• Disability Support Services Home
• Registering
• Documentation Requirements
• Services
• For Students with a learning disability or ADHD or ADHD
• For Students with a mobility disability
• For Students with psychiatric disabilities
• For Students who are deaf or hard of hearing
• For Students who are blind or have a visual disability
• For Students recovering from alcoholism and/or drug addiction
• For Students with chronic illness
• Qualifying for General Services
• Disability Emergency Evacuations
• Program Housing Accommodations and Process
• DSS Student Grievance/Appeal Procedure
• Temporary Disabilities & Injuries
• DSS Shuttle Service FAQ
• Forms
• FAQ
• Resources
• Resources for Faculty
• Student Responsibilities
• General Procedures
• Appropriate Terminology
• Interacting with Students with Disabilities
• Essential Components of a Course or Program
• Teaching Students with Disabilities
• Visual Disabilities
• Hearing Disabilities
• Speech Impairements
• Mobility or Medical Disabilities
• Manual Disabilities
• Learning Disabilities
• Attention Deficit Disorder
• Psychological Disabilities
• Other Disabilities
• Where to Get More Help
• Links
• Assistive Technology
• Software
• Computers
• Report an Access Concern
• Contact

Temporary Disabilities & Injuries

Qualifying Disability

A "person with a disability" includes "any person who (1) has a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more of such person's major life activities; (2) has a record of such an impairment, or (3) is regarded as having such an impairment.

• Have you recently broken a leg and now are on crutches-wondering what is the most accessible route to a Brown classroom?
  
• Did an illness of more than two weeks' duration leave you exhausted, overwhelmed, and in need of a realistic time management plan for completing outstanding work?
  
• Are you unable to take notes, or sit comfortably in class because of recent surgery or some type of accident?

Although Disability Support Services (DSS) works primarily with students with permanent or ongoing disabilities, DSS also serves students with a wide variety of temporary disabilities due to accident, illness, hospitalization/surgery, or other situations which are not considered disabled by law. Nonetheless, students are often in need of accommodations similar to those provided to students with disabilities to maintain their academic program with minimal interruptions.

Students must be prepared to submit medical documentation before DSS will consider any accommodations. Although students with temporary disabilities are most often referred to DSS via Health Services, students may make self-referrals and/or stop into DSS at 20 Benevolent Street (Office of Student Life) at any time. In addition, students who anticipate being away from campus because of a scheduled surgery or hospitalization may find it helpful to register with DSS as a type of "insurance policy" in order to prepare for potential assistance which may be needed upon their return to campus.

What type of assistance is available?

• Use of safeRIDE DSS onCall shuttle service (Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 7:00 pm, campus only)
  
• Academic assistance, counseling and referrals
  
• Use assistive technology
  
• Access maps of Brown; assistance in obtaining special keys to various elevators and/or lifts
  
• Referral to appropriate disability-related websites
  
• Resource collection of books, pamphlets, and articles on disability-related topics

How to register with DSS

If you have a temporary disability and need support services, please call DSS at (401) 863-9588 to make an appointment as soon as possible. All students with either temporary or permanent disabilities are required to have appropriate documentation on file. This may be obtained through Health Service clinicians or by a student's private physician. All students with temporary disabilities are encouraged to check-in with Health Services, if they have not already done so. Students should also notify their advisors and/or professors of their situation and registration with DSS. During the registration appointment, disability-related classroom and test accommodations will be discussed and students should then self-identify their temporary disabilities and accommodations to their instructors on an as-needed basis. Please review all of the steps for registration with DSS.