Accessibility Services

Accessibility Services

Accessibility Services is committed to ensuring that equal access for students with disabilities is provided at Saskatchewan Polytechnic. The Accessibility Consultants take pride in offering excellent services and supports. We are available to help you in person and from a distance.

Students with disabilities together with their Accessibility Consultant work to identify the best solution for academic success. Accessibility Services looks forward to working with you to achieve your academic goals.

Please register with Accessibility Services as soon as possible. Accommodation requests and supports are made through our online system called Accommodate, which is designed to help students and faculty facilitate accommodations at Saskatchewan Polytechnic.

Are you a student new to Accommodate for Accessibility Services? This system requires each student to fill out an intake form, even if you have received services before. Register with Accessibility Services through Accommodate.

If you filled out the intake form for accommodate, you can access your account.

Extra Resources are available to assist with Accommodate. See Accommodate Help.

Accessibility accommodations

Whether you are a student who is accessing online or in-person courses, there is a broad range of supports including academic accommodations and assistive technology training available.

Sask Polytech Accessibility Services include:

As part of the Saskatchewan Polytechnic Education Equity initiative, a percentage of first year seats in select certificate and diploma program are available to persons with disabilities.

While the definition of a reasonable accommodation is much larger, in this context a reasonable accommodation is intended to remove barriers resulting from a disability. Reasonable accommodations and services may include:

  • Extra time, quiet or private space for exams
  • A reader and/or scribe for exams
  • Reduced course load
  • Peer note-taker
  • Alternate-format course materials
  • Assistive technology
  • Adaptive technologies
  • Tutor funding

Reasonable accommodations are provided to students with disabilities. Accommodation does not require Saskatchewan Polytechnic to lower its academic standards or to relieve the student of the responsibility to develop the skills and competencies expected of all students. For more about reasonable accommodations, see Saskatchewan Polytechnic policy: Reasonable Accommodation (pdf).

At times, there is a financial cost for various accommodations. Saskatchewan Polytechnic has a variety of funding options available for this purpose.

Qualified applicants with disabilities may be entitled to educational loans and grants.

For those who are eligible for a student loan, these grants may cover special learning support costs:

  • The Canada Student Grant for Services and Equipment for Persons with Permanent Disabilities

  • Saskatchewan Student Grant for Services and Equipment for Persons with Permanent Disabilities

  • Canada Student Grant for Persons with Permanent Disabilities

Please connect with Accessibility Services to obtain more information about these opportunities, or if you do not qualify for the above funding sources.

If you are a student living with a disability, about to begin your post-secondary studies at Saskatchewan Polytechnic, the Easy Start Transition Workshop will provide a head start towards your success.

Check out the Easy Start Transition Workshop event page for more details.

More information about Accessibility Services

A permanent or ongoing condition that might interfere with successful studies such as:

  • Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
  • Hearing impairment
  • Intellectual Developmental Disorder
  • Specific Learning Disability
  • Psychiatric or mental health disability
  • Physical/medical disability (including Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, brain injury and chronic health conditions)
  • Temporary disability
  • Visual impairment

Saskatchewan Polytechnic accepts the Human Rights definition of disability, refer to the Sask Human Rights Code, Section 2 (d.1) (pdf)

Documentation is important for your assessment of need. Complete the Accessibility Services Registration and request for verification of a disability form (pdf) and collect required documentation specific to your disability. Previous documentation communicating a diagnosis/disability could be accepted for verification, please provide any documentation you have and discuss with your Accessibility Consultant.

Connect with your course instructor, as he or she may give you feedback and suggestions to improve your academic performance.

Saskatchewan Polytechnic has Learning Services that offers assistance to students in study skills, test taking, essay writing, math and science, among other course specific assistance.

If you are a high school student, applying to a Saskatchewan Polytechnic program and you suspect that you may have a learning disability, contact your school guidance consultant or principal about the possibility of obtaining an assessment.

