Students with disabilities face barriers not experienced by their peers. Accommodations are the alterations or modifications that allow students with a documented disability to have equal access to college programs and activities. Accommodations do not change the nature or content of a course but create a “level playing field.” In order to receive academic accommodations students must have proper and up-to-date documentation on file at the Registry for Students with Disabilities.

Please be aware that individual education plans (IEPs) and 504 plans do NOT carry over from high school to college.  Neither an IEP nor a 504 is sufficient documentation of a disability. Proper documentation must include assessments from qualified and appropriate evaluators such as educational psychologists, psychiatrists, therapists, or physicians.

All qualifying documentation must be current and must include a diagnosis, the functional limitations of the student, and a rationale for each requested accommodation. This documentation is confidential and kept on file at the Registry for Students with Disabilities.

At the beginning of each semester students must check in with the Office of Academic Support to review the documentation and discuss accommodations.

Accommodations may include extended time for exams, assistance with note taking, permission to tape lectures, textbooks in alternative format, sign language interpreters and spelling aids.  Other accommodations are available based on the specific disability.

For further information, please contact Ms. LaDonna Bridges at 508-626-4906 or lbridges@frc.mass.edu
                                                                USEFUL LINKS
Registration Form
Documentation Guidelines for Attention Deficit Disorder
Documentation Guidelines for Learning Disabilities
Documentation Guidelines for Psychiatric Disabilities