Physical/Other Health Disorders

Guidelines for Documentation of Students with Physical and/or Other Health Disorders

In conformance with the regulations of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as revised, Santa Fe College (SF) will make reasonable modifications to its policies and practices and will provide certain individualized services and accommodations as needed to assure nondiscrimination on the basis of disability. This policy sets forth SF's current minimum requirements for documentation of the above disabilities.

Students or applicants for admission who would like to request disability-related services and accommodations are invited to apply in person at the Disabilities Resource Center (DRC) in Building S, Room 229. As a part of the application process, DRC staff will require documentation of the disability. This documentation must have been prepared by a person who is not a family member of the student and who is qualified by professional training and practice to diagnose and treat the impairment leading to the disability. It must also be typed or word processed and printed on the letterhead of either the practitioner or the agency hosting the practice. Handwritten notes on prescription pads will not be accepted.

Documentation will include:

1. Diagnosis
2. Limitations
3. Recommendations

Eligibility will be determined on the basis of the presence of a disability and a need for services and accommodations to support an equal educational opportunity. Information from the disability documentation, the student's stated experience with services and accommodations that have been effective in the past, and DRC professional judgment will be drawn upon in making the eligibility determination.

The legal definition of disability includes:

1. a physical or mental impairment which
2. substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of the person in question.

According to the ADA, major life activities include but are not limited to walking, breathing, seeing, hearing, performing manual tasks, caring for one's self, learning, and working. Thus, disability has both medical and functional elements, and both of these elements must be explicitly documented for DRC eligibility purposes. A doctor's statement that a student has MS, CP, or schizophrenia, for example, would only indicate the diagnosis (or name) of the impairment. Further written information is necessary to indicate how this impairment substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of the student. If the student is taking prescription medicine that has known side effects on major life activities, this should be reported as well; for example, the effects of psychotropic medications on concentration and cognitive functioning.

Timeliness

Though applications will not be refused by DRC on the basis of untimeliness, it is strongly recommended that those who would like to apply for or renew services and accommodations not delay contacting DRC until the first few weeks of the semester or just prior to exams. Your first contact should be made immediately after you register for classes for the coming semester, and you must follow-up with any necessary instructions given by DRC staff. Since services are arranged on a first-come first-served basis, unfortunate delays often result when applications are untimely.

Download Physical Verification Form (PDF) here