Disability+Accommodations

A disability is defined as an impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.

Individuals with disabilities (including children with speech/language impairments) are protected under Section 309 of the American Disability Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which mandates that accommodations be provided if needed.



Accommodations may include:

- extra time on tests - changes in the testing environment (i.e. preferential seating or testing in another room to reduce distractions) - extra breaks (extended break time or extra breaks as needed) - alternate test formats - auditory or visual assistance

The following chart, published by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) can be used to gain an understanding of the most frequent forms of testing accommodations:

For more information about disability accommodations, please see the report released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO):



Reference: United States Government Accountability Office. (2011, November). //Higher education and disability: Improved federal enforcement needed to better protect students’ rights to testing accommodations.//(Publication No. GAO-12-40). Retrieved from @http://gao.gov/products/GAO-12-40

Additional Resources:



http://www.niu.edu/success/accommodations.shtml#speech