Students with a disability or health consideration who are experiencing disability-related barriers may be eligible for services and supports through AccessAbility Services. This includes undergraduate, graduate and non-degree students.
We strongly encourage students to register with AccessAbility Services as early as possible to avoid a delay in service.
Registration deadline: March 15th, 2024
*When making accommodation requests, students need to give the university (AccessAbility Services, Faculty, Staff) ample time to ensure that accommodations will be available when needed. Requests to Register after the deadline will be assessed on a case-by-case basis (This includes the completion of the Online Intake form and up-to date documentation).
Registering at the end of a term e.g. March/April may result in the service referring students to the petition process as the service may not have enough time to meet with a student before the end of the term to determine eligibility, assess their disability-related needs, create an accommodation plan and implement an accommodation plan.
To begin the process of registering with AccessAbility Services at UTSC, please complete the Online Intake Registration Form. NOTE: Students must register with the Accessibility Services on their home campus. If UTSC is not your home campus, please contact the appropriate accessibility office to register.
Students will need to provide:
- Up-to-date documentation identifying disability-related limitations and restrictions
- Information about what services and accommodations were provided in previous educational environments, if applicable (e.g. Individualized Education Plan - IEP)
- A list of financial supports for which they have been approved (e.g. ADP, OSAP, etc)
Step-by-Step guide to completing the Online Intake Registration Form [PDF]
What to Expect and How to Prepare for the Appointment
After a student completes the Online Intake Registration Form, AccessAbility Services strives to contact students via their University of Toronto email within two weeks to schedule an Intake appointment with a Disability Consultant.
Notice: We are experiencing a high volume of students registering. To reduce appointment wait times, students are expected to first speak to their healthcare practitioner about why they are requesting to register with AccessAbility Services. This is especially important if you have not been diagnosed with a disability/health condition and you have not yet spoken to your healthcare practitioner about what you may be experiencing.
Preparing for the Appointment
To prepare for your appointment we encourage students to think about the following questions in advance of your meeting. During the Intake appointment, the student will meet with a Disability Consultant to discuss a range of topics including:
- What brings them to the service?
- What disability-related impacts are they, or have they, experienced, in the educational environment? How does it impact their learning in a range of academic activities including lectures, presentations, group work, participation, tests/exams/quizzes, art studio or lab work, assignments, note taking, etc
- What are their disability-related restrictions and limitations (e.g., I cannot sit for more than five minutes, I cannot look at a screen for more than 30 minutes before a break, etc.)
- What strategies has your healthcare practitioner recommended to manage the impacts? (e.g. referred to counselling, reduce courseload, etc.)
- What are their strengths (e.g., good time manager, perseverance, creativity, etc.)?
- What are their goals?
- What supports and accommodations, if any, did they access in previous academic environments? What worked for them and what did not?
- What services and supports do they have available to them (e.g., family doctor, social worker, physiotherapy, family and friends, etc.)
- Are there any specific course components which may need accommodation (e.g., laboratory, fieldwork, etc.)?
- Possible accommodation solutions (e.g. test/exam supports)
The consultant may also discuss with the student:
- Scholarships and bursaries for students with disabilities. This includes asking if they are OSAP eligible so that we can establish eligibility for specific bursaries
- Referrals to other services within and outside of the university
More information for: