The goal of Bowling Green Technical College is to provide an optimal opportunity for success for students with disabilities without compromising the quality of instruction or the self-confidence of the learner. Students with a disability requiring accommodations must request such services through the Office of Student Services. Students with disabilities must provide documentation certifying their disabilities. BGTC disability coordinator will meet with the student to assess the need and to discuss access to accommodations. The coordinator will act as the liaison between the student and the accommodation provider and act to facilitate such reasonable accommodations as may be required. Questions should be directed to Pam Bulle (270) 901-1202 or pamela.bulle@kctcs.edu.

Basis for Disability Services

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and its subsequent amendments along with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) are the basis for Disability Services. Section 504(a) of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 states in part:

No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

The ADA of 1990 is a broad affirmation of Section 504. However, its application is not limited to agencies receiving federal funding. Both laws are federal anti-discrimination statues that seek to provide equal access opportunities. Neither guarantees equal results, establishes quotas, nor requires preferences favoring individuals with disabilities over those without disabilities.

A qualified individual is a student who, with or without accommodation(s), meets the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) college and program qualifications and essential technical, academic, and institutional standards.

Who Has A Disability?

A person with a disability is defined by law as someone who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. The definition further indicates that you are a person with a disability and entitled to protection from discrimination if you have a disability, if you have a history of disability, or if you are regarded as having a disability. Major life activities may include, but are not necessarily limited to, caring for one's self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, breathing, learning, and working. Disabilities that could substantially limit a major life activity may include, but are not limited to, spinal cord injuries, cancer, psychiatric disorders, brain injuries, learning disabilities, speech impairments, visual impairments, deafness, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, loss of limbs, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, and severe orthopedic injuries.

Disability Services Mission and Goals

Bowling Green Technical College is committed to achieving equal educational opportunities and full participation for persons with disabilities. The mission of the Department of Disability Services is to provide and coordinate disability-related resources and support services to all students, departments, and programs of the college.
Goals:

• To provide access to educational opportunity with services, technology, and advocacy which integrate the students with disabilities into the college at large.
  
• To verify individual disabilities for students of the college and maintain confidentiality for such students.
  
• To determine and provide reasonable accommodations and services based on review and evaluation of documentation of disability presented by students.
  
• To empower students toward self-advocacy.
  
• To help create a diverse student body by assisting in the recruitment of students with disabilities.
  
• To create partnerships with students, faculty, staff, and administration to foster access to academic programs.
  
• To educate students, faculty, staff, and administration on issues affecting persons with disabilities.
  
• To support college departments and offices in their efforts to achieve equal access and participation.
  
  

Accessing Disability Services

Disability Services helps ensure that students with disabilities receive academic adjustments and auxiliary aids, which are usually called accommodations. Students with disabilities are encouraged to contact Disability Services and present documentation of their disability even if they do not want to use accommodations. Disability Services can be reached at 270-901-1202 or pamela.bulle@kctcs.edu.

Students who would like to receive disability services must request those services separately from admission to Bowling Green Technical College. The simplified Disability Services intake process is: complete admission to Bowling Green Technical College, register for classes, provide documentation of the disability to Disability Services, and schedule a meeting with Disability Services to discuss accommodations based on the functional limitations that were described in the documentation. Students do not need to complete this process in order, but discussion of specific accommodations is often based on the courses that students are taking. (Complete copies of Disability Services’ policies are available by request at 270-901-1201 or pamela.bulle@kctcs.edu.

Students are encouraged to contact Disability Services as soon as they are aware that they will need accommodations to access courses or activities at Bowling Green Technical College. Disability Services is the college department assigned to receive documentation of students’ disabilities, to review that documentation in light of the students’ accommodation requests, and recommend accommodations. Accommodations are decided on a case-by-case basis and are based on the functional limitations described in the disability documentation. Students should not request accommodations directly from the course instructor without first having made the request through Disability Services. Accommodations begin when the instructor receives notification from Disability Services. Accommodations are not retroactive to before the notification is delivered. Students must meet with Disability Services each semester and request accommodations each semester.

