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Contact Your Professor As Soon As Possible

It can be hard to recognize when to use accommodations, especially if you’re new to using them. You might think, what if it’s a false alarm? Or I should be tougher than this. But let me set the record straight with a few facts.

Sooner = safer.

If you contact your professors sooner, they are objectively more likely to see and read your email in time. Not only that but requesting sooner shows greater respect for your professor’s time.

False alarms are an expected & unpreventable fact of life.

And your professors know it. So what if you’ve had a fluke? You won’t look bad for having asked. On the contrary, you may actually build rapport with your professor! The fact is, they just got to see you accomplish something in a difficult situation, which will likely associate you with diligence, hard work, and candidness. That said, if you abuse this knowledge, you will become the fabled boy who cried wolf.

Tough ≠ able-bodied.

Despite how it may seem, expecting yourself to be something you’re not isn’t tough. It’s just playing a role. While toughness is the ability to sit with hardship or pain, that doesn’t mean you need to willingly increase your pain by denying yourself any grace. You deserve an equal playing field, even when equal looks different for you. Now go write that email.

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Choose A Clear, Descriptive Title

If your professor doesn’t recognize your email as urgent, they might wait to respond to it until later. This doesn’t mean, however, that you should be typing “EMERGENCY!!!” in the subject line—you might give them a panic attack. Rather, a few reliable title lines to keep in your barrel are:

“accommodation request”

“request to use accommodations“

“disability accommodation.”

Why do these work?

Because professors read so many emails, they’re likely to read and respond to the most obviously important ones first. So they understand exactly what’s in the email without even opening it, the words you choose should be a clear descriptor of your email’s content to follow, which is ultimately an accommodation request.

In addition, it’s also important that your professor recognizes your email as a legal request. In the US, disabled students are legally entitled to accommodations, and most professors will abide by the law regardless of their personal opinions about disability rights. Keep in mind that there is no binding agreement if you contact your professor after the assignment is due, the semester is over, or you have already surpassed your absence limit.

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Don’t Overshare

While you do have to document your disability with your school’s disability office, you don’t have to prove to your professors that you need accommodations. Your accommodation letter is all the evidence required.

Reasons to Share:

There are, however, situations where it’ can be valuable to elucidate your needs beyond what’s stated in your accommodation letter. Examples include the need to:

a). adjust the seating in a classroom to accommodate a mobility aid or service animal

b). change the format of a presentation to non-speaking

c). allow for virtual class attendance

d). remove flashing lights from lectures and presentations

See the Job Accommodation Network for more ideas.

In summation, it’s really up to you what you choose to share. Keep in mind that some professors may be more receptive than others. Curating your information to strike a balance between divulging and withholding may alleviate unnecessary stress.

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Write A Polite, But to-the-Point Email

For best practice, write the email as you would a brief letter. Address your professor directly. Then, if you’re in a large lecture class (where your professor may not remember you), briefly mention what class you’re in. If you met with your professor early in the semester to establish your need for accommodations (highly recommended), mention that meeting. This will hopefully jog your professor’s brain, reminding them of your agreement.

Next, clearly state your need for accommodation, specifying which one you need to use. Ask your professor to reply confirming they’ve seen and agreed to your request. This will help prevent the distress of not hearing back. In cases where you need to alter an accommodation slightly to fit a specific need, it’s also helpful to suggest an actionable solution or alternative.

Be gracious, but decisive. Below is an example letter:

Hi Dr. Allen,

I hope you’re well. I’m in your ENGL 319 course and need to request disability accommodations. I’ve memorized the quotations for the next assignment but won’t be able to present them to the class tomorrow. I’d like to use my accommodation for additional time and would be happy to recite them to you on Wednesday in your office if that seems fair to you. Please let me know what you think.

Many thanks,

-Jenna