Sensory Impairments (Hearing, Vision)

Overview

Documentation Guidelines for Sensory Impairments (Hearing, Vision)

Documentation of a disability is necessary for a student to establish their eligibility for academic adjustments, auxiliary aids and services while at Santa Fe College. The following documentation requirement complies with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act. The Disabilities Resource Center requires a student, who self-identifies as having a disability, to provide current (i.e. within the last three years) and comprehensive documentation that verifies a chronic disabling disorder and identifies functional impairments arising from that disorder. The confidentiality of all documents submitted to the Disabilities Resource Center are protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). This paper sets forth Santa Fe College's requirements for documentation necessary for those students with sensory impairments.

Documentation

Those students who wish to request disability-related accommodations and services are invited to apply in person at the Disabilities Resource Center (DRC) in Building S, Room 229. As a part of the process, DRC staff will require documentation of the disability. Documents 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 those impairments associated with the disability. Documents must 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.

The documentation should include:

• Clear statement of the diagnosis with relevant procedures and instruments used to make the diagnosis as well as a summary of evaluation results when available.
• Medical history relating to current functional limitations and the expected impact on student's academic performance including current use of medication and the impact of the medication on the student's ability to meet the demands of an academic program. In cases for students with a hearing impairment, a copy of most recent audiogram and any evaluations conducted are beneficial.
• Diagnosis must be current, within the past three years.
• Recommendations for reasonable academic accommodations to help neutralize the disability in question.

Eligibility

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:

A physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of a person, including learning. 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.

Sensory Impairments Defined

According to the documentation provided by the Florida College System Disabled Classification, hearing and visual impairments are defined by the following classifications:

• Hearing impairment
  A hearing loss of 30 decibels or greater, pure tone average of 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000 Hz, unaided, in the better ear. Examples include, but are not limited to, conductive hearing impairment or deafness, sensorineural hearing impairment or deafness, high or low tone hearing loss or deafness, and acoustic trauma hearing loss or deafness.
• Visual impairment
  Disorders in the structure and function of the eye as manifested by at least one of the following: visual acuity of 20/70 or less in the better eye after the best possible correction, a peripheral field so constricted that it affects one's ability to function in an educational setting, or a progressive loss of vision which may affect one's ability to function in an educational setting. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: cataracts, glaucoma, nystagmus, retinal detachment, retinitis pigmentosa, and strabismus.

Download Deaf / Hearing Impairment Verification Form (PDF) here