Documentation of a disability is made by a practitioner qualified to make the diagnosis and should include:

Diagnosis—a statement of the medical, physical, cognitive, or mental health impairment by a recognizable diagnosis, preferably from the most recent edition of the DSM or ICD;

Date first diagnosed—establish an initial date when a diagnosis was made or when the certifying practitioner accepted a previous diagnosis and began treatment or services;

Names of relevant tests and results—establish how the practitioner arrived at the diagnosis and include test results and discussion if applicable; this is especially important when the disability is a cognitive or learning disability or a type of Attention Deficit Disorder;

Severity of disability—discuss the extent to which the disability substantially limits a major life activity; it is especially important to discuss the functional limitations as they relate to learning and participation in class and educational activities; discuss also the expected progression or stability of the limitations;

Method(s) of current treatment—discuss the current treatment protocol and desired outcome; include prescribed medication and side effects;

Recommendations—include observations on the student and recommendations for academic adjustments and auxiliary aids.

Individual Education Plans/Programs or 504 Plans from secondary education are usually insufficient to support requests for accommodations. Disability information written on a prescription pad or that is only one page in length are usually insufficient to support requests for accommodations. The college is not obligated to provide accommodations that are recommended by a practitioner or a counselor from the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation.

Students with disabilities who need assistance to evacuate the college during an emergency should notify Disability Services prior to the beginning of each semester even if they are not requesting accommodations.

Examples of accommodations that Disability Services has provided in the past include, but are not limited to, American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation, materials in alternative format (Braille, taped, enlarged), note takers, tests in a distraction-reduced environment, tests read orally, extended time on written tests, relaxation of specific course attendance policies, auxiliary aids and adaptive technology, specialized computer software, ergonomic chairs and workstations, and privilege to tape record lectures.

Disability Services
Frequently Asked Questions

Who is eligible for Disability Services?

Any student who has a disability that substantially limits one or more major life activities is eligible to receive services. At Bowling Green Technical College, the life activities most likely limited would be those involved with learning.

What is documentation of a disability?

Documentation is the paperwork that proves that a person has a disability.

A person’s disability is diagnosed by a professional qualified to make the diagnosis. For example, a family physician is qualified to diagnose a person’s back injury, but most likely is not qualified to diagnose a learning disability.

Bowling Green Technical College’s general guidelines for disability documentation include:

• The disability name or diagnosis in professionally recognized terms,
• The name and qualifications of the practitioner making the diagnosis,
• When the disability was diagnosed or how long the person has had the disability,
• How the practitioner arrived at the diagnosis, including names of psychological tests and the complete results and discussion (if applicable),
• The substantial limitations caused by the disability, especially as they relate to learning and participating at college,
• Any medications used to treat the disability including name, dosage, and side effects that could also cause a substantial limitation, and
• Recommendations for academic adjustments for the student to participate in college courses.

Documentation should be recent for the disability. For example, if a person has been deaf since birth, the college does not need for him/her to visit an audiologist to prove that he/she is still deaf. However, if a person has bi-polar disorder, experiences frequent medication changes, and has been hospitalized in the last year, up-to-date documentation of the impact of his/her disability is needed.

Why can’t the IEP from high school be used as documentation?

A student’s high school IEP can be used as part of the disability documentation.

However, most IEPs do not list the disability or the substantial limitations it causes.

The IEP was designed to meet public school laws and regulations that require qualified students with disabilities to receive a specially designed, free and appropriate public education. Laws that apply to postsecondary education state that colleges cannot discriminate on the basis of a disability – equal access only. Accommodations are how colleges avoid discrimination based on a disability. Hence, the IEP might state how a student received instruction, but might not yield useable information on how to access a college course that is not specially designed for that student.

Why can’t the 504 Plan from high school be used as documentation?

A student’s high school 504 Plan can be used as part of the disability documentation. However, most 504 Plans do not list the disability or the substantial limitations it causes.

The 504 Plan was designed to meet public school laws and regulations that require qualified students with disabilities to receive a specially designed, free and appropriate public education. Laws that apply to postsecondary education state that colleges cannot discriminate on the basis of a disability – equal access only.

While colleges are covered by Section 504, they are covered by Subpart D, not Subpart C as high schools are. Accommodations are how colleges avoid discrimination based on a disability. Hence, the 504 Plan might state how a student received instruction, but might not yield useable information on how to access a college course that is not specially designed for that student.

