Learning, Neurological & Psychological
What Services are Available?
- Learning, Neurological & Psychological
- Low Vision or Blind
- Mobility Limitations
- Deaf or Hard of Hearing
SERVICES FOR STUDENTS WITH DYSLEXIA, OTHER LEARNING DISABILITIES, ATTENTION DEFICIT, AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISABILITIES
IDENTIFICATION
To facilitate planning and provide appropriate services and accommodations, Rensselaer attempts to reach out to students with learning, neurogocal and psychological disabilities. Students are urged to identify themselves early, and are responsible for making their needs known to Disability Services.
General - All incoming first-year students receive an Enrollment Guide, which includes information about Rensselaer's services for students with disabilities. They are asked to identify voluntarily any special needs they may have by contacting Disability Services for Students in the Dean of Students Office. Documentation of their disability will be requested. Transfer students, graduate students, and international students are also asked to identify their needs. Additional opportunities to self-identify are offered on the Student Orientation Registration Form and the Residence Life & Dining Service form. An informational meeting about Disability Services is held for parents and students at Student Orientation sessions each summer. The Rensselaer catalog and website also contain information, and printed brochures are available through Admissions or from Disability Services directly.
Other - Some students undoubtedly attend Rensselaer without making it known that they have a disability, while others may not be aware of it themselves. Depending on the nature and severity of their disability and the coping strategies they may have devised, their academic performance could range from excellent to failing. In some instances, students who are aware of their disability do not self-identify because they do not believe they will require services, or because they are concerned about discrimination. Rensselaer assures nondiscrimination and encourages all students who know they have a disability to identify themselves, even if they are unsure whether they will need any accommodations. Early planning will help students anticipate and prevent problems. Additionally, students are assured that no services or accommodations will be provided without their full consent and participation.
Some students may suspect that they have a learning disability or ADD but have never been evaluated and, consequently, have no records or documentation. These students may be referred to outside resources for an assessment, at the student’s expense, and services may be provided on a provisional basis pending the outcome of their assessment. Rensselaer has a limited capacity to do diagnostic evaluations, and cannot guarantee availability at any particular time.
DOCUMENTATION
All students with diagnosed disabilities who request services must provide documentation of their disability. Students with learning or neurological disabilities are required to provide documentation, often referred to as a psychoeducational evaluation or neurological assessment, from a qualified professional, which verifies their diagnosis and supports their request for academic accommodations. (While helpful as additional documentation, a “504 Plan” or “IEP” often does not include a psychoeducational assessment.) Depending on their request for accommodations, some students may be required to submit additional relevant information. Rensselaer recommends that documentation be prepared in accordance with the standards issued by the Educational Testing Service, which administers the SAT exams. (For copies of these documentation standards, please contact your high school guidance department, or go to the Educational Testing Service and follow the link to Test Takers with Disabilities.)
Students are encouraged to complete a full assessment prior to attending Rensselaer, preferably in the senior year of high school. It is strongly recommended that individuals who are 17 years of age or older be tested using diagnostic instruments normed for adults. Parents may wish to request this assessment as part of the student’s “transition planning” in the senior year. For students entering directly from high school, we may not accept an assessment that is more than three years old. All documentation will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis and students may be required to submit an updated assessment.
SERVICES
Rensselaer offers a variety of services and accommodations to students with disabilities. To be eligible, students must identify themselves to Disability Services for Students and must provide documentation of their needs. Disability Services staff will discuss with students their individual needs, and will assist in arranging appropriate services. Services and accommodations are free of charge and include, but are not limited to, the following:
Notification to Faculty - With the student’s participation, each new academic year (i.e., each fall) Disability Services for Students will prepare a personalized notification memo for each student to share with his/her instructors, explaining the need for coursework or exam modifications. It is the responsibility of each student to show this memo to their instructors each semester. Students and faculty members together make the particular arrangements necessary in each course, with the assistance of Disability Services if needed.
