Disability Support

IUP
Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Disability Support Services

Pratt Hall, Room 216
201 Pratt Drive
Indiana, PA 15705

724-357-4067 (V/TTY)
Fax: 724-357-2889

Disability Support Links:

Office Overview
*English version

*Spanish version

Services Provided

Verifying Your Disability

Guidelines for Psycho-educational Evaluation Documentation

Temporary Disability Guidelines

DSS Handbooks:

DSS STUDENT Handbook

DSS FACULTY Handbook

DSS Printable Forms:

Declaration of Disability Form

*English version

*Spanish version

Semester DSS Scheduling Form

Recorded Book
Request Form

Test Request Form

Disability Support Services, (DSS), housed within the Advising and Testing Center at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 216 Pratt Hall, provides accommodations and services to ensure equal access to education as intended by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans With Disabilities Act for students with disabilities including but not limited to learning, physical, hearing, vision, or psychological disabilities.

An eligible student is provided with an office adviser to coordinate accommodations that are needed to ensure equal access to the collegiate experience. The advisers are members of the Advising and Testing Center professional and graduate staff and act as liaisons with IUP faculty members, staff and some state agencies.

IUP makes every effort to be accessible to students with physical disabilities. Although the campus is not entirely physically accessible, programmatic access is achieved by moving classroom locations to provide first floor access and/or proximity to other classrooms used by the students. Students with disabilities are requested to meet with a member of the DSS staff upon matriculation or upon onset of the disability to discuss needs and concerns and to provide the office with documentation of the disability. After the initial semester of attendance, arrangements for early scheduling of classes can be made for students requiring accessible classes or services such as note takers or recorded books.

Students with physical disabilities who require special aides (i.e., someone to push a wheelchair or a personal care attendant) will find the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) is their best funding source. Disability Support Services may serve as a liaison between the student and the OVR counselor to provide any assistance that normally may not be provided.

Disability Support Services also serves students with hearing loss or visual impairments. An adviser assists the student in locating note takers and arranging testing accommodations. Interpreters and/or visual aides are provided through DSS or through OVR or BVS (Blind and Visual Services). DSS also assists in getting recorded textbooks through Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB&D) or a local volunteer service; loaning four-track recorders, and arranging for test readers. Students requiring recorded textbooks note takers, or interpreters may also utilize the early registration system provided by the office.

Students with previously documented learning disabilities are eligible for services offered through the Advising and Testing Center. Office advisers will assist students in ensuring that necessary accommodations (including but not limited to test reading and proctoring, note taking, tape recorder loan, and recorded books) are available. In addition, advisers provide assistance with time-management skills, test-taking techniques, study skills, and offer weekly monitoring of academic progress.

The type of disability the student has determines accommodations. The accommodations reviewed here represent only a sample; they are by no means the limit of services offered. Disability Support Services tries to meet the individual student’s needs and to work closely with the student to negotiate reasonable accommodations. Students may contact the office to arrange an intake interview and to take advantage of these services. All students served by DSS receive the DSS Handbook outlining rights and responsibilities, services, and procedures.