Disability Services

Augusta State University believes academically qualified individuals with disabilities should have equal opportunity and access to a quality education. We have been actively involved in fostering an environment that encourages full participation by students with disabilities in every segment of the University. The Office of Disability Services was established to help ensure an accessible and positive college experience for the students with disabilities. Our Office provides a variety of services and accommodations to meet the needs of disability related concerns in accordance with the American with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.

Eligibility for Services

The Office of Disability Services provides assistance to students who have some type of impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activity. Examples of disabilities include, but are not limited to:

• Hearing, visual, or physical impairments
• Psychological disorders
• Learning disorders
• Attention Deficit Disorder

Students must register and request services from the Director of Testing and Disability Services. In order to receive services, students must provide current documentation of their disability from a qualified health professional (please refer to documentation criteria for specific types of disabilities). Appointments can be made by calling Testing and Disability Services at (706) 737-1469 or by visiting our office located on the first floor of Galloway Hall. Office hours are Monday through Friday from 8:00am until 4:30pm. For new students scheduling appointments, please note that new appointments are scheduled for one hour.

Types of Services

Disability Services coordinates and provides a variety of services based the student's individual needs. Examples of some of these services include the following:

• Academic accommodations
• Faculty consultation
• Individual Counseling
• A variety of reasonable accommodations
• Contact with agencies servicing people with disabilities.
• Special testing arrangements: extended time, reader or separate room
• Special classroom seating
• Assistance with obtaining large print or taped textbooks and Braille materials for the visually impaired
• Use of assistive technology
• Information and referral

We also provide adaptive computer equipment and other assistive devices specifically designed for people with disabilities.

Admission

All students are considered for admission to the University under the same criteria. Our Office does not determine the acceptance of students to Augusta State University. At the time you are accepted to Augusta State University, we encourage you to contact the Office of Disability Services.

Go to the Admissions page

Accessibility

As a member of the University System of Georgia, Augusta State University is a primary institution of higher learning in the state's second largest city. Most areas on campus are currently accessible and there are ongoing efforts to improve campus accessibility. More specific information regarding campus accessibility can be provided by Disability Services.

Related Links

 

Blindness and Other Visual Impairments

• www.rfbd.org
• www.nfb.org
• www.aerbvi.org

TBI

• www.biausa.org

ADD/ADHD

• www.chadd.org
• www.add.org

Deaf and Hard of Hearing

• www.deaflibrary.org
• www.agbell.org

LD

• www.rcld.uga.edu
• www.ldonline.org

Psychiatric Disorders

• www.nimh.nih.gov

Other Helpful Links

• www.rcprojectaccess.org
• www.thinkcollege.net/index.php

Accommodation Procedures (For Students)

Student Responsibilities

1. Contact the Office of Testing and Disability Services, located in the Quadrangle, at (706) 737-1469 in order to arrange an appointment and to register with the Office of Disability Services.
2. On the day of your appointment, complete a Disability Services Intake Packet. Provide appropriate documentation that includes a statement of diagnosis, how the diagnosed problem impacts your ability to learn, and suggested accommodations in order to validate your request for academic accommodations.
3. Documentation must be current and by a qualified health professional, such as a physician, audiologist, psychologist, psychiatrist, or neuropsychologist. (You will receive information regarding documentation during your initial appointment.)
4. Follow up with Disability Services to confirm that your documentation has been received. Meet with the Director of Testing and Disability Services to request academic accommodations.
5. Follow all time deadlines and procedures necessary to receive your specific academic accommodations as established by the Office of Disability Services.
6. Contact the Director of Testing and Disability Services prior to the beginning of each semester in order to discuss any necessary changes in your accommodations and to establish accommodations for current classes.
7. Contact the Director of Testing and Disability Services immediately should you encounter any difficulty or other concern regarding your academic accommodations.
8. Abide by the University's standards and guidelines for behavior in the Student Code of Conduct. (Please refer to ASU's Jaguar Student Handbook and Academic Planner.)
9. Adhere to the Academic Honesty Policies as stated by the Augusta State University Office of the Vice President of Academic Affairs. (Please refer to ASU's College Catalog.)

