Don’t let anything stand between you and your education!
If a limitation or disability affects your college activities, like reading, writing or accessing the tools you need to learn, just drop by DSPS.
All students that are accepted into DSPS are eligible to use the High Tech Center. With diligent application of the skills gained in the High Tech Center, students are better prepared for success in their college course endeavors and future employment.
Connect with Us
Student Services Center Hours
| Mon – Thurs | 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. |
| Friday | 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. |
Contact the Welcome Center or visit department page for more specific operating hours.
We're here to help
What We’re About
We’re here to help with every part of your journey at CCC, from registration to getting to class. If we can’t help you out with something specific, we can probably connect you with someone on campus who can.
We also coordinate with professors and staff (with your permission) to make sure they’re ready to meet your needs.
How We Can Help
- On-campus transportation
- Note-taking services
- Deaf and hard of hearing services
- Alternative media, like audio books and software for people with visual, mobility, or learning disabilities
- Counseling
- Getting more time to take tests
- Recording devices, smart pens, and other equipment loans
- Scholarships
- Priority registration
- Workshops
- And many other ways! If you need help with something else, just ask.
How to Sign Up
- Come get an application form from the DSPS office. If you need help filling it out, just let us know.
- Help us clearly understand your disability by giving us a doctor’s note, counselor’s referral, or documentation from your high school. If you think you have a learning disability that hasn’t been documented, let us know. We can test you right here.
- Meet with a DSPS counselor regularly. As you get to know your counselor, they will be able to help track your academic progress and match you with services that fit your needs.
- Then, just let us know whenever you need something!
Eligibility
To be eligible for Disabled Student Services one must:
- Complete an Application for Services
- Complete a Student Educational Contract
- Provide professional documentation of a disability, including functional limitations, signed by an appropriate professional.
- The documented disability must substantially limit one or more major life activities and present a barrier to the learning process.
- Students receiving services through DSPS must be enrolled in classes at Contra Costa College.
It is the student’s responsibility to request their accommodations through DSPS every semester while at Contra Costa College.
Assessment + Documentation
Professional documentation of a disability is essential for determining barriers in education and providing accommodations or services. It should be current and include enough information to assist the DSPS department to determine the accommodations needed to permit equal access to educational opportunities. Documentation can be obtained through assessment by one of our Learning Disability or DSPS Counselors. Colleges and universities require disability documentation that shows the student has a disability as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.
If the student has an Individual Education Plan (IEP) from high school, new or additional documentation may be required because the ADA and 504 laws differ from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which only applies to students with disabilities in K-12 education.
Services are provided to students with a wide range of disabilities which include:
Any orthopedic or physical impairment that causes a serious limitation in locomotion or motor functions in the educational environment. Some general categories and examples of mobility impairments include: impairments caused by disease, impairments caused by a congenital anomaly, impairments from other causes (such as amputation, spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, arthritis, degenerative disc disease, repetitive disc disease and repetitive stress injury).
Total or partial loss of sight that adversely affects a student’s educational performance.
Blindness: Visual acuity of 10/200 or less in the better eye after correction; or a loss so severe that it no longer serves as a major channel for information processing.
Partial Sightedness/Low Vision: Visual acuity of 20/70 or less in the better eye after correction with vision still capable of serving as a major channel for information.
Total deafness or a hearing loss so severe that a student is impaired in processing information through hearing, with or without amplification.
Medical deafness: a total or partial loss of hearing function so severe that it no longer serves as a major channel for information.
Hard of hearing: A functional loss in hearing which is still capable of serving as a major channel for information processing.
A persistent condition of a presumed neurological impairment. This dysfunction continues despite instruction in standard classroom situations. Learning disabilities are exhibited by all the following: average to above-average intellectual ability, severe processing deficit(s), severe aptitude-achievement discrepancy(ies); and measured achievement in an instructional or employment setting. Eligibility for services under this disability must be verified using the California Community College Learning Disability Eligibility Model.
An acquired injury to the brain caused by external or internal trauma, resulting in total or partial functional disability adversely affecting or limiting a student’s educational performance by impairing: cognition, information processing, reasoning, abstract thinking, judgment, problem solving; language and/or speech; memory and/or attention; sensory perceptual and/or motor abilities; psycho-social behavior; physical functions. There are many causes for ABI including stroke, aneurysm, or head injury due to accident or assault.
