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GUIDELINES POLICIES & PROCEDURES
GUIDELINES, POLICIES & PROCEDURES
Cottey College’s Guidelines for Documentation provides very important information to students, families, and medical physicians. It is strongly encouraged all students seeking disability services read this document and present it to their medical physician in order to be accurately assessed for disability service eligibility. Students with disabilities are responsible for providing documentation of a disability to the Coordinator of Disability Services, and all documentation must adhere to the guidelines set forth in the Guidelines for Documentation.
The federal definition of “disability”, by which Cottey College uses to determine whether a person is eligible for disability services, is three-fold:
- a physical or mental impairment that limits one or more major life activity of such individual;
- a record of such impairment; or
- is regarded as having such an impairment.
Disability documentation is evidence that an individual meets the aforementioned definition of a disability. Further, disability services and subsequent accommodations are determined based on the current impact conditions have on a student’s functioning. For this reason, documentations must be recent enough to reflect a student’s present limitations based upon their disability, and any past Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or 504 plan does not satisfy documentation requirements. In order to determine current functioning, documentation must be formally done by a qualified practitioner. Any missing documentation may result in a delay in reviewing a request for disability services.
All other guidelines for documentation can be found on the Disability Documentation Guidelines. Each determination is made on an individual basis to meet the needs of the student and to ensure the College’s academic standards are upheld without encountering undue financial burden. If you have any questions, please contact Stephanie McGhee, Coordinator of Disability Services by phone (417-667-8181 ext. 2131) or email (smcghee@cottey.edu).