If you have an accommodation for a personal care attendant, they join you in your day-to-day activities to mediate some of the difficulties posed by these activities. The personal care attendant's specific functions are based on your functional limitations. For example, if your are both in a wheelchair and without fine motor skills, you may have a personal care attendant help you get dressed or open doors.
In an academic setting, a personal care attendant may take notes or type on the student's behalf. For another example, if the student has an intellectual disability, it may be difficult to make proper or healthy decisions. The personal care attendant, in this situation, might practice a step-by-step process for decision-making with them or may assist in conversations where they have to make decisions. The student is still primarily responsible for making the decision, but the personal care attendant ensures they understand what is being asked, and helps them identify benefits and risks. In an academic setting, the personal care attendant may go to an advising meeting with them or implement a study plan so they are prepared for situations where the personal care attendant may not be present. To compare and contrast these two examples, the personal care attendant who helps with fine motor skills does not need to help with decision-making. The student simply makes a request of what they want to do and the personal care attendant carries out the action. It is also possible that they will have functional limitations from both examples — the personal care attendant would serve all of the related functions.
The personal care attendant is not hired by the college nor issued by Disability and Access Services. In fact, the personal care attendant can be anyone that the student agrees to have follow them through their academic process. There may be one personal care attendant or there may be several. The student and the personal care attendant will sign an agreement form to highlight the expectations of the personal care attendant's role in relationship to the college policies and to identify who is allowed to be a personal care attendant for them at the college. The personal care attendant is listed on the accommodation form.