Accommodations are determined on a case-by-case basis. There must be a correlation between the disability symptoms and the requested accommodations. SAA does not write accommodations for students who do not have disabilities, or for students who request adjustments or exceptions to university policies that are not part of the university's legal obligations.
The cost and responsibility for providing documentation shall be borne by the student.
The IDEA () protects children with disabilities from birth through post-secondary. The IDEA does not apply to higher education. In higher education, students must be “well-enough” to meet academic standards with or without disability accommodations. Students have the right to equal access, but they must earn a degree.
SAA does consider IEPs and 504 plans when determining accommodations, but SAA will not continue accommodations that go beyond providing equal access and leveling the playing field.
Psychological and Medical Disabilities
Please have your treating professional complete the Documentation of Disability Form (PDF).
Learning Disabilities
- The documentation requirement is the psychoeducational evaluation.
- In rare situations, a student may not be able to provide documentation of a learning disability because their K-12 school district did not identify their need and their family did not have the resources for psycho-educational assessments. SAA works on a case by case basis with these students
- SAA is more liberal than most colleges with what we accept as documentation of a learning disability. According to The National Center for Learning Disabilities, less than half of colleges that require documentation of a disability accept an IEP or 504 plan as sufficient, stand-alone verification.13 Some colleges will not accept evaluations that are more than three years old. Others require diagnostic data that are normed for adults rather than K–12 students. These requirements are unnecessarily burdensome, especially in light of the fact that private evaluations are costly and may be out of reach for many undergraduates.
- SAA does accept IEPs and 504 plans if they contain a diagnosis and description of the functional limitations. SAA accepts evaluations completed during K-12 because a student may learn how to compensate for a learning disability but that does not mean they have outgrown it. The rigor of college material poses new challenges.
Emotional Support Animals
Please see the Emotional Support Animal page for more information.
Documentation can be included in your online Disability Accommodation Request, or sent to:
Student Accessibility and Accommodation
1500 North Warner
Tacoma, WA 98416-1096
Fax: 253.879.3786
saa@pugetsound.edu