What are accommodations?

Accommodations are the name typically used for academic adjustments and auxiliary aids. Accommodations are the actions that the college takes or the equipment the college purchases to give students with disabilities the ability to participate in courses or college activities.

Accommodations are decided on a case-by-case basis based on the functional limitations caused by a student’s disability and the essential requirements of the course or activity. Examples of accommodations that students with disabilities have used in the past are ASL interpreting, access to notes, extended time on written tests, extended time to complete some assignments, testing in a distraction-reduced environment, and preferential seating in classes.

How does a student receive accommodations?

Students who want to arrange accommodations can make an appointment with Disability Services by calling (270) 901-1202 or e-mailing pamela.bulle@kctcs.edu.

The student brings his/her disability documentation to the appointment if the documentation has not already been sent. The Disability Service Provider reviews the documentation and interviews the student about how she/he understands her/his disability and the limitations it causes her/him. The Disability Service Provider and the student look at the student’s schedule, discuss possible access problems, and decide on accommodations to help resolve the access problems. The Disability Service Provider creates and provides access memos for his/her professors telling the professor of the accommodations that the student needs to access that professor’s class.

Accommodations are not retroactive. That is, accommodations start from the date when the student gives his/her instructor(s) the accommodation memo. If a student does not meet with a Disability Service Provider until mid-semester, all actions and grades that the student has taken up to the time that accommodations are requested and recommended will not change.

Why can’t a student just ask his/her professors for accommodations?

Most colleges have policies and procedures in place to provide access for students with disabilities and a department or person who is charged with these tasks. This protects the rights of the students, faculty, and college.

Bowling Green Technical College’s procedure of having accommodations recommended by Disability Services assures that the student truly does have a disability and the accommodations are needed for that student to gain access to college courses or activities. Additionally, these policies and procedures help ensure that the college is providing consistent access. They also create proof that accommodations were requested and recommended or denied and the reason. Finally, they help ensure confidentiality of the student’s disability documentation.

What does a student do if the professor won’t cooperate with accommodations?

Contact Disability Services immediately!

Complying with anti-discrimination laws is an institutional responsibility, and all employees of the college are required to comply. The Disability Service Provider will talk with the professor. The case may be as simple as the professor forgetting about the accommodation. Also, if the professor believes an accommodation provides an unfair advantage, talking with the Disability Service Provider and student may reveal other accommodations that might work as well. Providing accommodations while maintaining the academic integrity of courses is a team effort.

Be aware that the Disability Service Providers will not challenge a professor’s syllabus unless the information in the syllabus is discriminatory against a student with a disability. For example, if a student with a disability does not like a professor’s test-makeup policy because the test has to be made up at 7 a.m., and does not have a disability-related reason not to make up tests in this manner, the Disability Service Provider will not get involved in that disagreement. However, if the student takes anti-rejection medication for an organ transplant and is sick many days until 9 a.m., the Disability Service Provider will intervene on his/her behalf.

What does a student do if the accommodation is not working or she/he does not believe that her/his ASL interpreter is effective?

Contact Disability Services immediately!  It is up to the student to let the Disability Service Provider know when an accommodation is not effective as soon as the student is aware that the accommodation is not working as planned.

Remember, however, that accommodations do not guarantee success is in a course, just access. For example:

• A student has requested extended time to complete written tests, but finds that others moving about the test room are distracting and are preventing her/him from concentrating. Solution: See the Disability Service Provider to change the accommodation request to take tests in a distraction-reduced environment.
• An assigned note taker stops attending class. Solution: Inform the Disability Services Provider right away.
• An interpreter is more SE, and the student needs more ASL. Again, let the Disability Service Provider know so that another interpreter can be arranged.

What is the difference between Disability Services and Vocational Rehabilitation?

Disability Services and any state Vocational Rehabilitation Services have different missions. The primary mission of Disability Services is to provide students with disabilities access to college courses and programs. The primary mission of Vocational Rehabilitation is to get persons with disabilities employed.

One way that Vocational Rehabilitation achieves its mission is to suggest training at college for their consumers. Disability Services and Vocational Rehabilitation cooperate and often share information, but are separate entities. Vocational Rehabilitation cannot dictate what services a college will provide.