Disability Support Services

Interpreter Services provides high quality, consistent Sign Language interpreting services to all students, staff and faculty, as well as to members of the community who access MCC programs and services. Sign Language Interpreter Services are offered for classes, meetings, tutoring sessions, field trips and other activities.

Sign Language interpreters at MCC are trained professionals licensed by the state of Nebraska through the Nebraska Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Services do not include foreign language interpreting.

Interpreters serve both hearing and deaf individuals and:

• Are trained in American Sign Language, deaf culture and interpreting from one language to another.
• Use Sign Language to express what is spoken and verbalize what the deaf person signs while conveying the intent and feeling of the speaker or signer.
• Abide by the NAD-RID Code of Professional Conduct (CPC), which was jointly developed by the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID).

For more information about the interpreter’s role and the field of Sign Language interpreting, see the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf website.

MCC Coordinator of Interpreter Services:

Judy Gouldsmith, M.A., CI and CT
Coordinator of Interpreter Services
jgouldsmith@mccneb.edu
Office: 531-622-2854

On higher education campuses, it is the student’s responsibility to initiate contact with Disability Support Services to determine eligibility for services. Student requests for accommodation(s) are considered on an individual, case-by-case basis and may be reviewed on a class-by-class basis.

Accommodations are not retroactive, so it is important to set up services as early as possible to secure all necessary accommodations. Requests for accommodation and/or academic adjustments that result in a fundamental alteration of the course or academic program are not reasonable and will not be provided.

Reasonable accommodations depend upon the nature and degree of severity of the documented disability. While the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 requires that priority consideration be given to the specific methods requested by the student, it does not imply that a particular accommodation must be granted if it is deemed not reasonable and other suitable techniques are available.

To request accommodations:

Step 1: Contact Disability Support Services (DSS) by:

• Submitting a Disability Support Services Intake Appointment Request Form; or
• Calling a DSS Counselor to gather more general information, or
• Visiting Student Services at your location to speak with a DSS counselor

Step 2: Submit supporting documentation of disability

• Documentation should be comprehensive, written within a reasonable timeframe relative to the disability, and signed by your non-familial, treating, qualifying professional. Incomplete information may slow or delay the accommodation approval process.
• A DSS Counselor will review documentation provided for history of accommodation use.

Step 3: Participate in an interactive interview with the DSS counselor to determine reasonable accommodations

Step 4: A DSS Counselor will email a Notification of Academic Accommodation letter for each quarter you are registered

• For credit students: letters will be emailed to all your faculty, and you will receive a copy
• For non-credit students: students will receive a copy of their accommodation letters to provide to non-credit faculty and staff

Step 5: Student and Faculty discuss Academic Accommodations during first week of class

The identification and disclosure of any disability is considered confidential. The information is released to other MCC employees, on a need-to-know basis, through the “Consent Form/Release of Information” signed by the student. There are limits to the confidentiality of student records as outlined in the College’s “Procedures under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act” document. (Procedures Memorandum V-1).

Disability Support Services requires documentation of a disability to support the need for specific accommodations and to assist in the determination of individual needs. Students are expected to provide current documentation of their disability.

When submitting documentation, the following elements are requested universally:

1. A dated, typewritten narrative in English and on letterhead with the signature of the licensed treating qualified care provider. Documentation typically takes the form of a letter and must reflect the current impact of the student’s impairment.
2. Documentation may include an IEP, MDT, 504 Plan.
3. Identify current impairment(s) and history of diagnosis.
4. Describe how the impairment substantially limits one or more major life activities (walking, learning, seeing, concentrating, etc.) and current treatment plan (if relevant to accommodation planning).
5. Recommendations or strategies that will mitigate the impact of described limitations.

Any cost incurred in obtaining additional documentation when the original records are inadequate is the responsibility of the student. When complete documentation is not available, DSS counselors may use student self-reports and exercise professional judgment to determine a student’s eligibility for services and assign provisional accommodations.

Three important pieces of legislation related to the provision of academic accommodations, adjustments and services for students with disabilities in university settings are:

• Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
• The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
• The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADAAA) Amendments Act of 2008

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, 1973 states: No otherwise qualified person with a disability in the United States…shall, solely on the basis of a disability, be denied access to, or the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity provided by any institution receiving federal financial assistance.

The ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) of 2008 clarified the definition of “disability” for purposes of the ADA. A person is considered to have a disability if the person:

• Has a physical or mental impairment, which substantially limits one or more major life activities. Major life activities include, but are not limited to self-care, manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning and working.
• Has a record of a substantially limiting condition.
• Is regarded as substantially limited.

Taken together, Section 504 and the ADA (and ADAAA) require institutions of higher education to provide equal access to educational opportunities to otherwise qualified persons with disabilities. At the postsecondary educational level, a qualified student with a disability is a student with a disability who meets the academic and technical standards required for participation in the class, program, or activity. The standards for a student with a disability are the same as those for all students entering the program. However, a student with a disability may request and receive reasonable accommodations to demonstrate that they meet those standards.