Test Accommodations --Where appropriate to the student’s documented needs, accommodations will be provided in the administration of exams, which may include allowance of extra time, provision of readers or taped exams, use of a separate room, and other modifications as necessary to ensure equal opportunity to demonstrate acquired knowledge. It should be noted that course goals and standards will remain the same, however, for all students.
Tutoring and Study Skills - Rensselaer's Advising and Learning Assistance Center offers a variety of services to undergraduates including: free, drop-in tutoring several evenings per week targeting primarily freshmen courses, Learning Assistants (trained upperclass students) who live in freshmen residence halls, and individualized professional services to students with disabilities. The professional staff has expertise in learning and neurological disabilities and can offer individual counseling to improve such skills as reading, notetaking, test-taking, and time management. One-to-one, course-specific tutoring can also be arranged by request to the professional staff. As mentioned above, LAs are peer mentors who receive training enabling them to help students directly in their residence halls and to assist them in developing more effective learning skills. A portion of their training involves awareness of students with disabilities. Additionally, to assist students in their study efforts, many back tests and quizzes from previous semesters are available, and students can watch sample online lectures in Calculus and Physics. Also available to all students is a campus program called the Writing Center, where experienced staff and graduate assistants will help students review and revise their research papers, lab reports, essays and resumes.
E-textbooks – New York state law requires textbook publishers to provide electronic/digital versions of their textbooks to students with disabilities. E-text then can be converted to synthesized voice output to assist or speed up reading. Rensselaer offers the hardware and software for students who want to create electronic voice files that can be used on a personal laptop (see also Assistive Equipment below). Students are still required by this law to purchase a hard copy of their textbooks, which also requires that all such requests be made through Disability Services.
Recorded books - Where voice-recorded books are needed by students whose disability interferes with their reading printed materials, assistance will be provided in arranging for these books through the nonprofit organization, Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic in Princeton, New Jersey. The services of this organization are available directly to individuals who supply appropriate documentation of their need. Disability Services for Students will assist students, if needed, in applying and paying for services if they have not done so already, and will assist students in ordering and returning materials each semester. Students should make their needs known early due to time constraints in RFB&D’s procedures. If RFB&D is not able to provide recorded books in a timely manner after students have made reasonable attempts to secure their services, Disability Services will arrange alternative sources of assistance. Students are still required to purchase a hard copy of their textbooks.
Notetaking - Rensselaer uses a variety of procedures to provide notetaking assistance to students with a demonstrated need. Several options may be available, including online notes and notes provided by the professor or teaching assistant, through volunteer students, or by tape-recording of lectures. Disability Services will assist students in evaluating and implementing these options. Students who request notetaking assistance will be encouraged to work with Rensselaer’s Learning Assistance Center to determine if their own skills might be improved. Rensselaer will provide paid notetakers to students with disabilities only when no effective alternative is available.
Assistive Equipment - Students may find that they can benefit from using a Kurzweil reading system (particularly for non-technical books) or voice-recognition software for dictating written work. Students can make their own electronic text/voice files for use on their laptops. A workstation, scanner, and specialized software are located in a designated room in the Library. Interested students should contact Disability Services.
Counseling services - Students experiencing the ordinary stresses of college life, as well as more serious personal problems or concerns related to their disability, can receive free counseling services through Rensselaer’s Counseling Center, located in the Student Health Center. Community resources, ranging from self-help organizations to nonprofit agencies to private practitioners, are also available at the student’s expense, and may be located through the Counseling Center or Disability Services.
Campus Housing - Special arrangements for campus housing may be provided, based on individual need, if requested in advance through Disability Services.
SUMMARY AND CONTACT INFORMATION
Rensselaer recognizes that needs and services must be determined on an individual basis. With the student’s assistance and participation, faculty and staff will work to arrange the accommodations and services that will enable each individual with a learning or neurological disability to achieve maximum benefit from his or her program at Rensselaer.
For more information on any of the above services, contact Disability Services for Students, Dean of Students Office, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York 12180-3590, or send email to dss@rpi.edu, or telephone (518) 276-2746.