A disability includes any long-term physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impact(s) which, in interaction with various attitudinal and environmental barriers, hinders a person’s equal and effective participation in one or more major life activities. 

It is your choice whether or not you disclose your disability to anyone. 

Generally, in order to receive accommodations, you must both disclose and provide documentation of your disability to the Office of Disability Services (ODS). Students who register with the Office of Disability Services have Rights and Responsibilities in relation to their accommodations.

A completed Release of Information (ROI) form allows ODS to share specified information with a designated entity, person, or persons. Although the ROI allows ODS to include other parties in accommodation conversations, the student is still expected to be present during these meetings. For more information and our ROI form, please visit our Home Page. 

Things to note:

• ODS records are confidential, we will not disclose any information without a current ROI
• ROIs stand for one year after signature date
• Note that records requests can take up to two weeks for processing
• Each department or area on campus may have their own unique Release of Information form

For academic and classroom requests, we have two options for documentation:

Option 1- provide disability documentation or a letter on official letterhead from your *Qualified Licensed Provider specializing in your disability area that clearly states the following:

• A specific diagnosis
• Functional Limitations in an academic setting
• Suggested recommendations for accommodations in an academic setting to minimize the functional limitations

Option 2- Bring the form below to your *Qualified Licensed Professional to complete (make sure you give them your V-number):

• Disability Verification Form

Documentation may be uploaded to the application, faxed, mailed, or submitted in person during office hours.

*A Qualified Licensed Professional must have expertise in the disability diagnosis and follow established best practices in the field.

For more information about applying for accommodations, please visit our Apply page. 

Yes, IEPs and 504 Plans often meet our documentation requirements. If we need more information, we will reach out.

We encourage you to apply for and/or implement accommodations before you begin the term since accommodations are not retroactive. Once you are approved for accommodations, you will log into our system (AIM) to request accommodations for your individual classes. Once submitted, ODS will send your instructors a Faculty Notification Letter (FNL) outlining your requested accommodations. The FNL is generated within one business day of your request in AIM and begins your accommodations for that term.

Note that some accommodations require additional steps to implement. Please contact our office with any questions.

For information about accommodations such as Emotional Support Animals in University Housing, please visit our University Housing Accommodations page.

In accordance with state and federal law, documentation regarding your disability is kept in a separate, confidential database (AIM) and is only accessible by the Office of Disability Services (ODS) staff members. Services with ODS are not a part of your academic record.

The Office of Disability Services (ODS) needs sufficient information in order to determine eligibility and effective accommodations for each student. 

We may use non-identifying information about your disability to gather statistical information for planning and allocation of resources.

To request to add or alter your currently approved accommodations, follow these steps: 

• Log in to your AIM profile
• On the right side, under the “Home” tab, click on “Submit Additional Documentation” (Documentation may not be needed, ODS will review your request and let you know the next steps.) 
• Fill in this form as if it was asking about submitting a request for additional accommodation.  
• Submit the form
• The system will give you the opportunity to upload additional documentation at this time, if you do not have documentation to submit, you can disregard this step

To modify an existing request for the term, follow these steps: 

• Log in to your AIM profile
• Scroll down to locate the course in which you’d like to add/modify your accommodation(s)
• Click “Modify Request”
• On the next page, select or deselect the accommodations you’d like to add or remove
• Select “Update Request” to notify ODS of the change(s)

No, you only need to apply with our office once. Your approved accommodations are available to you throughout your time at WOU. 

However, each term you need to select accommodations for your individual classes by logging into our system (AIM) and following the prompts.

If you have already requested your alternative testing accommodations but are still unable to schedule an exam, this is most likely because your instructor has not submitted an alternative testing agreement. If you feel comfortable reaching out to your instructor to remind them to fill this out, feel free to do so. Otherwise, contact ODS. 

If you are ready to schedule an exam and the instructor has a testing agreement on file, please find a PDF of the ODS exam scheduling process here.

The Office of Disability Services can provide disability management coaching appointments upon request. If you are looking for subject specific tutoring, explore WOU’s Tutoring Services. Additionally, Student Success and Advising provides study skills tutoring and Peer Academic Coaching.