Looking west towards the Liz Ashton Campus Centre at Interurban campus

Register with CAL

If you have a disability diagnosis and are seeking academic accommodation and related services, the Centre for Accessible Learning is happy to meet you and here to help.

Step 1: Prepare Your Documentation

To register with CAL, you'll need to provide medical documentation of your diagnosis. Your medical docs are key in helping the CAL team make good decisions when developing an accommodation plan for you. 

Your medical docs (e.g., a letter or one of the forms below) should be prepared by a professional qualified to diagnose in the area of your disability, should be recent (typically completed within the past 3-5 years) and provide: 

  • the professional's name, title, phone number and address, official stamp or letterhead and signature/license number and date the medical was prepared
  • a statement of the nature of the disability including the DSM or ICD code and expected duration
  • an explanation of the functional impact(s) of the disability on your education
  • students with Specific Learning Disabilities should submit a Psycho-Educational Assessment completed by a registered psychologist, registered psychological associate or a certified school psychologist

* Diagnosis of a disability does not guarantee academic accommodations.

If you have a disability but don't have have current medical documentation we may be able to suggest avenues to obtain documentation. Our recommendation is to complete the online-pre intake below and CAL will reach out to you to schedule a consultation appointment with a CAL instructor to discuss.

* Students who are also wishing to apply for provincial post secondary disability grants can streamline the process of applying with the funder by requesting their medical assessor provide disability and functional impact information required by using one of these helpful downloadable forms (instead of a simple letter):

 

Step 2: Submit an Online Pre-Intake

Scan your medical documentation and save as PDF or .jpeg file(s) and be prepared to upload securely through the CAL online Pre-Intake web form which you can access using your Camosun student number and password.

  • We recommend students submit their pre-intake information to CAL 12 weeks before the start of their classes.
  • please note the pre-intake form can take some time to load on your web browser (i.e. 30 seconds) once you have entered your Camosun student login information or after that step, so please be patient
  • for those who cannot log into the pre-intake form with a Camosun student login, please contact our front desk to discuss options for providing the required information to CAL.

Once we have reviewed your pre-intake info, we will contact you by email to schedule a phone, virtual or in-person appointment or request more information.

*If you submit pre-intake information to CAL but are not yet accepted to study at Camosun or do not have course enrolment confirmed, CAL may pause the intake process and request you let us know closer to the time that you will begin classes.

Your supporting documentation is confidential and kept securely with the Centre for Accessible Learning.  It is used for the purpose of determining eligibility for academic accommodation.

Step 3: Attend an Intake Appointment

At the intake appointment, we will discuss academic accommodations designed to lower disability-related barriers to access in your course work and services you may be eligible for. Considerations of taking a reduced course load, funding options and other access-related educational issues may also be discussed.

Plan ahead

We recommend you contact us 12 weeks prior to the start of your classes.

Services requests take time to implement. You may require a visual language interpreter or real time transcriber. The sooner we connect, the smoother your transition to Camosun will be. Planning and scheduling sign language interpreting/or transcribing or visual access services take months to plan. Students requesting these need to connect with CAL as early as possible so arrangements can be made.

*In cases where adequate notice is not provided, CAL will make every reasonable effort to arrange the requested accommodations and related services, but we cannot guarantee their availability.

Accommodations

We work with students on a case-by-case basis to determine academic accommodations that fit their unique situation.  One student’s academic accommodations might be different from another’s and the relationship of those accommodations may intersect with essential learning outcomes in each course differently.

Academic accommodations decision making is a dynamic and consultative process guided by key concepts, key content and some limitations. 

Classroom accommodations examples:

  • digital audio recorder
  • peer note sharer
  • visual language interpreter or real time transcriber
  • use of a digital device to take notes
  • FM amplification system
  • accessible seating

Exam accommodations examples:

  • extra time to complete exams (i.e. 1.25x or 1.5x)
  • separate setting (shared or separate space as available)
  • breaks taken typically within the approved extra time
  • adaptive software (i.e. voice to text, text to speech, screen enlargement)
  • adaptive hardware (i.e. CCTV enlarger, refreshable braille display)
  • accessible seating
  • word processor with or without spell check
  • calculator where basic numeracy is not being assessed