[blindlaw] Guidance on Denial of Equal Access to course textbooks at a Community College

Zachariah M zmayfarth23 at gmail.com
Tue Dec 3 22:41:24 UTC 2013


Hello All,

I am a student with multiple disabilities attending a Community College in
the state of Minnesota with a dream of become an attorney.  I would like to
talk with someone off list about my situation if any of you would be so
grateful as to grant me your invaluable time away from your practice.

I can be reached at zmayfarth23 at gmail.com.

Thank you.

Zachariah Mayfarth
 On Dec 3, 2013 6:03 AM, <blindlaw-request at nfbnet.org> wrote:

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> Today's Topics:
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>    1. Issues on Assistance Dogs in Colleges
>       (Norman, Gary C. (CMS/OSORA))
>    2. Re: Issues on Assistance Dogs in Colleges (wmodnl wmodnl)
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> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
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> Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2013 12:54:40 +0000
> From: "Norman, Gary C. (CMS/OSORA)" <Gary.Norman at cms.hhs.gov>
> To: "Animal Law Section (msbaanimallaw at lists.msba.org)"
>         <msbaanimallaw at lists.msba.org>, "Sheila Durant
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>         <psullivan at museumofmaritimepets.org>, "Catherine Wolfe
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> Subject: [blindlaw] Issues on Assistance Dogs in Colleges
> Message-ID: <2DD3498A837A9347A4E5E536B3FF482D572A442E at pl-emsmb12>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Greetings:
>
>
> Do find policies in relation to assistance dog access at colleges, the
> contents of which are  contained below. These are indeed regretful
> policies. As bothersome and even discriminatory as the issue in Mass. May
> be, misinformed policies concerning assistance dogs in the education
> setting is not new.
>
> Institutions of post-secondary education, as well as secondary
> institutions, have many, many issues and reactions, sometimes legitimate
> but more often than not negative or even discriminatory, when it relates to
> assistance dog access. I have even consulted on one such case.
>
> At our first animal law symposium, one of the speakers presented on the
> issue of the IDEA and high school students and their assistance dogs in the
> school house. There is a good law review article a student published in the
> Baltimore Law Forum, which I may transmit if interested. A progressive
> institution as relates to assistance dogs is my own alma matre (Wright
> State University) who has a play area with large lawn and obstacles for
> service animals. This issue does spark my interest in having the Prometheus
> Group do some outreach to dog handlers in the region and write
> correspondence to the Board of regents, inquiring how Maryland colleges are
> educated on these issues. I do hope the Animal Law Section will explore
> this issue in the future.
>
> My article on animals and ADR just published, now being on newsstands,
> well really in the mail or on-line. While the article did not discuss
> explicitly ADR as relates to colleges and assistance dogs, I am sure ADR
> tools, such as facilitation, would be helpful.
>
>
> Sincerely,
> Gary
>
> Addendum
> Guide Dog Users of Massachusetts sought the assistance of our organization,
> as well as the American Council of the Blind, to join  with them in their
> complaint to the Department of Justice regarding the establishment of some
> regressive service dog policies by the fifteen community colleges in
> Massachusetts.
>
> Guide Dog Users of Massachusetts believed that this policy contained some
> provisions that did not treat individuals using service dogs with the
> utmost
> fairness and equality. They asked for our assistance, as well as the
> American Council of the Blind, because it has become known that this
> community college issue is one that crosses the borders of various states.
>
> Here is the synopsis of the provisions that we, collectively, took issue
> with:
>
> 1. Students, staff, and visitors using a service dog must contact the
> Office
> of Disabled Students before arriving on campus to inform college officials
> of his or her use of a service dog.
>
> 2. The student, staff, or visitor is told that they may voluntarily
> complete
> two forms -- a service dog registration form and an acknowledgement of
> responsibilities.
>
> Our GDUI leaders learned from our Massachusetts affiliate that other
> community colleges in New York, California, Vermont, and Washington have
> similar, if not worse policies toward service dog users.  We found out that
> The San Diego Community College District requires service dog users to
> complete numerous tasks, including meeting with the Office for Disabled
> Students, completing an assessment form, and placing a service dog sticker
> on their student identification card.  Such policies, and the ramifications
> they hold for disabled individuals throughout the country, are disturbing
> to
> us.
>
> We are happy to report that our President, Laurie Mehta and a delegation of
> our Board members, met via the telephone, with Dr. Gail Conrad, Director of
> the Disabled Students Programs for The  San Diego Community College
> District. After a very productive meeting with Dr. Conrad, we were told
> that
> the District appreciated our input and is currently working on an update to
> their regressive policy.
>
> We want to thank Guide Dog Users of Massachusetts for reaching out to us,
> so
> we could show a united front on this official complaint to the Department
> of
> Justice.
>
