Requesting Reasonable Medical Accommodations

---

Before Applying for Medical Accommodations

Students interested in receiving medical accommodations will need the following to complete the application:

• EWU NetID/Username. Student must be admitted to EWU and accept their admittance before getting a university ID and Username.
• Documentation. Student must provide documentation with the application from a professional service provider that includes:
  • Student name
  • Diagnosis/Disability
  • Provider
  • Provider credential(s)
  • (optional) Recommended accommodations
  • (optional) Treatments/Therapies being considered or utilized
• Medical Accommodation Application. Student is responsible for initiating contact with the Student Accommodations and Support Services (SASS) office. More information about the application is listed below.

Some accommodations, such as having animals in locations not generally allowed, may require additional documentation to verify compliance with applicable laws.

The University encourages students to apply for funding through resource agencies that assist specific disabilities.

Steps to Register for Medical Accommodations at EWU:

Step 1) Complete the Accommodation Application 

Complete the SASS Accommodation Application. If you are a newly admitted student to EWU, please make sure your Student Email Account is setup with the university before completing the application, otherwise our system will not allow you to submit your application. To setup your email account, you will need to activate your NetID. When your NetID has been activated your student email account will be activated automatically. It usually takes 24-48 hours to setup your email account. Please click here to activate your NetID.

Step 2) Submit Documentation

Once you have submitted your Accommodation Application, you will be prompted to upload your documentation from a professional service provider. If you do not have your documentation ready to upload, you can complete this step later. When you submit your Accommodation Application, you will receive an email with a link to upload your documentation at a later time.

Step 3) Schedule an Intake Appointment

When you have completed your Accommodation Application and submitted documentation from a professional service provider, our office will review the information you submitted. If your documentation meets our guidelines, you will receive an email notifying you that it’s time to schedule an intake appointment. If further documentation or information is needed, our office will notify you via email.

If you have any questions about the registration process, please contact the SASS office at (509) 359-6871 or sass@ewu.edu.

---

Creating Your Accommodation Plan – Student Process

After a student completes the Accommodation Application, including providing documentation, the SASS staff will review the application and follow up with each student for next steps.

Students with an incomplete application, insufficient documentation, or unclear details may require additional follow up.

At this time, SASS will reach out to students through EWU email to schedule and Intake Meeting. At the intake meeting you will meet with your Case Manager to review:

• Nature of your disability/diagnosis
• Historical experiences with your symptoms related to education or other life situations
• Previously utilized accommodations and/or strategies
• Anticipated degree plans
• Additional concerns and/or questions

The Intake Meeting will result in creating the student’s Accommodation Plan. If the disability is temporary, an expiration date will be determined as well. For permanent or life-long disabilities, no end date is established and the Plan will be available through graduation or multiple-term non-enrollment in courses.

Additional Notes for developing your Accommodation Plan

The Intake Meeting requires the Case Manager and student to participate in an iterative process to understand the nature of the disability, how the disability impacts the academic work of the student. This is accomplished through discussion with the student and review of documentation. Students with insufficient documentation may be referred to physicians, psychologists or other qualified diagnosticians for complete assessment before accommodations are granted.

After the disability and its functional limitations are verified, the Case Manager will provide information about the various reasonable accommodations which address the student’s functional limitations.

The student then chooses the reasonable accommodations that best apply to them. This is recorded by the Case Manager and is referred to as your Accommodation Plan. Frequently, students arrange follow-up meetings with the Case Manager to assist with ongoing problem solving.

---

Using Your Accommodation Plan

1. Request Accommodations
   • Once the student has an Accommodation Plan, the student will need to login to MyDSS Student Portal to request accommodations per class, per term. Students may select from their Accommodation Plan which accommodations they intend to utilize for each course.
   • Faculty will only be notified of selected accommodations. When a student completes an accommodation request through MyDSS for a specific course, the faculty will receive a notification letter via email.
2. Contact Faculty
   • It is the responsibility of the student to meet with the professor and discuss accommodations, even if a notification letter has been sent to the faculty.
   • Student and faculty need to consult on individual course requirements and use of accommodations to determine methods for appropriate accommodation implementation and maintenance of educational standards. A tip sheet for this conversation is available for students through your Case Manager.
     • If implementation of accommodations would fundamentally alter a course or pose an undue hardship, Faculty should complete an ADA Accommodation Review request to identify the educational standard and how the accommodation would alter this to SASS. Please refer to the Grievances and Appeal page for more information on this.
       

MyDSS Student Portal

A student can register for accommodations or request notification to faculty at any time during a quarter. If this happens, the student still needs to meet with each professor to arrange accommodations. Accommodations are not retroactive and may not apply to coursework completed prior to application submission or Requesting Accommodations notification completion.

---

Documentation Requirements

• For accommodations related to assistance animal access will require additional documentation to verify compliance with local laws/codes:
  • Use of animal as part of therapy, treatment, or similar recommendation from professional service provider.
    • May specify specific animal, but not required
  • Provide appropriate vaccination record as required under Spokane County Code 5.04.030
  • Provide license of animal as required under Spokane County Code 5.04.030
• Student is responsible for providing documentation from a professional service provider (doctor, therapist, e.g.) that includes a description of the disability such as diagnoses, names and results of tests administered (if appropriate), effect of the disability on students access to university programs, services, and activities, and suggestions for specific accommodations that would provide equal access to University programs, services, and activities. Documentation must also include the provider’s name/signature with their credentials and the student’s name.
• Documentation is kept in student’s confidential file in the Student Accommodations and Support Services Office and diagnosis is subject to verification by the University.