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How to Register with Accessibility Services 

Getting connected with our office is a relatively quick and easy process. We want to meet with you as soon as possible to discuss any disability-related concerns and supports we can explore on your behalf.  

1. Fill out and submit our Online Accessibility Services Registration Form (linked here). This not only gives us some preliminary information about you, but it also will allow us to create an accommodations profile for you should you be eligible for support through OAS.

2. Set up an initial intake meeting with us. You can expect to get an email outreach to your Point Park email generally within one business day after submitting this registration form from your assigned access consultant with a link to their intake appointment calendar. This allows you see all currently available times and to select a time to meet that also works for you. Please note that we send all communications (meeting confirmations, invites, and links) to your official Point Park University email. If this is not your primary email, we encourage you to set up an automatic forward to your preferred email.  

If you haven't recieved your outreach email after a few days, check your spam folder. Emails from our accommodations management software ("AIM") can sometimes be classified as "external" and sent there instead of your main inbox. You can prevent this by adding the following three email addresses to your "Safe Sender" list: 

noreply@york.accessiblelearning.com  (this is the bulk email and notification address for our accommodations management software)
Disabilities@PointPark.edu (this is an old OAS that still exists in some Point Park University systems)
Accessibility@PointPark.edu  (this is the current general OAS email address)

 

Frequently Asked Questions 

Do I need documentation to register with accessibility services?  

While documentation may be necessary to explore your eligibility for certain accommodations and support services, we do not require documentation to have an initial conversation with us. There are many practical and systemic reasons for this but central to them all is our preference to meet with students sooner who we could be a potential appropriate resource for. We will strategize and come up with necessary action items in our intake meeting which can include how and where to get relevant documentation.

 

What can I expect In my initial intake meeting?  

While every conversation is different, we plan our initial meetings to be around 45 minutes so that we can achieve the following goals: 


1. Get to know you and your past disability experience.
This is often the most helpful information to not only understand you as a whole person but also how your disability context has framed your educational journey so far. While accommodation is different at the college level than in high school, sharing your past experiences allows us understand  what has actually been helpful to you up to this point (more than any single document can provide alone). 

 

2. Discuss barriers you (could) encounter on campus.
With this context established, we want to focus on your current context as a college student and how you would be differentially impacted on our campus due to your disability identity. In practice, accommodations are helpful only as far as they address specific barriers. Our goal is to connect you with as relevant and helpful tools as possible.  

 

3. Strategize what we can do now. 
Depending on your current context, we will work together to determine appropriate next steps based on your requests. We will discuss action items following the meeting and each of our responsibilities moving forward. 

 

We take notes in all conversations (especially initial intake meetings) to not only create a reference for our team on what we discussed, but to also assist in creating some documentation of your reported experience on campus. We do not share these notes outside of our office unless under rare extenuating circumstances.
 
 
You can expect some follow-up after our meeting to remind you of those necessary tasks you need to follow to help make the plan discussed in the meeting a reality. This may include getting in contact with other medical professionals to obtain documents, determinations on the appropriateness of requested accommodations, referrals to additional resources and services, or our commitments to you. 

 

Can I meet with my access consultant after my initial meeting? 

Absolutely! We are here to be a continued resource for you. While we all can anticipate many potential barriers, there are many situations encountered in college that could never be anticipated. Additionally, every semester will be different with different courses, professors, and expectations. We are here to assist students in navigating this sometimes confusing and overwhelming experience.  
 
Once you are officially registered with OAS you will have an accommodations profile and you will be able to request meetings with our office using your "appointments" tab. This will allow you to give a few time options that work for you to your access consultant, and they will respond back with a meeting confirmation (and any links when it's a remote meeting).