Special Accommodations
Special Accommodations
Requesting a testing accommodation
Public Safety Testing complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and is committed to providing reasonable and appropriate accommodations for Candidates with documented physical or mental impairments that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities.
Accommodations may also be approved for Candidates with documented qualifying medical conditions that may be temporary or are not otherwise covered by the ADA, including those that require the use of medical devices or medication during the examination.
An individual is not substantially limited in a major life activity if the limitation does not amount to a significant restriction when compared with the abilities of the average person. Non-specific diagnoses such as individual learning styles, learning differences, academic problems, computer phobias, slow reading, and test difficulty or anxiety in and of themselves do not constitute a disability or impairment.
The decision as to whether a medical condition that is not covered by the ADA is a “qualifying medical condition” for purposes of taking a PST exam is at the sole discretion of PST and the test developer.
Documentation must include:
- Most recent written documentation that clearly identifies the type and scope of the candidate’s impairment, learning disability or related deficiency that requires a special accommodation related to written testing.
- This documentation must come from a licensed psychologist, educational therapist, educational counselor, or other reputable source as determined during the evaluation of this request.
Accommodations are provided on an individual basis and depend on the nature of the disability or medical condition and documentation provided. PST will make reasonable efforts to provide the requested accommodations to Candidates provided the functional impairment has been demonstrated through documentation, the accommodations do not fundamentally alter the measurement of the skills or knowledge the examination is intended to test, do not jeopardize test integrity and security and do not result in an undue burden to PST.
All requests for special accommodations are strictly confidential and documentation submitted in support of the request is used solely for the purpose of evaluating the request. Failure to provide PST with the appropriate supporting documentation in a timely manner will cause a delay in the review process and your ability to schedule and take the examination. Agencies to which you apply may see that a special accommodation was requested on the written and/or physical testing, however the supporting documentation and nature of the accommodation is confidential to PST and the test developer.
Examples of potentially qualifying requests:
- Learning Disability (Dyslexia, ADD/ADHD, etc)
A request for Special Accommodation IS NOT:
- A request to take the exam through Remote Testing
- Requests for being Active-Duty military or Veteran’s Preference
Most special accommodations may only be administered in our office in Lynnwood due to the facility requirements for these types of exams. Other testing locations may only be approved on a case-by-case basis. Virtual, in-home testing is not available for approved special accomodation requests. Testing must be conducted in-person at a PST test site or pre-approved remote testing center.
COVID-19 UPDATES
5/6/2020 Update:
TESTING IN WASHINGTON STATE CANCELED THROUGH MAY 31, 2020
All pre-employment tests in Washington State have been canceled until May 31, 2020 unless government restrictions are eased. With recent updates, facility closures, and government guidelines, this step is necessary and could be modified at any time. The health and safety of our customers, our staff, and their families is of the highest priority.
We will continue to evaluate developments and make changes to this policy as necessary. When we do resume testing, there will be plenty of events for everyone to test. We are in regular communication with our public safety agency partners, assessing alternatives to the traditional testing model and our testing policies. Any future updates will be posted on the PST website and our Facebook page.
4/1/2020 Update:
If you have tested with PST in the past 12 months, there may be additional positions you are now eligible to add. Several departments have temporarily changed their testing policies due to the suspension in testing that COVID-19 has caused. Please login to your PST account and navigate to the ‘New Positions’ page to see what departments you can add! We will regularly update that page in your account as departments send updates.
FUTURE TEST REGISTRATION
We know that there will be testing in the future - we just don’t know when! We want you to be prepared for when testing begins again so we have created test events on our calendar that you can register for that will place you in a queue to be first notified. These tests are not “real” test events, they are essentially a holding area. You will be able to “reschedule” out of that event to any other event date/location at no cost. Registering now will also give you time to work on your Personal History Statement (PHS) so that your data will be ready and up-to-date to send to your departments once testing resumes.
To sign up for this placeholder event, select the June 15, 2020 test date in your category (police, fire, 911 dispatch, corrections, etc.).
You may also click on the test event of interest below to sign up:
Law Enforcement & Corrections Written and Physical Ability Test
Please check back here frequently and ‘Like’ our Facebook page to stay updated.
PST staff are working remotely and are available by email at contact@publicsafetytesting.com. We anticipate a high email volume and will respond as quickly as possible.