The NYS Department of Education provides funding for readers for students who do not have benefit of vision and subsidizes funds for note takers and sign language einterpreters for students who are deaf and hard of hearing.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services
A sign language interpreters are provided to students who are officially documented as deaf and hard of hearing.
www.dhisnyc.com (718) 433 -1092

Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic
An invaluable educational resource, enabling those with print disabilities to complete their educations, advance their careers, and gain self-esteem. RFB &D provides print information in accessible formats.
www.rfbd.org (212) 557 - 5720

Readers Aid Program (518) 474 - 5622

VESID Program
Vocational Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID) is a NYS agency which provides jobs and careers.
www.nonprofitpages.com/vesid (800)272 - 5448

Academic Adjustments/Accommodations
During the first two weeks of each semester, each student is required to meet with the Director of Services to complete an accommodations request form and to establish/ review appropriate academic adjustments and services for the semester. Each student is encouraged to notify his/her instructor(s)/ professor(s) of their special need(s) and appropriate academic adjustments for the classroom setting. For example, students may qualify for one or a combination of the following: extended time on tests, different testing strategies, tape recording class sessions, note takers, documented absences due to disability, etc. The Accessibility Program Office will formally notify faculty of recommended accommodations, provided students give written authorization.

Tutoring& OtherAuxiliary Aids
Assignments for tutoring, note takers, readers and/or interpreters as indicated in the participant's accommodations letter, are made with Matthew McGee, Room 3511N, X8031. Each semester students complete a service contract with the AP Office to determine appropriate accommodation services for that given semester.

Definitions of Disability
To be considered a person with a disability, an individual must have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. Major life activities are functions including caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, breathing, learning, and working. An individual is considered a person with a disability if he or she has a record of such an impairment or is regarded as having impairment. With the passage of the ADA, this mandate from the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was expanded to include any public or private institution. Subpart E of the Rehabilitation Act requires an institution to be prepared to make reasonable academic adjustments and accommodations to allow students with disabilities full participation in the same programs and activities available to students without disabilities. The ADA further reinforces these statutes. With relation to a post secondary setting, a qualified person with a disability is one who meets the academic and technical standards required for admission or participation in the institution's educational programs or activities.

A person with a disability may have:

• a physical or psychological condition which substantially limits one of his/her major life activities (including walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working)
  
• a record of such impairment, or
• is regarded as having such impairment.
  

Disabilities include but may not be limited to
Learning Disability as Dyslexia (difficulty learning to read), Dyscalculia (difficulty learning mathematics), Dysnomia (word-finding problem), Dysgraphia (difficulty with handwriting), Dysphasia (developmental language disorders), Attention Deficit Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Perceptual Disabilities, Neurological impairment.

Medical Conditions as Asthma, Diabetes, Fibromyalgia, HIV-AIDS, Cancer, Cerebral Palsy, Epilepsy, Traumatic Brain Injury, Multiple Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophy, Lupus, Heart disease, Chrohn's disease, Sickle Cell Anemia, Epilepsy.

Psychological Conditions as anxiety disorder, attention deficit disorder, depression, mania, manic-depression, schizophrenia, recovery from alcoholism and substance abuse, obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing

Visually impaired, legally blind, and blind

Mobility impairment conditions as arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, polio, spinal cord injuries, scoliosis and other conditions which cause one to have mobility difficulties with or without assistive devices.

Temporary conditions as broken leg, sprained ankle, wrist injury or sprained back.