Accessibility Services
If you have a documented disability and require accommodations, contact Rachel Gift at the Center for Academic Success & Achievement today. Students
UNM-Taos is committed to the recognition and the proactive pursuit of compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, ADA, ADAAA, and UNM Policy 2310 Academic Adjustments for Students with Disabilities.
Documentation Requirements
Disability documentation provided by the student must meet the following requirements:
State a specific diagnosis/diagnoses
- We will not accept an IEP or a 504 plan by itself; the student must also provide a signed document from a healthcare provider or a complete psychological evaluation from a licensed diagnostician that clearly shows the student’s diagnosis and relevant details (e.g. precisely what type of learning disability the student has).
- If the student is requesting an emotional support animal (ESA) and has an ESA letter from a medical provider, it must state the diagnosis on it, or we may ask for additional documentation.
A signature and/or approval of a licensed professional
(who has no personal relationship with the individual being evaluated)
- Licensed professionals include physicians, therapists, psychiatrists, psychologists, etc.
Clearly state the student's name so we can verify their identity
Types of Documentation
This is a list of the types of documents that students often submit to ARC to establish the presence of a disability:
- Letter from a medical or mental health provider
- ARC Diagnosis Verification Request Form
- Letter from the NM Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, NM Commission for the Blind, or the Department of Veterans Affairs
- Psychological or neuropsychological evaluation
Missing Disability Documentation
A student may have reason to believe that they might have a disability, but perhaps the disability has never been documented. Alternatively, a student may have had disability documentation from many years ago (e.g. an IEP from elementary school) that can no longer be found or obtained due to its age. In either case, the student has several options.
If you do not have disability documentation on hand that you can give to ARC, you can use this ARC Diagnosis Verification Request Form to be filled out by you and your health care provider.
The student can seek an evaluation from community diagnosticians or health care providers. We maintain a short contact list of community diagnosticians, clinical psychologists, and neuropsychologists in New Mexico who can evaluate a person for a potential learning disability or Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Please contact Rachel Gift if you would like a copy of the list. The cost of the evaluation is the responsibility of the student, so please check with your health insurance provider to see if any of the cost would be covered through them.
University Policy
The University of New Mexico makes reasonable accommodation to the religious observances/national origin practices of a student, an employee or prospective employee, and to the known physical or mental limitations of a qualified student, employee, applicant or program user with a disability, unless such accommodations have the result of fundamentally altering a program or service or placing an undue hardship on the operation of the University.
Qualified students, employees or program users with disabilities should contact Rachel Gift for information regarding accommodations in an academic setting.
To comply with the Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Amendments Act (ADAAA), and UNM Policy 2310 Academic Adjustments for Students with Disabilities, UNM-Taos provides this information in alternative formats.
