Why do students with disabilities make test accommodation requests in the middle of a semester?
A7. Legally, there is no obligation for a student to identify his or her disability at any particular time. Keep in mind that talking about a disability may be uncomfortable for the student. Also, some students use accommodations only after they discover that they are having problems. Nevertheless, Disability Services encourages each student to self-identify and make his or her needs known at the beginning of each semester. However, students who identify in the middle of the semester must do so far enough in advance of the exam to allow faculty or Disability Services to arrange for the accommodation(s). Students are told that accommodations are never retroactive no matter when they self-identify.
