Eligibility and Documentation

Determination of Eligibility and Documentation

Eligibility for services will be determined by one of the following means:

1. assessment by appropriate DSPS professional staff;
2. review of documentation provided by appropriate agencies, or certified or licensed professional, outside of DSPS;
3. and, in some instances, observation by DSPS professional staff with review by the DSPS coordinator.

DSPS professional staff, with review by the DSPS coordinator, may verify a student's disability based on documentation provided by an appropriate agency or certified professional capable of diagnosing the disability in question or documentation from agencies participating in interagency agreements with the state Chancellor's Office. The Verification of Disability form is available to download from this site as a PDF file (or they are also in the DSP&S Office) and are to be completed by an appropriate professional capable of diagnosing the disability.

Student with a Disability

A student with a disability or "disabled student" is a person enrolled at a community college who has verified impairment, which limits one or more major life activities and which imposes an educational limitation. Note: This and the following definitions have been taken in whole or in part from Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations.

Disabilities Defined

Visual Impairment

Visual impairment includes blindness or partial sightedness to the degree that it impedes the educational process.

Mobility Impairment

Mobility impairment includes, but is not limited to mobility impairments caused by congenital anomaly, impairments caused by disease, and impairments from other causes such as cerebral palsy, amputation, etc.

Communication Disability

Communication disability is defined as an impairment in the processes of speech, language or hearing.

1. Hearing impairment means a total or partial loss of hearing function, which impedes the communication process essential to language, educational, social and/or cultural interactions.
2. Speech and language impairments mean one or more speech/language disorders of voice, articulation, rhythm and/or the receptive and expressive processes of language.

Learning Disability

Learning disability is defined as a persistent condition of presumed neurological dysfunction, which may exist with other disabling conditions. This dysfunction continues despite instruction in standard classroom situations. To be categorized as learning disabled a student must exhibit:

1. average to above-average intellectual ability;
2. severe processing deficits;
3. severe aptitude-achievement discrepancy; and
4. measured achievement in an instructional or employment setting.

Learning Disability Evaluations

The DSPS department provides learning disabilities assessments. Sometimes students are referred by instructors or counselors who suspect that the student may have a learning disability and sometimes the student requests that he or she be tested because of lifelong learning difficulties. Students may schedule an appointment with a Learning Disabilities, Learning Disability Specialist to discuss the particular difficulties he or she is experiencing, and the specialist will determine if the student should be assessed. (The learning disabilities assessment takes from 4 to 6 hours, 2 or 3 appointments, each are two hours long) and consists of ability and achievement measures and a review of the student's history. The Learning Disabilities Specialist will review the results with the student after determining if the student meets the California Community College's criteria for learning disabilities. If the student meets the learning disabilities criteria, the Learning Disabilities Specialist will discuss which support services are appropriate, based on the assessment results.

Acquired Brain Impairment

Acquired brain impairment means a verified deficit in brain functioning, which results in a total or partial loss of cognitive, communicative, motor, psychosocial, and/or sensory-perceptual abilities.

Developmentally Delayed Learner

Developmentally Delayed Learner is defined as learning deficits resulting from below average intellectual functioning that adversely affects educational performance, existing concurrently with measurable potential for achievement in educational environments.

Psychological Disability

Psychological disability is defined as a persistent psychological or psychiatric disorder, emotional or mental illness that adversely affects educational performance. Psychological disability is a condition which:

1. Is listed in the most current American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, DSM, and is coded on Axis I or II as moderate to severe;
2. Reflects a psychiatric or psychological condition that interferes with a major life activity; and
3. Poses a functional limitation in the educational setting.

Other Disabilities

This category includes all other verifiable disabilities and health related limitations that adversely affect education performance but do not fall into any of the other disability categories and for whom there is indication of a need for support services or instruction pursuant to Sections 56026 and 56028 of Title V Regulations.