Disability Services Responsibilities

1. Review the student's documentation and meet with the student as necessary to determine eligibility for receiving academic accommodations. Confer with other professional staff members and approve accommodations as appropriate for each student.
2. Meet with assigned student to discuss the approved accommodations and the procedures necessary to obtain them.
3. Research and prepare paperwork (such as "Accommodation Letters") as necessary to facilitate receipt of appropriate accommodations for which the student is approved.
4. Assist the student with academic accommodations process.
5. Assist the student in resolving problems that may occur in the testing accommodations process.
6. Interact with ASU faculty, staff, and non-ASU professionals on student's behalf as appropriate (such as DRS counselors, other colleges or graduate programs).
7. Maintain records of interactions with student related to the administration of academic accommodations.

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Documentation Requirements

Learning Disability Documentation Requirements

Learning disabilities is a general term that refers to a heterogeneous group of disorders manifested by significant difficulties in the acquisition and use of listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning, or mathematical skills. These disorders are intrinsic to the individual, presumed to be due to central nervous system dysfunction, and may occur across the life span. Problems in self-regulatory behaviors, social perception, and social interaction may exist with learning disabilities but do not, by themselves, constitute a learning disability. Although learning disabilities may occur concomitantly with other disabilities (e.g., sensory impairment, mental retardation, serious emotional disturbance), or with extrinsic influences (such as cultural differences, insufficient or inappropriate instruction), they are not the result of those conditions or influences. (National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities, Learning Disabilities: Issues on Definition, January, 1990.)

Specific documentation guidelines for Learning Disabilities include the following:

• General documentation guidelines listed in Appendix D of the USG Academic & Student Affairs Handbook.

• Clear and specific identification of a learning disability must be stated. For example, the terms "Learning styles" or "Learning differences" are not synonymous with a learning disability.

• Documentation of a developmental and educational history consistent with a learning disability.

• Since the manifestations of a learning disability may change over the period of childhood and adolescence, documentation must reflect either data collected within the past three years or after the age of 18.

• Information gained from standardized assessment instruments is one essential piece of the methodology used to diagnose learning disabilities. Therefore, documentation of learning disabilities must include standardized measures of academic achievement and cognitive processing abilities that have age-appropriate normative data for high school/college students or older adult non-traditional students. All standardized measures must be represented by standard scores and percentile ranks based on published norms.

• Documentation of a functional limitation(s) in one or more of the following areas of academic achievement:

  • Reading (decoding, fluency, and comprehension)
  • Mathematics (calculations, math fluency, and applied reasoning)
  • Written Language (spelling, fluency, and written expression)

• Documentation of relative strength(s) in academic achievement in order to establish the presence of a significant discrepancy between academic domains. The presence of a significant discrepancy will typically require a difference of one standard deviation between scores. However, qualified professionals may use other widely accepted metrics for documenting a significant difference between two scores (e.g., standard error of measurement).

• Documentation that alternative explanations for the academic limitation(s) have been considered and ruled out (e.g., low cognitive ability, lack of adequate instruction, emotional factors such as anxiety or depression).

• Documentation of a pattern of cognitive processing weaknesses and strengths that is associated in a meaningful way with the identified area(s) of academic limitation.

• Both processing weaknesses and processing strengths must be identified and must represent a significant discrepancy between cognitive domains. The presence of a significant discrepancy will typically require a difference of one standard deviation between scores. However, qualified professionals may document a significant difference between two scores using other widely accepted metrics (e.g., standard error of measurement).

• Processing weaknesses and strengths must be evident on multiple measures and not based on a single discrepant score on an individual test or subtest. Cognitive Processing Skills (selection dependent upon case) include the following:

  • Attention
  • Executive Functions
  • Fluency/Automaticity
  • Memory/Learning
  • Oral Language
  • Phonological/Orthographic Processing
  • Visual-Motor
  • Visual-Perceptual/Visual-Spatial

• Documentation that alternative explanations for the cognitive limitation(s) have been considered and ruled out (e.g., low cognitive ability, lack of adequate instruction, emotional factors such as anxiety or depression).

These guidelines are intended to guide the review of documentation and cannot substitute for the expertise and clinical judgment of a qualified professional. Failure to fully meet each of the above criteria does not automatically preclude a diagnosis of learning disabilities. In some circumstances, this diagnosis may be justified, based on an expert's integration of a student's history, test performance, and current functioning.

