• Share your LOA with your Instructor: At the beginning of the semester, provide your instructor with your official Letter of Accommodation(s) (LOA). This should be done even though LOAs are available in ICON.
• Schedule a One-on-One Meeting with your Instructor: Arrange a meeting with your instructor early in the semester or as soon as you qualify for DRADM to discuss a DRADM plan. Instructor office hours are a great time to have this conversation.
  • If your attempts to schedule a meeting with your instructor are unsuccessful, contact your SDS Access Consultant.
• Just in Case: It is helpful to go through this process EVEN IF YOU THINK YOU WILL NOT USE the DRADM accommodation. That way, the DRADM plan is already in place if you do decide to use it as the semester progresses.

• Personal Strategies: Consider learning strategies that have worked for you in the past based on your diagnosis and learning style. These strategies may help you manage your coursework effectively and may be helpful to your discussion.
• Review the Syllabus and Course Description: 
  • What is the attendance policy within the syllabus?
  • Is attendance and/or participation graded in the course?
  • Are course learning goals taught through hands-on, participatory, or interactive activities?
  • How does your learning depend on other students (and vice versa)? For example, through discussion or group work?
  • Are there alternative sections of the same course or discussion available that are more flexible?
  • What are the deadline policies in the syllabus?
  • Many course assignments build on each other and rely on completion to advance, especially in writing courses. How would reasonable deadline extensions affect your completion of subsequent assignments and overall performance in the course? 

DRADM Form

SDS recommends using the DRADM Plan Form to guide the interactive conversation with your instructor. If you do not use the Form, a conversation followed by a confirming email suffices, if it reflects that both you and the instructor agree with the DRADM plan.

Essential Course Elements

During the meeting, explore ways to meet the essential elements of the course while accommodating your disability-related needs. The goal of the interactive meeting is to find a balance that allows you to have the same learning opportunities as other students (with or without disabilities) without compromising the course requirements or program standards.

Privacy and Diagnosis

You are not required to disclose your disability diagnosis to your instructor. Share only what you feel comfortable discussing.

While a DRADM Plan may look different for each course, and from semester to semester, topics to discuss with your instructor include but are not limited to the following:

Absences and Make-Up Exams/Quizzes:

• Maximum Allowed Absences: Determine the maximum number of allowed absences with and without the accommodation. This point is crucial because excessive absences may impact your ability to meet learning objectives and succeed in the course.
• Exceeding the Maximum Absences: Discuss what will happen if you exceed the agreed-on maximum number of absences.
• Make-Up Quizzes and Exams: If an exam or quiz is missed due to a disability-related absence, what is the process for making it up? Write out the steps, including any communication requirements.

Missed Content, Participation, and Group Projects:

• Consider how you can make up content missed during class.
• For participation and group projects, discuss alternative ways to engage and contribute.

Class Content on Days Absent:

• How will you have access to class content when you are absent for disability-related reasons (e.g., from classmates, instructor, class recordings, or other online resources)?

Assignment Deadline Extensions

• Discuss and understand the limits for deadline extensions. For example, when requesting an extension, you may be required to demonstrate progress toward completing the assignment.

Course-Specific Components

• Review other course components (e.g., labs, studio sessions, discussion sections, group work, clinical/field work, projects, etc.). Consider whether additional flexibility may be needed for these activities.

Communication

• Discuss how you and the instructor will communicate related to the DRADM plan.
• Discuss the instructor’s preferred communication method(s) (e.g., ICON, email, phone, office hours).
• Discuss when you should notify the instructor of the need to use a DRADM accommodation (before, at, or after the deadline or absence). 
• Clarify a process for communicating when you are unable to provide timely notification due to a disability-related event. 

• Make sure you have written documentation of the agreed on DRADM accommodations, either in a DRADM Form or in a confirming email after your meeting(s)/discussion(s). Avoid relying solely on verbal agreements to prevent misunderstandings.
• Absence Forms Not Required: Once the DRADM plan is in place, you are not required to submit any additional absence forms for absences that fall within the plan. You may, however, need to provide documentation to the instructor for absences outside of the agreed plan.

• Share Your Letter of Accommodation(s) with Your Instructor: LOAs should be shared before or the first few weeks of the course, or as soon as you receive DRADM accommodations, if the semester has already begun.  The fact that LOAs are accessible in ICON does not mean that you have met your responsibility to share the LOA and start the interactive accommodations process.
• DRADMs Require Interactive Planning: Engage in an interactive process with your instructor(s). Work together to review the syllabus and your LOA and discuss DRADM to determine reasonable accommodations for that specific course. The DRADM plan should clearly define expectations for each aspect of the course where you need flexibility based on your specific disability.
• Use DRADM Responsibly: Remember that DRADM should only be used for disability-related reasons. It is essential to use reasonable accommodations in alignment with your specific needs.
• Not Retroactive: Reasonable accommodations are not retroactive. This means you cannot apply accommodations to absences, assignments, exams, or quizzes, that occurred before your DRADM plan became active.
• The DRADM plan and accommodation becomes active only AFTER you meet with your instructor and create an agreed written DRADM plan that specifies course modifications to absences/deadlines and implementation expectations.