FAQ
Am I required to make initial contact with the Office of Student Accommodations (OSA)?
Yes, if you have a disability and are requesting services, you are required to make initial contact and provide documentation of your disability and specifically request accommodations through the Office of Student Accommodations office.
What is OSA?
Yes, if you have a disability and are requesting services, you are required to make initial contact and provide documentation of your disability and specifically request accommodations through the Office of Student Accommodations office.
What is OSA?
The Office of Student Accommodations (formerly Disability Support Services) provides
comprehensive, confidential services for LCCC students with documented disabilities.
Services and adaptive equipment to reduce mobility, sensory and perceptual concerns
are available through OSA, and all services are provided free of charge to LCCC students.
The OSA Student Handbook is available for students who have registered at LCCC. This
handbook contains information about OSA services, policies, and procedures.
OSA staff members are available to attend IEP or transition meetings. Please call to schedule appointment times. Accommodations in the postsecondary environment are significantly different than in the K-12 setting. If you will be graduating from high school soon, please contact the OSA staff early so that we can plan for a smooth transition. High school students are encouraged to contact OSA during their junior year to gather information.
What are some of the differences I can expect to see between high school and college?
| Difference | High School | College |
| Class Time | 6 hours/day, 180 days 1,080 total hours |
12 hours/week, 32 weeks 384 total hours |
| Study Time | 1-2 hours per day (a lot of homework is done in class) | 3-4 hours of homework per day for each 2 hours of study/credit |
| Tests | Weekly; at the end of a chapter; frequent quizzes | 2-4 per semester; at the end of a chapter unit; following holidays |
| Grades | Passing grades guarantee you a seat | Satisfactory academic standing = Cs or above is competitive entry into programs |
| Teachers | Often take attendance; may check notebooks; put information on a board; impart knowledge and facts | Rarely take attendance or teach from the notebook; often lecture nonstop; require library research; student responsible for info from books, lecture and research |
| Freedom | Structured class and study times; limits set by parents, teachers or other adults | Almost complete freedom with attending class and studying |
| Reading | Reading requirements for most classes can be done with minimal outside work. | Reading-intensive environment; analytical readings skills necessary; if books on tape are needed, student must request them with OSA, instructor and reader |
| Support Services | School has responsibility to find those who need services and provide those services. | School has responsibility to provide services after student presents documentation of need and requests services. |
| Self-Advocacy | Few opportunities; structure of laws makes it difficult for students to take control of their services. | Required; the Office of Civil Rights has ruled that colleges can ask students to assist in the setting up, maintenance and day-to-day management of services. |
| Tutoring | Often provided as part of supports services during the school day; free; individualized and personal; reiterates or re-teaches class material | By law tutoring is considered homework assistance and colleges are not financially responsible. Most colleges provide limited tutoring or drop-in labs; not individualized; best use of these services requires student to attempt homework and come to lab or tutor with specific questions. |
| Consistency | Most high schools offer similar services and the way to access those services is the same. | Each college or university has its own mission and the services offered reflect the mission. Some colleges offer more support than others. All students should shop wisely for th institution that not only offers the academic course work, but also offers services with which the students feel comfortable. |
| Adapted from Promoting Postsecondary Education for Students with Learning Disabilities, by Loring Brinkerhoff, Stan F. Shaw, & Joan M. McGuire; p. 6; 1993; PRO-ED, Texas, USA. | ||
What are some of the commonly provided accommodations and services?
- Accessible Parking
- Testing Accommodations
- reader/taped test
- scribe
- extended time
- distraction-reduced environment
- calculator or multiplication table guide
- Seating accommodations
- Classroom relocation
- Alternate format textbooks
- Voice recording of lectures
- Note takers
- Sign language interpreters
- Assistive listening devices
- Assistive technology
- equipment
- hardware
- software
- Priority registration
- Alternate format for catalogs, class schedules and other publications produced by LCCC.
Appropriate accommodations are determined on an individual case-by-case basis between the OSA staff and the student.
What services are not provided by OSA?
Services that cannot be provided include personal attendants, individually prescribed
devices (including glasses and hearing aids), readers for personal use or study, or
other devices or services of a personal nature such as typing or a tutor outside the
Student Success Center. If students need any of these services, they are responsible
for providing and paying for these services themselves.
How can OSA assist me?
You may present current evidence of a disability to OSA. Acceptable documentation might come from school districts and/or physicians, psychologists, or other licensed professionals knowledgeable about the condition. Laramie County Community College has adopted and strictly adheres to Documentation Guidelines as developed by the Consortium of Support Programs for Students with Disabilities representing the postsecondary institutions of Colorado and Wyoming. For a copy of these documentation guidelines, please contact OSA or refer to our Documentation Guidelines web page.
You may present current evidence of a disability to OSA. Acceptable documentation might come from school districts and/or physicians, psychologists, or other licensed professionals knowledgeable about the condition. Laramie County Community College has adopted and strictly adheres to Documentation Guidelines as developed by the Consortium of Support Programs for Students with Disabilities representing the postsecondary institutions of Colorado and Wyoming. For a copy of these documentation guidelines, please contact OSA or refer to our Documentation Guidelines web page.
The OSA maintains a library of resource information for students interested in disability issues such as college scholarships for disabled students, ADA facts and regulations, tips for college students with ADD and/or learning disabilities, recordings for the blind and dyslexic, and much more.
All LCCC syllabi include information for students regarding how to contact the Office of Student Accommodations.