Printable Criteria for Health Professional

For further information, you may wish to read this.

Physical Disability Documentation Requirements

Mobility impairments refer to conditions that limit a person's coordination or ability to move. Some mobility impairments are congenital while others are the result of illness or physical injury. The functional abilities and limitations resulting from the impairment will vary from individual to individual.

Specific documentation requirements for mobility disorders include the following:

• General documentation guidelines listed in Appendix D of the USG Academic & Student Affairs Handbook.
• Description of the history, current symptoms, and severity of the disorder.
• Description of the expected progression or stability of the disorder.
• Description of the current functional limitations impacting academic performance resulting from the disorder.

This is the criteria established by the Georgia Board of Regents.

Printable letter for health professional

Psychiatric Disorder Documentation Requirements

Printable letter for health professional

Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Documentation Requirements

AD/HD is a persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that is more frequently displayed and more severe than is typically observed in individuals at a comparable level of development. The manifestations of AD/HD result in functional impairment in at least two settings (e.g., academic, occupational, social). The diagnosis of AD/HD is based on the following specific criteria included in the current version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) of the American Psychiatric Association.

Specific documentation guidelines for AD/HD include the following:

• General documentation guidelines listed in Appendix D of the USG Academic & Student Affairs Handbook.
• Diagnosis and corresponding code from the most recent DSM must be included.
• Assessment of the following diagnostic criteria is required and evaluation results must be included in the documentation:
  • Developmental history of either inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity symptoms during childhood. The specific symptoms that were present in childhood should be stated in the documentation. Corroboration of childhood symptoms should be included, and may need to be gathered from a variety of possible data sources (e.g., parent/guardian report, school records, past evaluations). Evidence that these symptoms were associated with some functional impairment in home and/or school settings also must be included.
  • Current symptoms of either inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity must be present. The specific symptoms that are present should be stated in the documentation. Self-reported current symptoms should be corroborated by an independent informant who has been able to observe the student's recent functioning with adequate regularity to provide this type of information. Evidence that these symptoms are associated with functional impairment in academic, occupational, and/or social settings also must be included.
  • The frequency/severity of both childhood and current AD/HD symptoms should be documented by comparison to individuals at a similar level of development. Documentation must include the results of standardized rating scales that provide comparison to age-based normative data.

Printable Criteria for Health Professional

Autistic Disorder Documentation Requirements

Autistic Disorder is a pervasive developmental disorder characterized by qualitative impairment in social interactions, qualitative impairment in communication affecting both verbal and nonverbal communication skills, and the presence of repetitive and stereotyped behaviors, interests, and activities.

Specific documentation guidelines for Autistic Disorder include the following:

• General documentation guidelines listed in Appendix D of the USG Academic & Student Affairs Handbook.
• Diagnosis and corresponding code from the most recent DSM.
• Assessment of the following diagnostic criteria is required and evaluation results must be included in the documentation:
  • Developmental history that includes evidence of Autistic Disorder symptoms in childhood.
  • Documentation of current qualitative impairment in social interaction.
  • Documentation of current qualitative impairment in communication.
  • Documentation of current restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities.
  • Assessment of broad cognitive ability and language function using standardized assessment measures with age-appropriate norms.

Printable Criteria for Health Professional

Asperger's Disorder Documentation Requirements

Asperger's Disorder is a pervasive developmental disorder characterized by qualitative impairment in social interactions and the presence of repetitive and stereotyped behaviors, interests, and activities.

Specific documentation guidelines for Asperger's Disorder include the following:

• General documentation guidelines listed in Appendix D of the USG Academic & Student Affairs Handbook.
• Diagnosis and corresponding code from the most recent DSM.
• Assessment of the following diagnostic criteria is required and evaluation results must be included:
  • Developmental history that includes evidence of Asperger's Disorder symptoms in childhood and documents the absence of clinically- significant general delay in early cognitive or language development.
  • Documentation of current qualitative impairment in social interaction.
  • Documentation of current restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interests, and activities.
  • Assessment of broad cognitive ability and language function using standardized assessment measures with age-appropriate norms.

Printable Criteria for Health Professional