Notification and Assessment Requirements—Students requesting accommodations for special needs must notify the school of their needs. In order for the school to make appropriate accommodations, students must provide current (less than one year old) assessments identifying their needs. The assessment is to be accompanied with recommendations for accommodations that are made by the agency performing the assessment. Such assessments are at the expense of the student.

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990—If you have special needs as addressed by the ADA, please discuss them with Mark Sponaugle, Career and Adult Accommodations Coordinator, at the Carthage Technical Center. You may reach Mr. Sponaugle at (417)359-7095. Reasonable efforts will be made to accommodate your special needs.

Permanent Disability Guidelines—Notification of Disability—Post-secondary students must submit notifications of disability at least six (6) weeks prior to the beginning of classes (or dates the accommodations will be requested) in the academic year the post-secondary student wishes to attend. This will allow time to make all necessary arrangements prior to the initial class meeting.  Documentation should be mailed to: Mark Sponaugle, Career and Adult Accommodations Coordinator, 609 S. River Street, Carthage, MO 64836 or faxed to 417-359-7419. This request will be kept in the post-secondary student file.

Learning Disabilities (LD)—Post-secondary students must provide supporting diagnostic test results from a licensed psychologist or certified specialist in learning disabilities. This evaluation must detail the specific learning disability or disabilities. All needed accommodations should be detailed. It should include all tests performed and all scores obtained. This evaluation will help in determining what accommodations are appropriate and other ways we can support you. This information should be as current as possible, but not more than three years old. Carthage Technical Center will evaluate, but may reject, documentation over three years old. At a minimum, the evaluation should indicate the evaluator’s name, title, address, and credentials. It should be typed, dated, legible, and signed by the professional. It should include information about the professional’s license or certification, area of specialization, employment, and state or province in which the individual practices.  This information should be clearly stated in the documentation. All reports should be on letterhead, typed, dated, signed, and otherwise legible.

Post-secondary students who have received LD services in high school will find helpful information regarding their rights, responsibilities, and transition from high school to university from the Missouri Association for Higher Education and Disabilities (MO-AHEAD). The following website: http://www.moahead.org/ will direct the post-secondary student to this resource. Once on this webpage, click the link for “The Guidebook”. There, you can find a link to the Table of Contents to help you find more information.  IEP documents are not acceptable documentation for requests for accommodations.

Physical Disabilities—Post-secondary students must provide documentation from a physician that specifies the nature of the disability or disabilities. The documentation should include prescriptive information from a qualified specialist as to the exact nature of all accommodations necessary to meet the needs of the post-secondary student. This information should be as current as possible.  Carthage Technical Center reserves the right to request updated verification of disability and necessary accommodations.

Psychiatric Disabilities—Post-secondary students should provide documentation from a licensed professional qualified to diagnose and treat psychological disorders. The documentation should include a diagnosis, the date of diagnosis, the date of doctor’s last contact with the post-secondary student, a summary of the present symptoms, and the prognosis. Documentation should describe how the psychiatric condition functionally interferes with or impacts the post-secondary student’s ability to participate in an educational setting and should give suggestions of academic accommodations that may be appropriate in an educational setting. 

Auxiliary Aids—Appropriate aids will be selected only after consultation with the post-secondary student who will use them.

Temporary Disability Guidelines—In the case of temporary disabilities, every effort will be made to provide reasonable accommodation for the duration of any disability.  To insure prompt and appropriate action, the Career and Adult Accommodations Coordinator, Mark Sponaugle, should be notified immediately of the arrangements believed to be necessary to accommodate a given temporary disability.

The steps you should take to request accommodations:

1. Contact Mark Sponaugle, Career and Adult Accommodations Coordinator. Please introduce yourself and advise him of what services you need. Let him know who will be sending your documentation and when he can expect it. In some cases, it may take up to six weeks for us to provide some types of accommodations, so please contact us as soon as possible.  
2. Have your documentation of your disability sent from your doctor, psychologist, or other medical professional who provides your care for your disability. If you have received accommodations at another school within the last three years, you may have the disability office there send your documentation. If you are served by Vocational Rehabilitation, your caseworker there may be able to send your documentation.  Contact information if shown below.  This information must be current and must be from appropriate professionals.

In order for us to serve your needs best, please be sure your documentation includes the following:

1. A diagnosis of the disability
2. A summary of how the disability will affect your performance in an academic setting, including effects of medication that may impact your performance, including the clinical setting.
3. A description of the accommodations needed to help you be successful in college work.

Please remember that your disability information is CONFIDENTIAL. We will inform the appropriate faculty or campus personnel of the accommodations you require, but we do not disclose the nature of your disability. In some cases, you may find that sharing this information with your instructors may help them understand you better, but that choice is up to you. Once the Vocational Resource Educator receives the documentation, the post-secondary student will be provided a written response to their request within one week, including determination as to whether the requested accommodations are appropriate, or to request further information, if needed.