Disability Services

It is the policy of Baltimore International College to provide reasonable accommodations to students with documented disabilities.  Any student in need of accommodations should contact the Director of Student Counseling via telephone at 410-752-4710, ext. 189 or in person in the Registrar’s Office on the first floor of the Commerce Building.

Disability Services Mission

The mission of disability services at Baltimore International College is to provide qualified persons with disabilities with appropriate accommodations in order to enable their success in their chosen programs. The College shall not subject qualified persons with disabilities to discrimination, exclude them from participation in, or deny them benefits of, its services, programs and activities.

Students requesting for accommodation of disability(ies), please click here to download a PDF of the Request for Disability Form.

Vision and Goals for BIC Student Disability Services

• To create a visible and accessible source of information for prospective and current BIC students with disabilities.
• To work closely with the Admissions Office in guiding all prospective students and their families to information about student disability services.
• To be available to all current BIC students who are qualified persons with disabilities in addressing any adjustments required due to changes in their abilities or in accommodations needs.
• Through personal contact, publications, meetings and workshops, provide essential information about student disability services to students with disabilities, their families and the faculty who instruct them.

• Prepare guides to disability services outlining the procedures for requesting services and accommodations, implementation of the more common accommodations, follow-up and problem-solving.

General Guidelines for Documentation of a Disability

Baltimore International College is committed to the philosophy of nondiscrimination for individuals with disabilities and ensures that all programs and activities of the College are in compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 and the ADAAA of 2008. In order to fully evaluate requests for reasonable accommodations or auxiliary aids in the college environment, BIC requires proper documentation of the disability, including an evaluation by an appropriate professional describing the current impact of the disability as it relates to the college environment. It is the student's responsibility to provide this documentation to the office of The Director of Student Counseling, where it will be kept in a confidential file.

For people who have recently received services from a public school system, necessary information would most likely be contained in the most recent psychological and educational evaluations. Some of the information may also be contained in an IEP, Exit Document (Summary of Performance), Transition Plan or 504 Plan.

BIC recognizes that the specific elements and format of the evaluations will vary. These guidelines are intended to assist students and professionals as they provide information that supports appropriate and reasonable accommodations. Any questions regarding these guidelines may be directed to the appropriate office noted above.

As appropriate to the disability, documentation should include:

1. A recent diagnostic statement identifying the disability, date of the current diagnostic evaluation, and, when possible, the date of the original diagnosis.

2. A description of the diagnostic criteria and/or diagnostic test(s) used.

3. A description of the functional impact of the disability both in a classroom and in a cooking/baking lab setting.

4. Treatments, medications, assistive devices/services currently prescribed.

5. A description of any anticipated change in the functional limitations of the disability over time that could impact on the need for re-evaluation.

6. Information concerning co-morbid conditions as well as conditions that have been ruled out.

7. Additional observations or recommendations, which could assist the Office in adequately supporting this student.

8. Recommendations for reasonable accommodations in the academic setting are helpful and will be given due consideration.

9. Signature, date and credentials of the examiner(s) making the diagnosis.
SPECIFIC GUIDELINES FOR DOCUMENTATION OF COGNITIVE DISABILITIES
(LD, AD/HD, TBI)

Specific Guidelines

In addition to the General Guidelines, the following is provided to ensure that documentation is complete and appropriate for students with learning disabilities (LD), attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), traumatic brain injuries (TBI), and other disabling conditions that affect cognition.

1. The documentation should include a clinical or medical diagnosis of the disability (according to the most recent DSM criteria), its current status, and relevance to the college environment.

2. Evaluations should reflect the student's current level of functioning and academic needs in the postsecondary setting. Evaluations should have been completed within the last three years for students just graduating from high school. Evaluations more than three years old will be reviewed on a case by case basis. The student may be required to submit more recent documentation when requesting certain accommodations such as: alternate format for tests and textbooks, notetaker, and course substitution.

3. The documentation should include the following components of a complete psycho-educational evaluation including test, scaled scores and standard scores for:

• Aptitude - a complete intellectual/cognitive battery. [Ex. Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test, Stanford-Binet 5 (SB5), Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale - III (WAIS-III), Woodcock-Johnson - III - Tests of Cognitive Ability]
• Academic Achievement - a comprehensive academic achievement battery reporting test used and current levels of academic functioning in areas such as reading (decoding, spelling, and comprehension), mathematics, and oral and written language. [Ex. Gray Oral Reading Test (GORT 4th Ed), Nelson-Denny Reading Test, Test of Written Language - 3 (TOWL-3), Wechsler Individual Achievement Test - II (WIAT-II), Woodcock-Johnson-III - Tests of Achievement, Woodcock Reading Mastery Tests - Revised]
• Information Processing - Specific areas in information processing and social-emotional functioning should be assessed and areas of strength, weaknesses, and deficits noted. These areas include sensory functions, attention functions, memory functions, language skills, visuospatial skills, motor skills, social-emotional functioning and executive functioning, [Ex. Conners' Continuous Performance Test-II (CPT-II), Detroit Test of Adult Learning Aptitude (DTLA-A), WAIS-III Working Memory Index (WMS),Wechsler Memory Scales - III, Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test, Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Drawing Test]

4. For a diagnosis of AD/HD, particular attention should be paid to notation of prescribed medication, co-morbid conditions, and additional observations.