Mohawk College of Applied Arts and Technology
Start Smart Session
June 25th, 2009
Services for Students with
Disabilities
Agenda
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Transition to Post-Secondary
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Disability Services
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Who registers with Disability Services?
What is a Case Manager?
What is a Learning Strategist?
Accessing Services
Student Responsibilities
Confidentiality
Accommodations
Other Services
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Assessment for Success
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Financial Assistance
– OSAP
– BSWD
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Questions
Transition to PostSecondary Education
Transition to Post-Secondary
Student issues
• I find it difficult to take total responsibility for my own learning.
• I find it difficult to handle the workload!
• I have problems getting myself organized.
• I get distracted in class. How can I focus?
• I’m failing a course and don’t know where to go for help.
• I’m afraid to tell my professors about my disability.
• I wish I had a friend. It’s so hard to make friends. It was so
much easier in high school.
• I’m not sure this is the right program for me.
Transition to Post-Secondary
Keys to success
• Program fit
• Awareness of strengths and
challenges
• Self-directed
• Self-advocacy
• Good support network
• Wise use of college resources
Disability Services
Promoting Self-Reliance
Maximizing Potential
Encouraging Lifelong Learning
Who Registers with Disability Services?
• Students who have or suspect they have a:
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Physical or medical disability
Mental health condition
Deaf, deafened or hard of hearing
Learning disability
Blind, low vision
Acquired brain injury
register with Disability Services in order to receive
accommodations in and outside of the classroom.
• An accommodations is:
• “special arrangements made so that persons with disabilities can
fully participate." - Ontario Human Rights Code
What is a Case Manager?
• Case Managers are faculty who work with students to
develop a personal program of services and
accommodations.
• Case Managers:
– Assist with educational planning
– With students, develop an accommodation plan
– Offer guidance on financial issues specific to students with disabilities
– Refer to Learning Strategists when needed
– Promote independence by counseling on disability issues
– Counsel for transition to the workplace or other postsecondary
programs
What is a Learning Strategist?
• Learning Strategists are faculty who teach students how his/her
disability impacts on his/her learning in a post-secondary
environment. Through assessment, evaluation of documentation
and discussion, a Learning Strategist will develop an individualized
learning plan support academic goals.
• A Learning Strategist identifies strengths and weaknesses and
then develops strategies that maximize strengths to compensate
for the areas that are challenging.
• A student’s Case Manager will refer students who are eligible for
Learning Strategist services.
Accessing Services
Step 1
Step 2
• After you have accepted an
offer to Mohawk College
you can call the Disability
Services office at 905-5752211.
• When you call the Disability
Services office you will be
making an appointment to
see a Case Manager.
– The sooner you do this the
better, as it takes time to get
all accommodations in place.
The best time is in the
summer before your program
starts.
– Case Managers are divided
up by program and by
disability group. The
receptionist may ask you
what your disability is to
ensure that you meet with the
correct Case Manager.
Accessing Services
(Continued)
Step 3
• You will attend your Case
Management appointment.
– You will need to bring as
much information as you
have about you and your
disability. Documents to
bring can include:
• IPRC or IEP documents
• A psycho-educational
assessment
• Documentation from a
physician
Step 4
• At your appointment you
will speak to your Case
Manager about the
services available to you
and the accommodations
that will be put in place to
support you while at
college.
Responsibilities of Students
• Students identify their disability needs to Disability
Services.
• Providing accommodations is a partnership.
• Students inform faculty of their recommended
accommodations.
– The Confidential Academic Accommodation Plan outlines the
appropriate accommodations for each student. It is the student’s
responsibility to provide the Confidential Academic Accommodation
Plan to each faculty member where he/she believes accommodations
are necessary.
– Students are not required to disclose nature of disability to faculty.
Confidentiality
• Disability Services at Mohawk College is a confidential service.
The documentation you bring to the Case Manager is held in
confidential file in Disability Services.
• Confidential information is shared only with student consent. You
will be asked to sign a consent form so that your Case Manager
can speak to others who can also support your academic goals.
Those people may include:
– Mohawk faculty/staff
– Parents
– Community agencies
It is your choice with whom your information is shared with.
