Access and Disability Services (ADS) recognizes disability as an aspect of diversity that is integral to society and to our campus community. We are here to support you! ADS has recently made changes to the process designed to increase inclusivity and equitable access in providing reasonable academic accommodations. ADS encourages you to begin the process even if you do not currently have documentation.

We are excited to get to know you and support you during your student journey. Are you considering attending Pierce College? Have you recently applied to Pierce College? Are you a current Pierce student and have questions about accommodations? If you have questions about whether ADS services might be right for you, please contact us at 253-964-6468, or send us an email us at ADS@pierce.ctc.edu.

Requirements for Getting Started

  1. Submit the ADS New Student Application
  2. You will receive a follow up email from ADS within 5 business days of submission. It will contain appointment times and options. You will need to reply directly to it to schedule the required Access Intake appointment.
  3. Attend your Access Intake appointment and actively engage in the Interactive process.

Do you need to provide medical documentation to receive academic accommodations at Pierce College?

ADS is proud to have adopted a revised guidance process that provides an inclusive and equitable approach to students obtaining reasonable academic accommodations with or without extensive medical documentation.

ADS strongly encourages the interested student to provide us with some type of documentation if available. These documents can be uploaded directly to the application; they can be emailed directly to us at ADS@pierce.ctc.edu; they may be dropped off in person at the front desks at the Fort Steilacoom or the Puyallup campuses; or they may be brought with to the Access Intake appointment.  These documents may come from a wide variety of sources, including, but not limited to:

  • Medical assessments/diagnostic documents, including downloadable information from MyChart
  • Current or former college accommodation plans
  • Current or former IEP or 504 plans
  • Military/VA documents
  • Notes from health care and/or mental health care providers

Students who do not have access to educational or medical records, reports and assessments created by health care providers, school psychologists, teachers, or the educational system, will be asked to fill out and return the ADS Disability Declaration Form to ADS staff. The form will be sent directly to the student via email attachment when ADS reaches out to schedule the Access Intake appointment. If there are no other documentation sources available, the Disability Declaration form is required and needs to be filled out and returned prior to meeting with your accommodation specialist.

ADS staff will use the following methods during the Access Intake appointment to obtain the information needed to develop each student's individualized academic accommodation plan:

  1. Student's Self Report: The student is a vital source of information regarding their individual barriers. A student's narrative of their experience of disability, barriers, and effective and ineffective accommodations is an important tool.
  2. Observation and Interaction:  The Accommodation Specialist will use their observations of students' language, performance and strategies as an appropriate tool in validating student narrative and self-report. 
  3. Information from External or Third Parties (as needed): External documentation will vary in its relevance and value depending on the original context, credentials of the evaluator, the level of detail provided, and the comprehensiveness of the narrative. However, all forms of documentation are meaningful and will be mined for pertinent information. The Accommodation Specialist may request additional tertiary documentation be provided on a case-by-case basis if enough information cannot be obtained from the Self-Report or Observation and Interaction during the Intake meeting.

Additional Information on Getting Started With ADS

Privacy Information

All information and documentation submitted to the ADS office is kept separate from your academic record and is considered private under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). HIPAA privacy and confidentiality guides do not apply to documents submitted to ADS because they are not being used for treatment. ADS will not share the student’s private documentation with anyone without express written permission from the student. ADS will share accommodation information with select parties within the Pierce College community, primarily faculty and advisors, as necessary, for the facilitation of the accommodations being applied properly; however, this information is provided on a strictly need to know basis.

Release of Information

If the student would like ADS to be able to discuss their ADS information with family members, healthcare providers, other educational institutions, or any other non-Pierce College staff, they will need to submit a Release of Information form. There is a place on the New Student Application for the student to provide details and there are forms they may request from the ADS department at any time.