Student Rights
SAS believes it is important to know what is a right afforded to you by law as a student with a disability. SAS operates under the guidance of the Rehab Act of 1973: Section 504/508, Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) and the ADA Amendment Act (2008). Students have the following rights under these laws:
- Equal access to all academic and co-curricular activities available through Yale University.
- Receive reasonable accommodations that do not fundamentally alter a policy, requirement, or learning objective of a program or course, and do not place an undue financial or procedural burden on the institution or it’s representatives.
- Engage in the interactive accommodation process.
- Request an appeal or reconsideration of accommodations if new information is available.
- Submit a disability-related barrier.
- Report a disability-related harrassment or discrimination to the Office of Institutional Equity and Accessibility.
- Report disability-related discrimination to the US Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights.
Student Responsibilities
Equally important are a student’s responsibilities in exercising these rights. The following are actions students are responsible for taking to exercise these rights:
- Student must self-identify as a person with disability to request for accommodation(s) for a disability.
- Student must contact SAS on their own to request accommodations for a disability.
- Provide documentation of your disability from an appropriate and qualified professional with established/consistent contact.
- Provide Accommodation Letters and appropriate agreements to professors.
- Schedule exams at least 7 days in advance from SAS.
- Schedule a training for assistive technology accommodations.
Interactive Process
We also believe it’s important for students to be aware of our interactive process for reviewing accommodations. Timing for requests may vary depending on follow-up steps and complexity, but generally take between 1-2 weeks for completion. The following is our process for review:
- Student submits an Accommodations Request Form.
- Student receives contact from the appropriate SAS Staff member.
- Student meets with SAS Staff member to discuss disability-related access barriers and potential accommodations.
- SAS Accommodation Committee reviews the accommodation request for appropriate and reasonable accommodations to remove the disability-related access barrier.
- SAS communicates decision to student and issues Accommodation Letter to student and appropriate Dean.
- Student provides Accommodation Letter to instructors and administration as indicated, and completes accommodation-related follow up steps (i.e. scheduling exams, assistive technology trainings, etc.).
Privacy Policy
Your information is kept private and only your approved accommodations are shared with faculty and administrators. Information is only shared on a need to know basis for facilitating accommodations, security/safety concerns, and when legally required by law.
Important Information to Note
Although documentation from a provider may suggest accommodations, recommended accommodations are not always best managed as access accommodations. Because every student and disability situation is different, accommodations that may be appropriate at one institution are not guaranteed to be the same as others. Similarly, accommodations for one student with a specific disability may be different from other students with similar disabilities depending on the individual experiences, classes and situation.