NOW AVAILABLE – ONLINE!!!

Instead of publishing this valuable new resource book in hard copy form, it is available to be downloaded from a secure website and shared out to appropriate parties within your institution as individuals chapters -- which is exactly how it is meant to be used!

Disability service providers in private colleges/universities are not the target audience for this book, but this book was written ESPECIALLY for you. The book was written to provide concrete information, presented in a comfortable, conversational style, for the disability service provider to share with colleagues in various student services/student affairs areas within the institution. It was meant to open a dialogue between disability services and the student services personnel you work with -- and rely on - every day, to make sure that the institution is meeting its mandate for equal access to programs and opportunities. The book contains nine "chapters":

Introduction
Admissions
Athletics
Career Services
Financial Aid
Libraries
Residence Life
Student Life/Student Activities
Special Topics -- Academic Advising, Technology

Each chapter is meant to be a "stand alone" offering. There is repeated information regarding Title III of the ADA and Section 504, in laymen's terms, in the context relevant to the topic (e.g., there are very different examples given for "reasonable accommodation" when discussing Admissions than in discussing Residence Life). The idea is that YOU (as the disability service provider), download a copy of the entire text, then you either print or forward the section that pertains to each individual area (and only that section) to your colleagues. Then you can suggest that after they've had a chance to look through it, you should get together and chat, so that you can answer any questions, make plans, and so on. (HINT: Serve cookies. It works every time!) The text encourages one-on-one conversations with the people who are key to getting you what you (and you students with disabilities) need.

The "Special Topics" were separated out for a reason. This book was re-written (it was originally published in 1997) with small, private independent colleges and universities in mind. The original text spoke about Academic Advising and Counseling in the context of large institutions that have academic advising offices ("Arts and Sciences Advising") or, at the very least, one or two people who do all the academic advising for all students in a given major. However, at smaller institutions, Academic Advising is more likely to be a much more personal and individual activity, conducted by LOTS of faculty, spread throughout the majors/departments. Rather than the student affairs/student services orientation, these folks are teaching faculty first and foremost, and advisors as a secondary part of that role. The section on Advising was written with that (and that audience) in mind.

It is important that you understand that this book is not about the DSS part of Admissions, Residential Life, etc. It is about the part that others do in their every day activities that brings them in contact with students with disabilities. There is no policy for service/companion animals in these pages -- that is something that YOU should be developing as the designated disability services person. There is, however, extensive discussion of the issue of service/companion animals and the concerns they raise in the residence hall. You won't find information about the management of confidentiality of records within your office, but there is significant discussion about the confidential nature of disability-related information for the folks in Admissions and Financial Aid. That is why, when it came to Technology, I started out to write much more, and then realized that for the intended audience, less WAS more. The nondisability student service personnel on your campus really do not need to understand the difference between JAWS and Window Eyes, or between CART and Typewell. They only need to know and understand that the availability of technology is making a difference in the extent to which students with disabilities can be fully functional on campus, providing they do their part to be available to those USING adaptive technology. Then they are referred back to you, the disability service provider.

THE COST FOR THIS RESOURCE IS $125.00 (NOTE: there are no shipping or processing fees). That comes out to less than $15 per area "bridged," with unlimited ability to share the info with as many folks as you choose (as opposed to a single print book that has to be passed around or -- illegally! -- photocopied). What's more, you can have it almost immediately upon receipt of payment. You will be sent a url and a user name/password in return that will take you directly to the site where the copy will be waiting for you.

A SPECIAL NOTE TO DSS PROVIDERS AT PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS: This book really is NOT meant for you. The examples used throughout are of the situations and circumstances that arise at smaller, private institutions.