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• Submit current, comprehensive disability documentation from a professional, licensed or certified to diagnose and treat their disability(ies). NOTE: Please check these LD/ADD Documentation Requirements, Psychiatric Disability Documentation Requirements, Autism Spectrum Disorder Documentation Requirements, or Physical Disability Documentation Requirements for information as to the documentation you need to submit.
  
• Schedule and participate in an Intake/Needs Assessment Appointment with the SSD Director or Learning Disabilities Specialist.

• Be sure that you, and the SSD Director or Learning Disabilities Specialist, have completed the Preliminary Application and Assessment Process.
• Complete and return the "Request Form for Academic Accommodation Authorization Letters" to SSD as soon as you have decided upon your course schedule, to activate your request.
• It is your responsibility to inquire about the availability of your completed letters, to personally pick them up, and to share them with your professors. (Proof of personal identity will be required before the letters are released to you.)

• Request Forms received by the indicated due date will be processed prior to the beginning of the semester.  Late requests will be processed in the order in which they are received.
• Request Forms received after the start of the semester will be processed within seven (7) working days.

• Extended time. This is one of the most common accommodations across disability groups. The typical recommendations are time and one half or double time, but students working with a reader or scribe may require more than double time. We do not recommend unlimited time unless this option is available to all students.
• Accessible testing site and accessible seating. Students who may need front row seating include those who can not walk up or down steps, have difficulty maneuvering through a row of seats, have vision or hearing impairments, or have disabilities that affect their ability to remain focused on visual or auditory lecture material.
• Reading services. Reading printed material, including exams, person-to-person or on cassette tape.
• Scribe services. Physically writing the student's answers, verbatim, or filling out a scantron answer sheet according to the student's instructions.
• Computer access. Many students can independently complete essay exams on computers. Some may need technology such as print enlargement, speech output, speech recognition or a spell-check program, available through SSD by advance arrangement.
• Conversion of Printed Text to Alternate Format. Students whose disabilities necessitate their use of alternate format reading material (e.g. large print, Braille, books on tape or speech output computer programs, etc) may need their printed exams converted to an alternate format. Computer programs to support this accommodation are available in the Bartle Library. Contact SSD for assistance with conversion and access.
• Quiet and comparable testing environment. Some students require a low distraction environment, especially those with learning disabilities or Attention Deficit Disorder. All students should have testing environments comparable to those of their classmates - i.e. testing space free from frequent interruptions, with proper writing surface, seating and lighting.

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Testing Arrangement NOT Recommended by SSD Sometimes questions arise about the use of other arrangements as appropriate testing accommodations.  We do not recommend:

• Unlimited time for taking tests. SSD does not recommend this unless the instructor provides this option for all students in the class. This option is usually not necessary or practical.
• Oral exams rather than written exams. SSD usually discourages these unless this is the method of evaluation for all students. Oral exams require the student to immediately analyze, interpret and respond to a question, eliminating the additional "thought" time available in written exams. In addition, the method of grading may be different from that used for written exams and students are not encouraged to develop their critical writing abilities.
• Different tests for students with disabilities. Again, SSD strongly discourages this since it is usually unnecessary, given the other testing accommodations that are possible, and because students with disabilities should be held to the same standards as their classmates without disabilities.
• Clarification of test questions. SSD does not view clarification of test questions (e.g. the instructor or proctor giving the student a definition or explaining the meaning of a phrase or question) as a disability accommodation. Students with disabilities should be held to the same standards as other students when it comes to expectations about understanding course content, exam questions, etc.  If students without disabilities are allowed to receive clarification of questions they have, however, students with disabilities should receive a similar allowance, whether taking the exam with the class or in a private testing site.

Faculty at Binghamton University have traditionally provided all necessary exam accommodations for their students. As the number of students needing such accommodations has grown, however, some professors have found it increasingly difficult to personally attend to every situation that arises. Since it is not feasible or appropriate for SSD to administer faculty exams, we recommend that professors work collaboratively with their departments to handle "crunch time" situations. Meanwhile, the staff of SSD remain committed to working in partnership with faculty and departments to advise or assist them in their efforts to insure that students with disabilities have reasonable access to appropriate academic accommodations.

Students who require special testing arrangements due to a disability should be registered with Services for Students with Disabilities and can be expected to provide faculty with individualized letters of reasonable accommodation from this office. We advise that departments and faculty receiving authorized requests for reasonable accommodation be judicious in insuring that appropriate testing accommodations are provided, since there are specific legal requirements regarding the provision of such accommodations for students with disabilities. Please do not hesitate to contact SSD with questions or concerns.