Accommodations and Services

The Americans for Disability Act (ADA) defines disability as:

• A physical or mentsl impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities;
• A person who has a history or record of such an impairment;
• A person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment.

Individuals who fall into the first two categories may be eligible for accommodations if they are experiencing barriers because of the interaction between their disability and an inaccessble aspect of their life at FIT. Reasonable accommodations are determine on case by case based on the student's needs and how their specific disability is impacting them.

Disabilities may fall into one or more of the following categories:

• ADD/ADHD
• Alcohol/Substance Addition & Recovery
• Austim Spectrum Disorder
• Basic & Complex Chronic Health Conditions
• Blind & Low Vision
• Communciation/Speech
• Deaf & Hard of Hearing
• Learning
• Mental Health
• Mobility
• Motor
• Orthopedic
• Pregnancy or pregnancy related conditions.
  Pregnancy and pregnancy related conditions are covered for accommodation when needed under Title IX regulation. Our office works in conjunction with the FIT Title IX Coordinator on any requests we receive related to pregnancy. 
• Temporary (examples: injuries or surgury recovery)

SUNY Compliance: Pregnancy Discrimination and Accommodations

The categorization used is based on the NYSED official definitions for accommodations (Source: NYS Education Department)

• Accommodations are academic, housing and dining accommodations that allow a student with a disability to have an equal opportunity to meet an academic standard or requirement.
• Accommodations do not reduce established course stanrds or learning objectives.
• Accommodations do not lessen the expectations required of a college student to fulfill general academic responsibilities.

• While FIT's goal is to be accessible, accommodations may still be needed to ensure students with disabilities have equitable access to their education.
• An accommodation should creat access by removing or modifying a barrier present in the enviroment (physical space, policy, written/auditory/digital information) that peers do not experience.
• The goal is to adjust academic tasks without fundamentally altering the tasks themselves or the academic rigor required. For example, a student may need additional time to take an exam, rather than reducing the number of questiosn or the difficulty of the exam itself.
• Accommodations are not meant to ensure academic success, provide comfort, or reduce discomfort; but to ensure that students with disabilities are not disadvantaged in their education simply because of their disability.

• Determinations of reasonable accommodations are made in the FIT-ABLE office, taking in consideration each individual student's level of functioning, the disability documentation, and the pedagogy. 
• Collaborative efforts are made with the instructors, academic departments, dining services, residential life, or other related offices as needed in determining academic adjustments and/or accommodations. Diagnostic information is not shared. Accommodations and student needs are only shared if needed to provide access. 
• It is important to keep in mind that while an accommodation may be recommended in documentation or provided by a previous school, there is no guarentee it will be provided at FIT. Reasonable accommodations do not include fundatmental changes to the curriculum.