Student Disability Services

Student Disability Services ensures accessible and inclusive educational experiences for students with disabilities by collaborating with campus partners to proactively remove barriers, raise awareness of equitable practices, and foster an appreciation of disability as an area of diversity while utilizing a wide range of collaborative approaches from individualized accommodations to universal design.

To request disability related accommodations or services at Bloomberg School of Public Health, students should complete the process outlined below.

Disability Defined

In addition to a social justice approach when working with students to address barriers, Student Disability Services utilizes the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and its amendments to inform our work. The ADA defines a person with a disability as an individual with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, who has a record of such impairment, or who is regarded as having such impairment.

How to Begin the Process of Requesting Accommodations

Working with Student Disability Services to officially request accommodations and services not only protects a student’s right to have barriers removed, but also enables them to maintain confidentiality around the details of their disability and to share only information that needs to be known. Student Disability Services (SDS) encourages students with disabilities who need accommodations or services to request them by taking the following steps:

Complete the SDS online application through our university-wide database, Accommodation Information Manager (AIM).
Submit documentation using the link received after you submit the application.
Schedule a meeting with Audrey Ndaba to discuss your needs as well as potential accommodations and services.

Documentation

Documentation is used to support the interactive process of exploring accommodation and services that will remove barriers. Our Documentation Guidelines provide information about what is needed, and our Documentation Form  can be completed by a qualified professional/provider.  If you have any difficulty providing documentation or need more information about any aspect of the process, please contact Audrey Ndaba in Student Disability Services.

What to Expect During the Initial Meeting

Your SDS (Student Disability Services) advisor will initiate a conversation about the barriers you have faced historically and anticipate facing in your program.
Your accommodation request will be discussed, and additional accommodations may be suggested based on the conversation.
Student Rights and Responsibilities will be reviewed.

Once accommodations are confirmed, an Affiliation Letter will be sent to you. You will be granted access to send out academic accommodation letters (if applicable) through the AIM Student Portal immediately following completion of the process.

Please remember that it is the student’s responsibility to log in each term to send their academic accommodation letters to faculty.

Students with approved accommodations can request accommodations using the AIM Student Portal and by following the Student Guidelines for Requesting Accommodation through AIM. The portal will be accessed using your Hopkins JHED ID and password. Single sign on will work after the first time if you use it.

Additional Information

A full description of the range of services is available through the University-wide Accessibility and Accommodations site.

Johns Hopkins University also has Grievance Procedures for Student with Disabilities available for students who disagree with an accommodations determination or have concerns about accommodations or services.

The Johns Hopkins University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, gender, religion, age, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, disability, marital status or veteran status in any program or activity administered by the university, or with regard to admission or employment.