Accessible Educational Services

Each semester (including this one) you will need to activate your accommodations by making a semester request in the Accommodate portal. Once the semester request is initiated and approved by AES, you will then receive your accommodation letter.

To activate your accommodations, you must forward the letter, in its entirety and without any alteration, to the appropriate faculty and copy aesproj@iu.edu.

If you do not send your accommodation letter to your faculty, your accommodations are considered inactive.

Please see the steps below for making a semester request in Accommodate.

• Navigate to the Accommodate login screen (use your IU email and password to log in)
• Select Accommodations
• Select Semester Request
• Select Add New
• Select the drop-down bar under Semester and find the correct semester.
• Select Submit for All Accommodations to use all your accommodations for all of your classes OR select Review the Renewal which will allow you to select and omit any classes and accommodations.
• Your semester request is complete! In 1–2 business days, you can expect an email containing your accommodation information. Please forward that email to your instructors and copy aesproj@iu.edu.
• IMPORTANT: If you add any classes after you have already submitted a semester request, you will have to login and submit an additional semester request for the additional class(es). Then, forward the resulting email to the instructor(s) and copy AES to let us know. 

To provide reasonable and appropriate academic accommodations, Accessible Educational Services requires documentation that shows current disabilities and their impact on your ability to function within an academic environment. The documentation you provided to AES must meet the following requirements: 

• Documentation must be current. The determination of what is current documentation depends on the nature of the disability and the degree to which the disability changes over time. In most cases, the documentation should have been done within the last three (3) years. AES reserves the right to require more recent documentation.
• The name, title, and professional credentials of the evaluator, including information about license or certification, area of specialization, employment, and the state in which the individual practices. Professionals conducting the evaluation/assessment must be qualified and have experience working with late adolescent/adult populations.
• Reports must be on letterhead, typed, dated, and have an original signature of the evaluator. Reports must be in English or translated into English by a qualified translator.
• Reports must include the names of any standardized tests administered, the scores derived, and a discussion of the results that clearly indicates the presence of a disability. These tests must be evaluated using adult norms. AES reserves the right to determine which tests are acceptable for diagnosing the disability in question.
• The report must clearly state the presence of the specific disability and use definitive language. Terms such as "suggest" or "is indicative of" are not acceptable.
• The evaluator must describe the impact of the diagnosed disability on specific major life functions/activities, especially as it relates to academic performance.
  • A clinical diagnosis is not synonymous with a disability. That is, evidence sufficient to render a clinical diagnosis may not be adequate to determine that an individual is "substantially limited" in a major life function. The documentation must include the individual's specific current functional impairment(s) and describe how the disorder/impairment substantially limits one or more major life activities in order for AES to evaluate the necessity for academic accommodations, auxiliary aids, or services.
  • If the documentation submitted does not address the student's current impairment or describe how the disorder/impairment substantially limits one or more major life activities, AES will require additional documentation before providing services.
• The diagnostic report should include specific recommendations for reasonable academic accommodations and a detailed rationale for each recommendation as related to the specific functional limitations.
• If medications are taken in conjunction with the disability, these should be listed as well as their potential side effects.
• If your symptoms involve cognitive processing, appropriate testing needs to be conducted. Testing for specific learning disabilities may be appropriate to allow the best accommodations.

Additional information about your documentation:

• A note on a doctor's prescription pad or a school plan such as an Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) or a 504 Plan is not sufficient documentation in and of itself but may be included as part of a more comprehensive evaluative report.
• It must be understood that these evaluations and the recommendations in them do not automatically qualify a student for registration with AES or for the recommended accommodations in the evaluations.
• AES will make the final decision as to whether academic accommodations are needed and can be provided to you without undue expense or without fundamentally altering IU Indianapolis's programs.
• Please bring your documentation with you to your scheduled intake interview.

The above categories of disabilities and appropriate types of documentation were adopted with minor modifications from the University of Central Florida’s Student Disability Services Website. 

For many students, an important consideration before providing information on their disabilities is whether that information will be kept confidential. The answer is yes.

IU Indianapolis and all other public institutions of higher education are bound by FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) regarding the privacy of student records. Even parents may be excluded from access to students’ records, depending on the age and financial relation of the individuals as defined by the IRS.   

AES records are kept separately from students’ academic records, so while the latter can be circulated for academic reasons both inside and outside the university, AES records may not. Additionally, when faculty or schools at IU Indianapolis contact AES regarding accommodations or waivers, AES only releases the functional limitations of the students, not their documentation, their specific disability, or other AES records.

Students may sign a FERPA Consent to Release Information waiver, requesting AES to release specific information to specific individuals. No services or accommodation depends on the release of information.

Student rights

• Equal access to academic courses offered by IU Indianapolis.
• The right to receive reasonable accommodations in a timely manner.
• The right to confidentiality regarding protected health information (PHI).
• The same rights and privileges available to other students at IU Indianapolis.

• The right to utilize informal and/or formal grievance procedure for students with disabilities if you are not afforded one or more of the above rights.
• The right to appeal decisions related to your accommodation determinations.
• The right to request changes or additions to your accommodations.
• The right to select which of your approved accommodations you would like to use in each class.

• The right to have your approved accommodations provided to you free of charge.
• The right to have information available in accessible formats, including accessible instructional materials as per IU's information and information technology policies.
• The right to be free from discrimination and/or retaliation.

Student Responsibilities

• Students should make accommodation requests far enough in advance to allow staff adequate time to coordinate needed services.
• Students must provide timely medical documentation of their disability and how it limits their participation in the university’s services, programs, or activities.
• Students are expected to discuss with their instructors the need for accommodations in their respective course.

• Students are responsible for notifying AES if reasonable accommodations are not implemented in an effective and timely way. If a testing accommodation is not met, the students should address it with the faculty member or proctor immediately.

Purpose of this memo

Your patient has self-identified to Accessible Educational Services at Indiana University Indianapolis as a person experiencing pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, or recovery from these conditions covered by Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972. If, at the time you are providing this documentation, your patient is not experiencing complications or increased risk factors, all we require is confirmation of the pregnancy and a due date. If your patient is experiencing complications, additional risk factors, or seeking accommodations for termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, or recovery from these conditions, please provide documentation that addresses the guidelines outlined below.

Credentials

1. This letter must be submitted on letterhead which includes your credentials as a medical/psychological professional.
   1. NOTE: Documentation written by a student’s family member will not be accepted because of professional and ethical considerations.
2. Please identify your area of specialty.

Diagnostic Statement

1. Please provide a specific diagnosis (or diagnoses) of the student’s condition. Note that a diagnosis does not automatically warrant approval of requested accommodations.
2. Please include any relevant information about steps that were taken to determine this diagnosis (i.e., medical examinations, assessment instruments, etc.).
3. Please indicate the date of diagnosis.
4. Please indicate how long you have been treating this student.

Functional Limitations

1. Based upon this student’s condition, please describe any functional limitations they have in performing a major life activity. A current functional limitation is a substantial impairment in an individual’s ability to function with respect to the condition, manner, or duration of a required major life activity. Examples of a major life activity are as follows: walking, sitting, standing, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, working, caring for oneself, and performing manual tasks.
2. If the student is taking medication for this condition, how might this medication impact the student? Please include information about the medications the student is taking.

Recommendations and Rationale

1. Please provide a rationale for each recommended accommodation based upon diagnostic reasoning.
2. If there is any other information that you believe would be helpful in assisting this student, please provide this information.

These guidelines are based upon the documentation requirements issued by the Educational Testing Services and Association for Higher Education and Disability.

Download and print these guidelines