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About The Centre ______________________________________________________________

Mission Statement

The mission of the AccessAbility Resource Centre is to ensure that all students with disabilities can freely and actively participate in all facets of University life; to provide and coordinate services and programs that enable students with disabilities to maximize their educational potential and to increase awareness of inclusive values among all members of the University community.

Who We Are

The AccessAbility Resource Centre is a student service, academic service and University of Toronto equity office on the UTM campus. It is a separate entity from the St. George and Scarborough disability offices and is funded through a grant from the Ministry of Education and Training. The Manager of the Centre reports directly to the Dean of Student Affairs & Assistant Principal, Student Services at UTM.

What We Do

The Centre provides services and academic accommodations to students who have a documented learning, physical, sensory, mental health disability or medical condition.

Confidentiality

Any information that a student discloses to our staff regarding the nature of their disability or health condition is kept confidential. Each staff member/volunteer of the Centre at UTM, including Invigilators, signs a "Declaration of Confidentiality" form which stresses the importance of not disclosing information about students who use the services of the Centre.

Our records are entirely independent from those of the Registrar. Students will not be identified on their transcript as being registered with our Office without the student's written permission. During the intial interview students are asked to sign a "Release of Information" form. This form permits the Manager to share information when she deems it necessary to ensure the services a student requires are provided.

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What is a disability?

A disability may be one of the following, but is not limited to the following:

• Mental health disability (schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, depression, anxiety and panic disorder)
• Learning Disability
• Acquired Brain Injury
• Attention Deficit Disorder
• Deaf, deafened, hard-of-hearing
• Low vision or blind
• Chronic Health condition (cancer, epilepsy, heart disease, etc.)
• Physical (paralysis, amputation, etc.)

“The nature or degree of certain disabilities might render them "non-evident" to others. Chronic fatigue syndrome and back pain, for example, are not apparent conditions. Other disabilities might remain hidden because they are episodic. Epilepsy is one example. Similarly, environmental sensitivities can flare up from one day to the next, resulting in significant impairment to a person's health and capacity to function, while at other times, this disability may be entirely non-evident.


Other examples might include:

• Persons whose disabilities do not actually result in any functional limitations but who experience discrimination because others believe their disability makes them less able;
• Persons who have recovered from conditions but are treated unfairly because of their past condition, and
• Persons whose disabilities are episodic or temporary in nature.

Other disabilities may become apparent based on the nature of the interaction, such as when there is a need for oral communication with an individual who is deaf, or there is a need for written communication with an individual who has a learning disability. A disability might become apparent over time through extended interaction. It might only become known when a disability accommodation is requested or, simply, the disability might remain "non-evident" because the individual chooses not to divulge it for personal reasons.”

Ontario Human Rights Commission, Policy and Guidelines on Disability and the Duty to Accommodate, revised November 23, 2000. Click Here for the definition of "disability" in the Ontario Human Rights Code (OHRC).

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Defining disability

The definition of “disability” in the Code is broad. [7]   It includes past, present and perceived conditions.  When considering whether a student has been discriminated against because of disability, the focus may be on how the student was treated rather than on proving that he or she has physical limitations or an ailment.

Protection for persons with disabilities under the Code explicitly includes physical disability, developmental disabilities and learning disabilities.  Discrimination may be based as much on perceptions, myths and stereotypes, as on the existence of actual functional limitations. [9]

Click Here for more information about the public service by the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

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AccessAbility Resource Centre
Room 2047, South Building
Tel: (905) 569-4699 | Fax: (905) 569-4366
Email: access@utm.utoronto.ca | Website: www.utm.utoronto.ca/access