• Limits of confidentiality
Accommodations
An accommodations is:
• “special arrangements made so that persons with disabilities
can fully participate." - Ontario Human Rights Code
Typical Test
Accommodations
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Extra time
Separate Room
Reader and/or Scribe
Computer and/or adaptive
technology
Typical Classroom
Accommodations
• Digital recording of lectures
• Peer and/or Computerized
Notetaker
• Breaks
• Educational Assistant
Other Services
Tutoring
•Peer Tutoring
•Specialized Tutor
Psycho-educational
Assessments
Alternative Format
Counselling/
Self-Advocacy
Adaptive Technology
What is Adaptive Technology?
• What is Adaptive Technology?
– Adaptive technology is equipment or software that is used to
improve the ability of individuals with disabilities to work
independently. Adaptive technology supports students by
taking advantage of the student's existing strengths.
Examples are: Kurzweil, Dragon Naturally Speaking
and Inspiration
• A Learning Strategist assesses the need for adaptive
technology and trains students to use, in conjunction
with individualized adaptive technology strategies.
Assessments for Success
Assessments for Success
• All first year students write the Assessments for
Success.
• Students will receive information about
assessments in the “Preparing for College
Success” package sent to all first year students.
• The assessments are to evaluate incoming
students’ communication and mathematic skills.
– Students will be asked to write Communications, or
Mathematics, or possibly both.
Assessments for Success
(Continued)
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If you require testing accommodations to write the
assessments, please make an appointment with a
Case Manager as soon as you receive your notice.
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For more information you can go to:
1. www.mohawkcollege.ca
2. Click on the Assessments for Success
icon on the main page
Financial Assistance
Financial Assistance
• Some students with disabilities face increased
financial demands to accommodate their specific
needs at college.
• There is specific funding available to support
students with disabilities to gain some of these
accommodations.
• The next few slides will discuss some of these
financial assistance options. For additional
information regarding eligibility and potential
purchases, please speak to your Case Manager.
Ontario Student Assistance Program
(OSAP)
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Many bursaries and scholarships are tied to the
Ontario Student Assistance Program.
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Disability Services recommends that all students apply
for the Ontario Student Assistance Program whether
they believe they will receive these funds or not.
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You can apply online for the Ontario Student
Assistance Program by:
1. http://osap.gov.on.ca
2. Click on Apply Online
The Canada Access Grant
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The Canada Access Grant is up to $2000 per year
for students with permanent disabilities.
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To receive this grant you must apply for the Ontario
Student Assistance Program (OSAP).
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For more information about this grant please go to:
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http://osap.gov.on.ca
Click on OSAP Info
Click on Assistance for
Students with Disabilities
Bursary for Students with Disabilities
(BSWD)
• The Bursary for Students with Disabilities is:
– Up to $10,000 for each academic year
– Non-repayable
– Taxable benefit
• The Bursary for Students with Disabilities provides funding
for disability-related expenses.
• The expenses can include:
– Equipment, computers, software
– Tutoring needs
– Psycho-educational assessment
Bursary for Students with Disabilities
Eligibility
 Be a Canadian citizen or permanent
resident.
To be eligible for
the Bursary for
Students with
Disabilities a
student needs
to meet the
following
requirements:
 Demonstrate financial need.
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This means that you must be
Ontario Student Assistance
Program (OSAP) eligible.
 Have no previous default of an
Ontario Student Assistance
Program (OSAP) loan.
 Be actively registered at college.
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You may have to repay the bursary
if you withdraw early in term.
Bursary for Students with Disabilities
Additional information
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Students need to talk to
his/her Case Manager to
ensure that he/she is eligible
and to discuss what types of
purchases would be
appropriate to accommodate
his/her disability.
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The Bursary for Students with
Disabilities is authorized by
the student’s Case Manager.
Students work with their Case
Manager to determine
eligibility and appropriate
purchases to be made with
the bursary.
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It is not recommended that
students make purchases
prior to starting college or
without consulting with his/her
Case Manager.
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Students should make an
appointment to see his/her
Case Manager once OSAP is
either approved or denied the
student’s application.
For More Information
About Disability Services
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For more information about Disability Services, you
can go to:
1.
2.
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4.
www.mohawkcollege.ca
Click on Mohawk Students
Click on Help for Students
Click on Disability Services
Questions