Accessibility

Supplemental Services

In addition to the accommodation process, students with disabilities are often in need of supplemental support.  The Coordinator is available to provide a variety of support to students as needed. 

The range of services may include:

Tutoring

The office of Student Academic Services (SAS) provides tutorial services that are available to all students enrolled in Skidmore College.  The Coordinator for Students with Disabilities will help ensure students with disabilities have equal access to these services and students with disabilities are encouraged to utilize these services as needed. 

Assistive Technology and Equipment

Skidmore College owns a variety of equipment and computer software that can be accessed on campus or loaned out to students.  Students who loan out adaptive equipment and/or software assume responsibility for the items and agree to return borrowed items to the Coordinator for Students with Disabilities by the return date indicated at the time of the loan.  Students must also agree to repair or replace items in the event of damage, loss, or theft.  A hold may be put on a student's academic records if items are not returned or restitution is not made in a timely manner.  Available equipment includes:

Service Animals

Some individuals with disabilities utilize service animals to assist them in activities of daily living.  The ADA defines a service animal as any guide dog, signal dog, or other animal individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including, but not limited to, guiding individuals with impaired vision, alerting individuals with impaired hearing to intruders or sounds, providing minimal protection or rescue work, pulling a wheelchair, or fetching dropped items.  Service animals are working animals, not pets.  Service animals are permitted to accompany students with disabilities any where on campus and are not required to be certified by a state or local entity.  Service animals must be appropriately licensed in accordance with local regulations and wear a valid vaccination tag. 

Owners are responsible for appropriate care and management of service animals.  In the event a service animal's behavior poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others, the owner will be expected to remove the animal from campus. 

Therapy Animals

For some individuals, therapy animals have been proven effective to help reduce the impact of psychological disorders and function to help lower anxiety, cope with panic attacks, predict seizures, and alleviate post-traumatic stress.  Therapy animals, however, do not meet the definition of a service animal as described above and, therefore, are not specifically covered under the law.  Nonetheless, students who request waiver of Skidmore's "no pets" rule in order to keep a therapy animal on campus should consult with the Coordinator for Students with Disabilities prior to bringing an animal on campus.  The Coordinator will review the requests on a case by case basis and may require supporting documentation.  The Coordinator may also seek consultation with both on and off campus personnel before a final determination is made.

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