Disability Policy
City Vision University is in compliance with all relevant ADA policies for universities, including the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). If students have a qualified disability under these acts, including intellectual disabilities, they may contact the City Vision University Student Services office at support@cityvision.edu to request any reasonable accommodations they may need.
Along with their request, they should fax supporting medical documentation of their disability to (816) 760-2084. This documentation could either come from a doctor, or could be in the form of a document like an IEP or ISP. While relevant faculty members may be informed about accommodations that have been granted to a student with a disability, all personal documentation related to that disability is kept confidential, as with all student records, and is accessible only by authorized administrators and staff.
This documentation should include at minimum the following:
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name or type of disability (i.e., diagnosis)
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the limitations caused by the disability
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length of time the student will be disabled
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the services or accommodations (such as exam or course extensions) that the student will need while in college
It would be helpful if it also included information on the overall barriers and problems that the student may have in college. Note that we may consider alternatives to medical documentation in extraordinary circumstances.
We aim to make all reasonable learning accommodations for disabilities. However, we are not able to grant accommodations until we have specific documentation of a disability. One example is our late policy accommodations for students with documented disabilities, but other accommodations can be granted based on what is applicable from documentation. If you have any questions about our policies and services for students with disabilities, email support@cityvision.edu.
Students with disabilities may review this guide to financial aid for students with disabilities.
Recommended Resources for Students with Disabilities, Mental Health Issues, and Other Learning Needs
Below we have listed resources and software tools for students with learning disabilities, vision issues, mental health needs and other disabilities or special learning needs.
- For better student success overall:
- How to Succeed in Our Online Courses
- Tips for Stress Relief, Focus, and Energy for Students (many resources linked from this page)
- For individuals with ADD/ADHD or other challenges with focus
- Key advice: Strategies for Managing ADD/ADHD
- Note that many of these are good strategies for people doing cognitive-heavy work or studying in general, not just people who have been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD. See the article Overloaded Circuits: Why Smart People Underperform on how our technology & work culture make it hard for us to perform at our best on these tasks.
- Attention Deficit Disorder Assocation
- Key advice: Strategies for Managing ADD/ADHD
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Writing helps
- Spelling & grammar checking in Microsoft Word
- Spelling & grammar checking in Google Docs
- Citation generators
- Note: If you use any proofreading tools that use AI, such as Grammarly, you will need to follow our AI-based proofreading tools policy, since this can be flagged plagiarism. Also, Grammarly can’t be used in our English Composition or Business Communications courses, since those courses are intended to give students practice at writing grammatically. See this video on what Grammarly features cannot be used.
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Text to Speech
- Speechify
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Read & Write for Google – speech synthesis with highlighting
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Ultra Hal TTS Reader (make sure to click the correct download link)
- Text-to-Speech built-in on Macs
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Extensions
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Speech to Text (dictation)
- Mac OS built-in
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Dragon NaturallySpeaking – dictation program (paid)
- Free and Open Source Dictation Software (for Windows, Mac and Linux)
- Dyslexia Fonts & Software
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Audio Books:
- Audible.com
- LibriVox (free public domain audiobooks)
- Kindle (or other e-reader) versions of books – you may be able to get these for free from your local library, if they have a subscription to Libby or Overdrive
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Audio Pens: often an electronic copy of a book can be requested from the publisher if a paper copy has already been purchased. However, if this isn’t possible, you could purchase a pen reader. These can be a little pricey and it is important to read reviews of these, but here are a few examples of these readers that are available on Amazon:
- Amazon pen readers
- And here is one video that gives an overview of a pen reader
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Website Resources:
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National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) | Library of Congress
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American Psychological Association (APA) page on resources for students with disabilities
- NAMI – mental health advocacy, resources and support
- Depression & Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) Online Support Groups
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