> Additionally, we hope to resolve the issue  with The San Diego Community
> College District without the need for further debate.
>
> Very truly yours,
>
> Robert Acosta
>
> Chair,
>
> Public relations Committee
>
> Guide Dog users, INC.
>
> -------------- next part --------------
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> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Mon, 2 Dec 2013 23:56:41 -0500
> From: wmodnl wmodnl <wmodnl at hotmail.com>
> To: Blind Law Mailing List <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Issues on Assistance Dogs in Colleges
> Message-ID: <BLU405-EAS750ADC2000ED1DF5ABBFCADCD50 at phx.gbl>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> These regressive policies you are refering to should not be surprising to
> you at all.  Service dog handlers seeking housing in many places need to go
> through these policies. Much of the reasoning for this is that, massive
> fraud is existing affecting all of us.  As the saying goes, we pay for
> other's behavior.
>
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> > On Dec 2, 2013, at 7:55 AM, "Norman, Gary C. (CMS/OSORA)" <
> Gary.Norman at cms.hhs.gov> wrote:
> >
> > Greetings:
> >
> >
> > Do find policies in relation to assistance dog access at colleges, the
> contents of which are  contained below. These are indeed regretful
> policies. As bothersome and even discriminatory as the issue in Mass. May
> be, misinformed policies concerning assistance dogs in the education
> setting is not new.
> >
> > Institutions of post-secondary education, as well as secondary
> institutions, have many, many issues and reactions, sometimes legitimate
> but more often than not negative or even discriminatory, when it relates to
> assistance dog access. I have even consulted on one such case.
> >
> > At our first animal law symposium, one of the speakers presented on the
> issue of the IDEA and high school students and their assistance dogs in the
> school house. There is a good law review article a student published in the
> Baltimore Law Forum, which I may transmit if interested. A progressive
> institution as relates to assistance dogs is my own alma matre (Wright
> State University) who has a play area with large lawn and obstacles for
> service animals. This issue does spark my interest in having the Prometheus
> Group do some outreach to dog handlers in the region and write
> correspondence to the Board of regents, inquiring how Maryland colleges are
> educated on these issues. I do hope the Animal Law Section will explore
> this issue in the future.
> >
> > My article on animals and ADR just published, now being on newsstands,
> well really in the mail or on-line. While the article did not discuss
> explicitly ADR as relates to colleges and assistance dogs, I am sure ADR
> tools, such as facilitation, would be helpful.
> >
> >
> > Sincerely,
> > Gary
> >
> > Addendum
> > Guide Dog Users of Massachusetts sought the assistance of our
> organization,
> > as well as the American Council of the Blind, to join  with them in their
> > complaint to the Department of Justice regarding the establishment of
> some
> > regressive service dog policies by the fifteen community colleges in
> > Massachusetts.
> >
> > Guide Dog Users of Massachusetts believed that this policy contained some
> > provisions that did not treat individuals using service dogs with the
> utmost
> > fairness and equality. They asked for our assistance, as well as the
> > American Council of the Blind, because it has become known that this
> > community college issue is one that crosses the borders of various
> states.
> >
> > Here is the synopsis of the provisions that we, collectively, took issue
> > with:
> >
> > 1. Students, staff, and visitors using a service dog must contact the
> Office
> > of Disabled Students before arriving on campus to inform college
> officials
> > of his or her use of a service dog.
> >
> > 2. The student, staff, or visitor is told that they may voluntarily
> complete
> > two forms -- a service dog registration form and an acknowledgement of
> > responsibilities.
> >
> > Our GDUI leaders learned from our Massachusetts affiliate that other
> > community colleges in New York, California, Vermont, and Washington have
> > similar, if not worse policies toward service dog users.  We found out
> that
> > The San Diego Community College District requires service dog users to
> > complete numerous tasks, including meeting with the Office for Disabled
> > Students, completing an assessment form, and placing a service dog
> sticker
> > on their student identification card.  Such policies, and the
> ramifications
> > they hold for disabled individuals throughout the country, are
> disturbing to
> > us.
> >
> > We are happy to report that our President, Laurie Mehta and a delegation
> of
> > our Board members, met via the telephone, with Dr. Gail Conrad, Director
> of
> > the Disabled Students Programs for The  San Diego Community College
> > District. After a very productive meeting with Dr. Conrad, we were told
> that
> > the District appreciated our input and is currently working on an update
> to
> > their regressive policy.
> >
> > We want to thank Guide Dog Users of Massachusetts for reaching out to
> us, so
> > we could show a united front on this official complaint to the
> Department of
> > Justice.
> >
> > Additionally, we hope to resolve the issue  with The San Diego Community
> > College District without the need for further debate.
> >
> > Very truly yours,
> >
> > Robert Acosta
> >
> > Chair,
> >
> > Public relations Committee
> >
> > Guide Dog users, INC.
> >
> > <winmail.dat>
> > _______________________________________________
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