Section 504 of the Americans with Disabilities Act defines a disability as a mental or physical impairment, which substantially limits one or more major life activities (i.e. breathing, speaking, seeing, walking, learning, working or taking care of oneself). If you have such impairment, or a history of a mental or physical impairment, or even if others perceive you as having such an impairment you may have a disability.

The key here is the term substantially limits. This means a person is restricted as to the condition, manner, or duration under which a major life activity can be performed, in comparison to the average person or to most people, or that a person cannot perform the activity at all. For instance, a broken arm would not normally be considered a disability since this is temporary medical condition, but an individual who cannot write due to permanent mobility impairment would be considered a person with a disability.

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In a university setting, the term "reasonable accommodations" basically refers to the academic adjustments, which can be made to provide equal access for a student with a disability in the classroom. These types of adjustment might include but are not limited to, having classes in rooms which are accessible to wheelchairs/scooters, providing sign language interpreters to students who are deaf or hard of hearing, providing alternative electronic media to students who are blind or have low vision, use a audio tapes, preferential front-row seating, etc.

However, accommodations cannot require a substantial change to the essential elements of the curriculum. For instance, OSD may deem that a student has a right to absence leniency; however the professor can determine how many absences would be too many if they start to detract from the essential elements of his or her class.

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In order to request/receive any accommodations or academic adjustments at UT Arlington you must go to and register with the Office for Students with Disabilities at Room 102, University Hall.

Contact Info and Staff

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You must first provide appropriate documentation of your disability to OSD. For more disability specific information, please refer to the following documentation requirements:

• Learning
• ADD/ADHD
• Psychiatric
• Brain Injury
• Hearing
• Vision
• Physical

This documentation will be reviewed by the Documentation Review Committee. Documentation must be received by 5:00 PM on Thursday in order to be evaluated during each week's review process. Documentation validates the disability, which allows consideration for accommodation requests. After it is reviewed, OSD will contact you with further instructions.

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