IUPUI

Adaptive Educational Services

Become an AES Client

The following is a brief list of some of the accommodations that AES may be able to provide for students with a documented disability:

• Coordinate with IUPUI faculty members to meet special needs while maintaining high academic standards.
• Coordinate classroom requirements with special needs of students, like testing in a quiet distraction-free environment, for example.
• Assist in obtaining access to alternative forms of technology.
• Getting assistance of a sign language interpreter.
• Provide access to a Brailler and screen-reading technology.
• Provide access to computers specially designed for dexterity or visually impaired students as well as computer programs to increase typing speed or that utilize a speech synthesizer.
• Provide a CCTV and digitized text for visually impaired readers and students with learning disabilities.

Document QuickLinks

1. Registration Infrormation
2. Intake Interview
3. Definitions & Documentation
4. What is a Disability?
5. What Type Of Documentation Does AES Require?
6. AES Limitations & Restrictions

Registration Infrormation

Even if you don’t think you will need assistance during the semester, it's important that you register with our office as soon as your first semester begins.

Registering with AES provides the following:

1. Ensures that if difficulties arise in the future, you can benefit quickly from services or accommodations.
2. It also provides a record of your disability if it is questioned by a professor or school.
3. It also may be important if you would like to receive certain accommodations when taking standardized exams, such as the GRE, MCAT, PRAXIS, etc.

Intake Interview

If you think you may benefit from working with our office, the place to start is with the Intake Interview. During this interview, you’ll sit down with an AES representative and discuss your specific academic needs and how AES can help. The interview allows you an opportunity to discuss your disability and how it impacts your education.

In order for our office to recommend, plan, and provide good worthwhile services, we need to understand the unique challenges for a student with a disability. To be honest, just because two people share the same disability diagnosis (for example ADHD) doesn't mean having MORE time to finish an exam is the best recommendation. Each student, or client, is treated individually, and their own individual strengths or academic concerns are taken into account.

The Intake Interview is a chance for you to talk about the things you're good at and the things you're not so good at (like taking notes or writing papers). You'll meet with an experienced AES representative, who's qualified and educated in helping you identify accommodations that may help. In addition, the Intake Interview is a time to learn that you're definitely not alone in your experience. At IUPUI, there are hundreds of students who register and receive accommodations through our AES. And that's just in one semester!

Your Intake Inteview lets AES gather important information about you and your academic needs. To help speed things along, you can download our AES Intake Form, fill it out, and bring it with you to your appointment.

Definitions & Documentation

What is a Disability?

An individual with a disability is legally defined as "any person who has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more of such person's major life activities, and has a record of such an impairment" (Rehabilitation Act Amendment of 1974).

If you think about major life activities, a couple things should come to mind, especially when you consider college: the major life activities of learning and working.

Adaptive Educational Services deals with the major life activity of learning. And there are many types of limitations that can prevent or hinder us in learning, such as:

• Physical Disorders: auditory, visual, orthopedic, or systemic-neurological impairments.
• Learning Disabilities: dyslexia, ADD/ADHD, disorder of written expression, dysgraphia, autism spectrum disorder, etc.
  • Read More About Learning Disabilities
  • Read More About ADD/ADHD
• Emotional Disabilities: affective disorders, thought disorders, behavioral reactions, etc.

Many of these limitations may sound confusing. And just because you have a limitation doesn't mean that you automatically qualify to receive assistance. It's really an issue of "how much does the limitation impact your life."

If you think that you have such a limitation or disability, please talk to your doctor or stop by AES. We will be pleased to answer any of your questions and/or suggest possible referrals as appropriate.

One referral we may make is to Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) on the IUPUI Campus. If you suspect a learning disorder, or maybe even some other issue that limits your ability to learn, please contact Counseling & Psychological Services.

What Type Of Documentation Does AES Require?

Providing documentation to our office performs two important functions:

• It guides our office in coordinating appropriate services for you
• If difficulties occur during your academic pursuits, documentation protects you by providing our office with important information.

Documentation can come from a variety of sources and knowing what good documentation is can oftentimes be confusing. Most importantly, your documentation should be specific to your disability, should be current, and above all should be on letterhead or printed on official documents. Note: Prescription pads do not constitute official letterhead. Of course, not all disabilities are evaluated every few years, but it is important that you provide AES with the most current information possible.

Documentation provided to AES is considered confidential and will not be shared with the faculty, staff, or administration of IUPUI.

AES regards private information and confidential documents of a student to be personal property, governed under FERPA legislation. AES will not release private information without the prior written consent of the student.

Sources of good documentation

Your documentation should include:

• Diagnosis of the disability from:
  • Psychological or neuropsychological evaluations
  • Educational testing Note: The IEP (Individualized Education Plan) cannot be considered as the only source for a student's documentation.
  • Physical and/or medical examination
  • Vocational assessment
• Functional and/or Cognitive Limitations - Your documentation may include statements about mobility impairments, memory problems, information processing difficulties, etc.
• History Of Services Or Accommodations Utilized At Other Schools
• Recommendations from Health Care Providers, Qualified Evaluators, or 3rd Party Organizations:
  • Ideally, good documentation may include specific recommendations from health providers or evaluators about accommodations they feel will help you as a student.
  • Qualified Evaluators can include licensed psychologists, LCSW’s, certified specialists, for example.
  • 3rd parties may include Vocational Rehabilitation, Veteran’s Administrations, or other accepted agencies.

Providing Documentation

Documentation can be provided to our office in two ways:

• You may come to the AES office and sign a release of information form which we will send to the person or organization who handles your documentation
• You may bring in original or certified copies of your documentation and we will make copies as necessary

Use the links on this page to learn more about AES and how students with disabilities may be able to benefit from our assistance. But, if you still have questions after looking through our website, feel free to contact us.

AES Limitations & Restrictions

Although we can provide a variety of helpful services for students with documented disabilities, there is a limit, unfortunately, to what we can provide.

Basically, anything that can be considered a "personal service" is outside of our range of help. Although we can problem-solve with you, brainstorm with you, and refer you to appropriate resources, we can't offer assistance in certain areas, such as:

• Full-time attendant care on campus
• Transcription, typing, or writing services...except for quizzes and exams - There are other resources on campus for using this type of assistance and we will work with you to help you find those resources
• Private tutoring - A wide range of tutoring and mentoring services is available for all students at the Bepko Learning Center.
• Reminder, wake-up, or scheduling services
• Discussing student issues with others, except with written student consent - Recent legislation like the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) prevents us from discussing student issues with others (e.g. parents, employers, physicians, etc)

We don't formally offer the following services. But when available and appropriate, we can help with the following issues:

• Communication skills (particularly with college faculty)
• Academic consulting
• Career consulting and referral
• Crisis counseling and referral
• Helping you identify area resources that can help

Throughout the AES website you'll find services and accommodations that we provide. However, if you have a question about something we do, or do not provide, please contact us.