A student who exhibits the following: below average intellectual function and potential for measurable achievement in instructional and employment settings.
Persistent psychological or psychiatric disorder, emotional or mental illness that adversely affects educational performance. Psychological disability is a condition which is listed in the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fourth Edition (DSM IV) or reflects a psychiatric or psychological condition that interferes with a major life activity or poses a functional limitation in the educational setting. Examples of psychological disabilities include but are not limited to Depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Bi-Polar Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, Schizophrenia, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), Asperger’s Syndrome and Autism.
All other verifiable disabilities and health-related limitations adversely affecting educational performance but not falling into any of the other disabilities categories. Examples include environmental illness, heart conditions, sickle cell anemia, epilepsy, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), HIV, diabetes, and repetitive stress syndrome.
Although DSPS works primarily with students with permanent or ongoing disabilities, students with temporary disabilities due to accident, illness, surgery or other circumstances may also quality for DSPS services on a temporary basis if the disability substantially interferes with a student’s ability to participate successfully in the academic environment.
Alternative Media
Contra Costa College, Alternate Media and Disabled Students Programs & Services are committed to providing students with equal access to educational materials in order for them to succeed in all of their educational endeavors. We provide students with disabilities alternate formats of textbooks and other instructional materials that are required for classes. It is the student’s responsibility to request alternate media.
Alternate media refers to printed materials produced in alternate formats that are critical to the success of students with disabilities. For such students, text would typically be provided in Braille, large print or electronic text formats.
Eligible students include those who are blind, have low vision, have mobility impairments that impact the ability to hold texts, or have specific learning disabilities. Based on the students’ educational limitations, students use alternate media in different ways.
Students are eligible to receive instructional materials in an alternate format provided they meet the following conditions:
- The student is registered in the requested course at the college.
- The student has submitted his/her request for alternate media and purchased the required instructional material.
- The student will use the alternate formats solely for his or her own educational purposes and will not copy or duplicate it for use by others.
- The instructional material is required or essential to the student’s success in the course.
- Requests will be filled in a timely manner.
- Whenever possible, materials are provided in the alternate format preferred by the student (i.e. Braille, audio, large print, electronic text).
For more information on eligibility to receive instructional material in alternate formats, please contact Disabled Students Programs & Services at (510) 215-3969.
- Formatted Audio: Audio formatting is a feature used by screen reading programs like Balabolka Kursweil 3000. The programs automatically change the format from e-text or PDF into audio.
- Braille: Braille is a series of raised dots that can be read with the fingers by people who are blind or whose eyesight is not sufficient for reading printed material.
- Close Captioning: Text transcription of spoken/audio portion of movies, videos, TV shows, DVD’s
- E-Text: E-text is a simple text file that can be accessed by many programs such as MS Word, JAWS screen reading programs like Balabolka, Kurzweil text-to-speech program, Duxbury Braille Translation program. It is very important because it is the basis for generating many other forms of Alternate Media.
- Large Print: Large print is any text that is enlarged to at least 14 points.
- Tactile Graphics: Includes tactile pictures, tactile diagrams, tactile maps and tactile graphs, are images that use raised surfaces so that a visually impaired person can feel them. They are used to convey non-textual information such as maps, paintings, graphs and diagrams.
Ordering course materials for the semester in alternative formats from the Alternate Media Specialist requires students to follow these steps:
- Complete an Alternate Media Request – Used to obtain the required textbook.
- Complete an Alternate Media Participation Agreement – Records your desire to participate in the alternate media program.
- Read the Alternate Media Policies and Procedures – Ensures you understand the policies and procedures of the program.
- Submit a copy of your Proof of Purchase/Ownership – Ensures you are the righteous owner of the book.
Requests for materials should be submitted as soon as possible following early registration.
Requests will be honored in the order that they are received. The Alternate Media Specialist is scheduled to work during the fall and spring semesters Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m., and during the summer, Monday to Thursday 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m., (except holidays).
Fact Sheets
Fact Sheets: (Links to guides in other languages available here)