Student Life
The Accessibility Services Centre is a key resource to arranging accessibility in educational experience. However, there are many other services to support your educational journey. Be sure to check out other student services offered in the institution. You will find more information on other services in Module 7, Community and Support Network. For now, some notable ones are:
- Learning Commons – typically found in libraries or academic buildings. There are many resources available to support your studies, such as 1:1 tutoring, writer’s workshop, stress management, research/internship info sessions, and so on. Check your institution’s website for more information.
- Counselling Office – this is a great resource for additional supports such as academic advising, career planning, personal or crisis counselling,student success workshops and events.
- Student Life – essentially all around campus. Check out your own faculty, join the student government, or department clubs. The student union building will have countless clubs of interest and sports teams. There are also student leadership programs offered at some schools.
These additional learning opportunities can sometimes occur in the evening or on the weekend for events/workshops. If you wish to participate in extracurricular activities, it will be important to confirm with the organizers on how to arrange for accommodations to access these events. You can discuss this with your accessibility advisor on how to arrange these requests. In order to improve your likelihood of obtaining accommodations for extracurricular activities, you need to:
- Notify the club, program, or department as soon as you have the intention to attend an event. If you are unsure, meet with your Accessibility Advisor for additional guidance and support. This is a great opportunity for you to be a good self-advocate for your communication access needs. They won’t know what your needs are unless you let them know! We’ll discuss more on self-advocacy in Module 4.
- Even if you are uncertain about attending, inquire about accessibility anyway. It’s easier to cancel (with advance notice and not at the last minute) than to try and request services at the last minute, as availability of service providers can be limited.
- Provide as much detail about the event as possible: date, time, location, length of event.
Note: The golden rule is, “The later you request the accommodation, the less likely you will get it for extracurricular activities”. Request in advance - at least a week or earlier if possible.