How can CEA help me with my education at NIC ? Who should contact CEA?
Students who want to request accommodations and who were in special education in high school, who have counselors helping them with significant anxiety or depression, or are under the care of a doctor, psychologist or psychiatrist and have a diagnosis of a health or mental health issue should review this website and request accommodations if they believe they are at a disadvantage in learning or testing without an accommodation being made. In addition, students who are Blind or Deaf or who need Support Staff Services (such as interpreters or real time captioning) may also request those services in CEA.
Does CEA/NIC have anyone who can test me for a Learning Disability?
CEA/NIC does not provide this type of assessment for students. Insurance may cover the costs for an evaluation for a learning disability by a psychologist in the area. Vocational Rehabilitation may be able to help with funding for this purpose as well. Obtaining and submitting documentation to CEA is the responsibility of the student.
What is an accommodation?
Accommodations are made based on supportive documentation (unless the disability is obvious) and are meant to mitigate barriers created by the disability in the areas of physical access and learning or in demonstrating knowledge/competency. Some examples are extended time for tests, audio material, lecture capture, real time captioning, scribes and much more depending on the barrier.
What is a disability?
A disability is a disorder which can be medical, neurological, physical, emotional, or any condition that lasts longer than six months and creates a “barrier” to learning.
What is a barrier?
A barrier is something that keeps you from learning information effectively OR demonstrating that you know the information effectively.
What is the Americans with Disabilities Act?
It is a law that protects individuals from discrimination based on a disability. (see Links & Resources)
What is an intake?
An intake is the process of requesting accommodations.
What is an accommodation?
An accommodation is anything that you need to have done differently in order that a disabled student can have equal access to education. For example, a longer time to take a test or a audio book. (Please see accommodations link)
What is documentation?
Documentation is required when requesting an accommodation and must be submitted to CEA. Medical doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, and audiologists are some examples of professionals who write letters for students verfifying a diagnosis,the chronic nature of the issue and how it affects the student in order to establish the reason for the accommodation. For more information please click on Eligibility and Documentation on the left side of this webpage.
How do I get documentation?
Go to your doctor, psychiatrist, psychologist, counselor, audiologist, or relevant professional and talk with them about your need for accommodation at NIC and how your disorder is affecting your success. Ask them to write a short letter describing the kinds of tests used to determine what the difficulty is and how it effects you, and what kinds of accommodations would be effective given your issues, and then bring it to CEA for review. If you need more information please contact us at 665-4520 and we will be glad to provide more information for you, assist you to get the information from your professional, or make an appointment so we can talk with you in person. (see link for Eligibility and Documentation)