University of Pittsburgh

Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1983 prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability and require the University to make reasonable accommodations for students with permanent physical or mental disabilities that are known to the institution. A disability is defined as a mental or physical impairment that substantially limits one or more major life functions (walking, talking, breathing, hearing, seeing, etc.). Besides the physical impairments, the law covers cognitive and emotional disabilities such as learning disabilities, Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, psychiatric and psychological disorders. The law’s nondiscrimination mandate is broad and includes all programs and activities of institutions receiving federal funds, including their academic programs, housing, transportation, athletics and extracurricular activities, whether occurring on or off campus. Not only must physical and architectural barriers be removed, but individual accommodations such as exam auxiliary aids and services must be provided at the expense of the University, unless the accommodation imposes and “undue burden” on the institution.

Although “undue burden” is not defined by the law, court decisions indicate the standard is quite high. Accommodations are to be provided unless they fundamentally alter the nature of a program or financially or administratively burden the institution. Inconvenience and cost, unless unreasonably high in the light of the institution’s total budget, are not sufficient to avoid the obligation to accommodate. The student cannot be charged for the cost of reasonable accommodations. The fact that an instructor is not convinced that a student is disabled, even though a physician’s letter has been produced, is not sufficient to avoid the obligation to accommodate. The determination of what is a reasonable accommodation is not solely up to the person requesting the accommodation. The law allows for an interactive negotiation between the person with the disability and the University. The final decision lies with the University, within the limits of the law.

The following examples are hardly exhaustive but may provide some understanding of what courts have deemed to be reasonable accommodations in certain cases:

* Additional time to complete degree requirements

* Additional time to complete exams

* Substitutions for course requirements

* Taping of lectures

* Providing of note takers, readers or sign language interpreters

* Changes in exam format (i.e. oral rather than written exams)

*Relocation of a class, a test, or an extracurricular activity to an accessible location.

Students are responsible both for notifying the instructor at the start of a course that they have a disability and for requesting accommodations for that disability. Each request is considered individually and determination of appropriateness of the accommodation is based upon information provided by the student which indicates functional limitations. In many cases, comprehensive documentation of the disability is required to establish eligibility for accommodations.

It is important that when an accommodation is requested you seek the advice of the individuals and offices within the University, that have been assigned the responsibility regarding issues such as who is entitled to the benefits of the law; what questions you can legally ask; whether an accommodation is required and, if so, what type of accommodation; what documentation is required to evaluate a request for an accommodation; what alternative accommodations can be substituted; and who will pay for the accommodation. The responsible University offices are the following:

Office of Disability Resources and Services (412-648-7890)

Lynnett Van Slyke, Director

Office of Affirmative Action (412-648-7860)

William A. Savage, Director

Office of General Counsel (412-624-5674)

Judy Frank, Assistant General Counsel

AT UPG, PLEASE CONTACT:

Lou Ann Sears (between September 1 and June 30)

724-836-7098 (Voice)

724-836-7128 (TTY)

FOB 105

Carol Calloway (between July 1 and August 31)

724-836-9904

123 Millstein

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