Disability Program Research Paper

The disABILITY Program There are many programs offered at WKCTC. The Disability Program is one of them. The Disability Services Office at West Kentucky Community and Technical College is committed to providing students with disabilities with a positive environment focusing on student ability rather than disability. Based upon the individual needs of the student, the Disability Program strives to foster success in all academic environments at WKCTC and to support equal access as well as promoting campus-wide diversity. Shelia Highfil, Manager of the Disability Program, states that the program has been around since at least 2003, with helping over 200 students each semester. There are over 170 students currently enrolled in the Disability Program at this time. To enter this kind of program there are requirements. Before classes start, the Manager of the Disability Services will review the documentation of the disability provided by the student and will respond to the student within 1 week. After the Manager of reviews the documentation there will be a one-on-one consultation concerning the interaction between the disability and the academic environment to determine reasonable accommodations. The name, title, and professional credentials of a licensed evaluator must be clearly stated in the
document. All evaluation reports should be on official letterhead, typed, dated, and signed. The evaluation should have been completed within the last three years. A student with a disability is any student who has a physical or mental impairment which limits one or more major life activity; such as caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning and working.
A person is considered to be a disabled person if he/she has a disability, or has a record of such impairment. There are many different disabilities. The Disability Program here at WKCTC assures that they have many different assistances to accommodate the many disabilities. It is based on the documentation provided on the disability. There are no additional fees for a greater disability. In fact, there are no fees at
all. According to the WKCTC web site, the disable students in this program will get a comfortable setting in the learning environment here at WKCTC. For college students with disabilities, academic accommodations may be reasonable if the requested assistance does not lower academic standards. A college or university has both the diversity of resources and the flexibility to select the specific aids or services it provides; as long as they are effective. Such aids and services should be selected in consultation with the student who will use them. Examples of some accommodations that the Disability Program at WKCTC has provided in the past are adaptive technology, distraction-reduced testing environment, exams read orally, extended time on exams and quizzes, preferential seating, American Sign Language interpreting, and real-time captioning. All accommodations are decided on a case-by-case basis. Accommodation request forms must be updated every semester and are not retroactive. Students in the disability program get to achieve their goals in education just as any other student on campus. This program allows students to be successful based on their abilities rather than their disabilities. “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” (-Keller, Hellen.) “Optimism is a very important quality to have while in this program,” says Ms. Highfil, “you will achieve so much more.”
Works Cited “disABILITY Services.” www.westkentucky.kctcs.edu/disabilityservices. WKCTC, n.d. web. 29, Aug. 2013. Highfil, Shelia. “RE: Disability Program.” Message to the author. 9, Sep. 2013. Email.