS Office will refer students to agencies which may provide personal assistance of that nature.
- Accommodations are not made which would reduce academic expectations, standards, or which would eliminate essential components of any course.
Disability Services for Non-Students
The DSS Office's primary responsibility is to provide services for LMU students with documented disabilities. Individuals (visitors, parents, conference guests, etc.) with disabilities attending events at LMU should contact the event organizer at least 10 days in advance of the event to inquire about the accommodations process.