Chesapeake College Accessibility Services
Requesting Services | Additional Resources & Forms | Important Notes
Contact Information
Judy Gordon
Accessibility & Student Conduct Coordinator
LRC-113 | 410-827-5805 | jgordon@chesapeake.edu
Our Purpose
The purpose of Accessibility Services is to adapt the College's general services to the specialized individual needs of otherwise qualified students with disabilities, for the purpose of providing equal access to all programs and facilities.
Consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, Chesapeake College is committed to providing equal access and assurance that no qualified person shall by reason of a disability be denied access to, participation in, or the benefits of any program or activity operated by the College. Each qualified person shall receive reasonable accommodations to ensure equal access to educational opportunities, programs and services.
Requesting Accessibility Support Services
Download a copy of the checklist here, or explore the steps required to request support services below.
STEP 1Contact the Accessibility & Student Conduct Coordinator, Judy Gordon, at 410-827-5805, or jgordon@chesapeake.edu for an appointment to discuss your disability and needs for accommodations.
STEP 2Students who request reasonable accommodations must self identify and register with the Accessibility & Student Conduct Coordinator in the Office of Accessibility Services located in the Learning Resource Center, room 113, on the Wye Mills Campus.
STEP 3Submit a comprehensive evaluation report that diagnoses your disability from your physician, psychologist or other certified clinician. ***See what this documentation should include.***
(Secondary school information, such as an Individual Education Plan (IEP) or 504 Plan may also be submitted, but such documents must also include a psychoeducational report.)
Check your documentation to be sure it is current (within the past four years) and includes all required elements. If you do not have current and/or complete documentation and do not have a resource for evaluation, please call or make an appointment with the Accessibility Services office for a referral to testing facilities. Chesapeake College does not offer medical or psychological evaluations and does not provide funding for testing.
New students requesting accommodations for the Placement Test must contact the Accessibility Services office at 410-827-5805 to discuss your needs.
The Accessibility Services Coordinator will complete an Accommodations Plan based on the documentation provided by your clinician and the information you provide. Please note: The documentation must support each accommodation you request.
STEP 4Bring completed disability documentation to your Accessibility Services appointment. The Accessibility Services Coordinator will discuss the classroom accommodations for which you are eligible based on the documentation and information you provide.
YOU are responsible for providing your instructors with a copy of your Accommodations Plan. Your instructors will discuss with you how your Plan will be implemented for their course. If there are concerns about the Plan, the Accessibility Services Coordinator must be contacted as soon as possible to discuss any issues.
You will need to meet with the Accessibility Services Coordinator each semester to update your Plan and submit a copy of your class schedule.
Your documentation should include:
- a current diagnosis statement identifying the disability
- the date of the current diagnosis evaluation
- the date of the original diagnosis
- a description of the diagnosis criteria and/or the diagnostic test used
- a description of the current functional impact
- all treatment, medications, assistive devices/services currently prescribed or used
- the credentials of the diagnosing professional
- professional recommendations regarding accommodations and services
For more information contact the Accessibility & Student Conduct Coordinator, Judy Gordon, at 410-827-5805, or jgordon@chesapeake.edu.
Additional Resources & Forms
Student Rights & Responsibilites
Accessibility Services (brochure, PDF)
Important Notes about Accessibility
Support Services Checklist
Postsecondary Accessibility Services (PDF)
Disability Verification Form (PDF)
Contact Financial Aid for Tuition Waiver Information
Open Letter to Parents of Students with Disabilities
Communicating With and About People with Disabilities - CDC's PDF Guide
Important Notes
The Following Accommodations are NOT Considered Reasonable in College
- I don't need to buy an alarm clock or learn to use one; the college will call and wake me up in the mornings.
- Parents are required to be there with me when I register and enroll in college.
- I don't need to ask for updated testing in high school since the college will test me for free.
- Accommodations are available only in some universities.
- Because of my disability admission and/or graduation requirements will not apply.
- The university will keep increasing my accommodations until I am able to pass the class.
- I qualified for Social Security, therefore I will get disability services in college.
- Colleges have to pay tuition and fees for students with disabilities, and help with the cost of books.
- Colleges will help me with my transportation needs from home or apartment to the campus.
- The college will provide the course modifications that are authorized on the last high school IEP or 504 plan.
- Once I enroll all of my accommodations will be taken care of.
- Whatever accommodations I say I need will be provided.
- Any absences will automatically be excused if I am sick or if it is disability related.
- If I have a problem then later notify the instructor/DSS office that I need accommodations, I can redo & retake assignments and test so the results can be adjusted.
- Colleges will be violating the law if they don't give me one-on-one tutoring.
- I see that the other student with disabilities in my classroom has been provided with a cushioned chair; if that's what handicapped students get, I should get one too.
- The college will provide a nurse to monitor my needs, particularly to help me with my prescriptions or personal attendant needs.
- My professors will give me nonverbal cues when I'm taking tests.
- My professors will have to let me take the test ahead of time, grade it and then allow me to take it with all of the rest of the class. (Recycle Tests)
- If I want them instructors will give me their notes, outlines, study guides and a practice exam.
- As a parent, I can arrange to have weekly progress reports like had been done all through school, from the 4th grade until graduating from high school.
- The college will be breaking the law if they do not provide the extras that I have written on the copy of the IEP that I gave them.
- Since my self-concept is low and sometimes very low, the college will arrange for me to succeed in whatever I want.
- As long as I attend class and do the homework I will pass the class.
- Since I provided the other college with documentation about my disability, all I need to do is bring the accommodation list to the college to which I am transferring.
- The college will need to create an independent study program for me and I can design it myself.
- The accommodations I need will be the same in all classes.
- My doctor wrote the diagnosis on one of those pads like they write prescriptions on. It can be taken to any college and they will give me accommodations. They'll understand it.
- I can take only half of the normal test. The tests will have to be shorter for me and all I need to do is ask the disability office for that modification.
- I can find a tutor and the college will pay for the tutoring.
- I won't need to talk with the counselors and disability office staff because my parents will come along and they have always arranged things for me and made my class schedules.
- If I need more testing to verify my disability, the college will provide the testing.
- My tests will all be open book, since that was something they did for me in high school.
- "Coaching" is one of the mandated services that colleges must provide to students who have disabilities.
- "Coaching" is a service that colleges provide students who have ADD.