Procedures

Registration

Registering with the OSN is a voluntary and a confidential process. The process is initiated by the student by contacting the OSN office and setting up an appointment. During the appointment the student will fill the Registration and submit the required documents.



Academic Accommodations

Students requesting academic accommodations must first register with OSN, participate in a pre-qualification interview, and submit all required documents. OSN will then go through a predefined process to determine required accommodations. Students must follow the process for initiating and maintaining accommodations:

  1. Sign acceptance of service form
  2. Submit a class schedule with course name and instructor name clearly identified each semester
  3. OSN will notify the instructors of approved accommodations
    Students communicate with all concerned instructors at least two weeks prior to implementing the accommodation in order to make arrangements for the accommodation.


Arrangements for Implementation

The course instructor is responsible for providing the academic accommodations in exam situations as this will give the instructor the opportunity to maintain academic control over the academic evaluation process. Specific arrangements can be made by the instructor or academic administrator. The student must communicate the testing needs to the instructor two weeks prior to implementation to ensure a smooth process. Instructor have the right to deny accommodation if it is not communicated to them two weeks prior to the exam date. The
two weeks are required so that instructor can make arrangements for venue to allow time-extended exam or reduced distraction environment.


Accommodations that don’t deal with exam and quiz taking are arranged by OSN staff. Note takers is one accommodation that requires the collaboration between the student and OSN. The best solution is for the student to recommend a student within each course to perform the note taking service. Electronic text is a service that OSN currently does not provide but will be providing in the near future. When the service is available, it is the students responsibility to purchase the textbook and all other material and deliver it to OSN. OSN will email the student when the material is ready to be picked up.

Required Documentation

Appropriate accommodations are based on proper clinical documentation that is complete and timely. Student’s requesting accommodation must register with OSN and submit documentation prepared by a qualified professional evaluator that substantiates and identifies the disability, states the functional limitations, and demonstrates the need for accommodation. The evaluator conducting the assessment must have extensive training and relevant experience with adolescent and adults. The name, title, contact information of the evaluator as well as credentials must be clearly stated on submitted documents.
There are different kinds of disabilities that require accommodation, below are an example of some disabilities and the required documentations:

ADHD Documentation requirement

A comprehensive evaluation, including a diagnostic interview, assessment of aptitude using an adult-normed test, and measurement of academic achievement and information processing. The psycho-educational evaluation must provide clear and specific evidence that the learning disability or ADHD does or does not exist and must be substantiated by a collection of tests. Document must include a description of the current functional limitations of the disability in an educational setting. Each accommodation recommended by the professional evaluator must be supported by a clear explanation of how such an accommodation will effectively compensate for the specific deficit resulting from the disability.
The evaluation document must include a specific diagnosis derived from the analysis of quantitative data, exhibited symptomology, and historical evidence. If the conclusion does not indicate that a learning disability or ADHD exists, then that must be clearly stated. The evaluation test must not be older than three years.
OSN independently analyzes the data gathered by the psycho-educational testing to determine the necessary accommodations. Recommendation for accommodation made by the evaluator will be seriously considered but is not binding to OSN. OSN has the right to use an external consultant to review the documentation.