If you are an adult who is applying to attend a Saskatchewan Polytechnic program, contact one of the following:

  1. Saskatchewan College of Psychologists
  2. Learning Disabilities Association of Saskatchewan
  3. Psychology Association of Saskatchewan

If you are obtaining an assessment from the above agencies, there may be a fee.

If you are already enrolled in a Saskatchewan Polytechnic program, please make an appointment to see a Accessibility Consultant to discuss the possibility of completing an assessment.

Several community agencies provide advocacy, funding and other support services to individuals with disabilities. Agencies include:

  • CanSask Career and Employment Services
  • Learning Disabilities Association of Saskatchewan
  • Saskatchewan Acquired Brain Injury Association
  • Saskatchewan Association of Community Living
  • Saskatchewan Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services
  • Saskatchewan Workers’ Compensation Board
  • Spinal Cord Injury Saskatchewan
  • The Canadian National Institute for the Blind

To ensure you receive the maximum support available and allow for time to explore funding options, it is recommended that you make contact with the agency relating to your disability prior to applying to a Saskatchewan Polytechnic program.

This depends on your training area. Each profession sets out the requirements to become licensed or certified for employment. Typically an individual needs to apply to the governing agency at least 60 to 90 days in advance of the certification exam in order to request an accommodation.

For Example: CSMLS governs the standards for medical lab professionals, etc.

If you are unsure about requesting accommodations for licensing/certification exams, please contact your Accessibility Consultant.

Apprentices must contact the Saskatchewan Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Commission to apply for accommodations on journeyperson exams.

Initially you should contact the Saskatchewan Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Commission to provide them with documentation verifying your disability and your need for accommodations.

Next, contact the Accessibility Services Consultant at the campus where you are training. The Accessibility Consultant requires either a copy of your disability documentation or an Accommodation Authorization from the Saskatchewan Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Commission to assist in making arrangements for the appropriate accommodations.

If you suspect a learning disability while involved in your apprenticeship training, but do not have any documentation verifying this, you can contact the Accessibility Consultant at your campus for screening and possible access to accommodations during your present level of training.

In order to access accommodations during your next level of training, you must agree to have an assessment to verify a disability conducted by the Saskatchewan Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Commission assessor.

The Government of Saskatchewan Student Financial Assistance Branch provides information to complete a Saskatchewan Student Loan application at www.saskatchewan.ca/residents/education-and-learning/student-loans.

If you need specific assistance in completing the necessary documentation, you may want to contact the advocacy agency specific to your disability.

Students with disabilities may apply for any scholarship or bursary available to all students at Saskatchewan Polytechnic.

You would need to discuss potential attendance problems due to a disability with your Program Head and Accessibility Consultant at the start of your program. Attendance can be considered a course requirement and is tracked by instructors in many programs. Class attendance that falls below program requirements may put you in jeopardy of being discontinued from the program. Advance alerts provided by you to instructors and program heads, as well as medical documentation for absences, may be required. Good attendance and punctuality are expected of all students. For more information, please contact your Accessibility Consultant and review any guidelines provided by your program. You can find the Evaluation of Student Learning Procedures here.

You can access additional information about Accessibility Services and Accommodations through your Faculty handbook or through the Accessibility Services SharePoint page (Sask Polytech login required). You can also speak with an Accessibility Consultant at your campus, contact information is below.

 

Contact information

Student Services will respond to voicemail and email messages within 24 hours.

Having trouble with your assistive technology (Kurzweil, Recording Pen, C-Pen)? Please contact:

Moose Jaw and Regina

Heath Galenzoski, B.Ed., B.A.
Assistive Technologist, South
heath.galenzoski@saskpolytech.ca
306-570-4592

Prince Albert and Saskatoon

Nicole Isabelle, M.Ed.
Assistive Technologist, North
nicole.isabelle@saskpolytech.ca
306-659-4248

306-691-8311 or 306-691-8310
StudentServicesMooseJaw@saskpolytech.ca

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