Disabilities at the College Level

The provision of accommodations at the college level hinges on the determination that the student has a disability as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1992 (ADA). The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which is entitlement legislation that mandates identification of and service delivery to students with special needs in the public school system, does not extend protection to the college level student. To qualify as a person in need of protection under the ADA, a student must demonstrate that he or she has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, such as caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, working, or learning. Although the law does not provide clear examples of what "substantially limits" means, the commonly accepted definition is that one's ability to perform a major life activity must be significantly less than that of the average person in the general population.

If you believe that you will need accommodations or modifications at Lafayette College, you must provide appropriate documentation that verifies the existence of the disability and discusses its impact on your ability to participate in the college environment. Requirements for appropriate documentation of learning disabilities, AD/HD, psychological disorders, and chronic health impairments are included in this website. Unlike the IDEA, which requires public schools to bear the cost of psycho-educational assessment as part of the process of identifying and servicing students with learning disabilities, the ADA places the responsibility for obtaining appropriate documentation of any and all disabilities on the student. Lafayette College reviews the documentation and decides whether or not the student is disabled under the ADA.

The ADA does not require that colleges provide services or accommodations in the absence of a request by the student. This means that if you need an accommodation(s), you must initiate contact with the Office of the Dean of Studies, provide documentation verifying the need, and specifically request the accommodation(s). The request for accommodations must be renewed each semester. This is a new responsibility for most students, who have typically relied on their parents and their case managers or resource room teachers in high school to manage all their educational needs. In college, students with disabilities must assume full and independent responsibility for securing the services and accommodations they need.