How To Qualify For Services

Procedures Necessary to Become Eligible for Services

1. Please contact the DSS Office to learn what kind of diagnostic documentation you will need to submit in order to determine your eligibility for services, and what accommodations might be reasonably and appropriately provided given the effects of your disability.
2. Submit your documentation to DSS in MAT 206. If hand-delivering a letter from your doctor please ensure that it is properly sealed in an envelope addressed to the Disability Support Services Manager, Disability Support Services. If you are having it sent through the U.S. Postal Service, please use the following address:

   Lisa Tice
   Disability Support Services
   University of Washington Tacoma
   Campus Box 358403
   1900 Commerce Street
   Tacoma, WA 98402-3100

3. Make an appointment with the DSS office to discuss your eligibility for services. The Disability Support Services Manager, Lisa Tice may ask that you provide supplemental or different documentation of the diagnosis and current effects of your disability if that which was submitted is not sufficient.* Once eligibility for services is established, the DSS Manager will work with you to plan the provision of reasonable and appropriate accommodations. You will also learn how the various accommodations are coordinated and provided.

   *Inadequate Documentation--If the diagnostic report is incomplete or inadequate to determine the present extent of the disability or appropriate accommodations, the University may require supplemental assessment of the disability at the student's cost. If the diagnostic report is complete but the University requires a second opinion (which may include getting a second opinion regarding the diagnostic report or a re-evaluation of the disability) the University may select the licensed psychologist and shall bear the cost of the second assessment.

4. The Disability Support Services Manager, Lisa Tice will then write a memorandum on your behalf that is addressed to UWT Faculty and Department Chairs. This memo serves to verify to your professors that your disability is diagnostically documented with DSS and outlines the DSS-approved academic accommodations you will be receiving. Youare responsible for meeting with your professors, presenting them with your memo, and ensuring that they are aware of the DSS-approved accommodations you are requesting for each of their classes. Some courses may require accommodations not addressed in the memorandum. If this occurs, you can either come to a mutual arrangement with the professor about your accommodation(s), or return to DSS to further discuss your needs.
5. PLEASE NOTE: Students with disabilities can attempt to negotiate their own academic accommodations directly with their professors without involving DSS at all. It is important to understand, though, that any professor may require a student to go through the diagnostic documentation process with DSS in order to first verify eligibility before the professor agrees to respond to the student's request for a disability-related accommodation.
6. The Disability Support Services Manager will provide you with one copy of your memo for each class that you are taking during any given academic quarter (i.e., 2 classes/2 memos). Please be sure to contact the DSS Manager as soon as you have registered for classes so that your memo(s) can be given to you in a timely manner. When DSS-approved classroom accommodations are needed, you will benefit most if you arrange to meet privately with your professors as soon as possible before or shortly after the academic quarter begins. Introduce yourself, present each professor with a copy of your memo, and make certain that your professor is aware of the classroom accommodations you will be receiving.
7. PLEASE NOTE: When testing accommodations are needed, it is important that the student show the professor the gold Examination Accommodation Form that will be attached to the student's memo. It is the student's responsibility to ensure that the form has been properly filled out with the professor's assistance, and that it is returned to the DSS Office, either by the professor or by the student, soon after the quarter begins. If this doesn't occur, it is possible that scheduling of your exams with our office will not occur!
8. The student's accommodation memo is not set in stone. If your needs change, or if you would like to have something added or taken out regarding your disability or needed accommodations, please talk with the Disability Support Services Manager.

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Documentation Required to Become Eligible for Service

The University of Washington Tacoma does have policies for the type of testing and diagnostic evaluation required in order to diagnose a Learning Disability, Attention Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder and psychological disabilities. An Individual Educational Plan (IEP) is not acceptable documentation for the diagnosis of a disability. If you have questions about our documentation policies, please call the DSS Office. Please see our diagnostic documentation requirements page for further information regarding UWT's documentation policies.

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