[blindlaw] Seeking Information about Disability Accommodations Offered to Post-Secondary Students

[Michal Nowicki]

Dear Fellow Federationist,

 

Are you currently enrolled at (or have you recently graduated from) an
institution of higher education?  If so, have you received reasonable
accommodations through the school's office for students with disabilities?
Can you provide information about the quality of these services?  If you
answered "Yes" to the above questions, please read on.

 

I'm sure you know that besides researching the academic programs, cost of
attendance/financial aid opportunities, and the location of colleges and
universities, we blind people must also look at the services for students
with disabilities that are available to us.  To that end, most schools help
us in this endeavor by providing policies, procedures, FAQs, and other
meaningful information about requesting and receiving ADA accommodations,
through their website.  Unfortunately, though, we must not forget that the
same institutions may sometimes deliberately conceal negative information
from prospective applicants.  After all, they want to attract qualified
applicants, not discourage them from applying.

 

That being said, a visually impaired prospective law student from North
Carolina is putting together a database of colleges' and universities'
accommodation record to assist students with disabilities in making informed
decisions about where they want to get their degree(s), and I am helping her
by gathering information.  The database will obviously not contain any
confidential information; it will only explain what services students may
count on at a given school, as well as warnings about potential
discrimination a student may face in the event he/she chooses to enroll at a
college or university that is known to exhibit such behavior.  Its content
will come from student feedback, as well as from complaints on file with the
U.S.  Department of Education Office for Civil Rights.

 

On that note, please share with me the experiences you have had while
working with the disability office at your school, both positive and
negative.  Please use the following questions as a guide:

1.        How many people work for the office for students with
disabilities?  Do people specialize in specific tasks (e.g.  document
conversion, setting up accommodations, exam proctoring, etc.), or does
everyone assume a universal role?

2.       Does the office handle document conversion requests in a timely
manner?  In what alternate formats are textbooks and other course materials
provided?  If your textbooks were scanned, were they disassembled in the
process?  Does the school offer institutional Bookshare.org and LearningAlly
memberships?  Is it part of the AccessText network?

3.       Is there an assistive technology specialist who is available for
training, installation, and troubleshooting purposes?

4.       Does the office arrange for human note takers as an accommodation?

5.       Is exam proctoring offered?

6.       Is the school's website, including Blackboard, webmail, class
registration, and any other online tools fully accessible?  If not, which
areas are inaccessible?

 

We are also looking for information specific to accommodations for graduate
and professional students.  In particular, please let us know if you believe
that the school has attempted to "mold" you into a specific role against
your will.  Likewise, please let us know if you feel that faculty members
tried to "weed" you out of an advanced degree program, either because they
didn't think you would survive, because they didn't think you would find a
job or otherwise contribute to the profession, or simply because of your
disability.  Please be sure to discuss the specific tactics that were
employed to accomplish this.

 

Please send your evaluations to me off-list at mnowicki4 at iCloud.com
<mailto:mnowicki4 at iCloud.com> , and I will pass them on.  You may send them
in the message body or as attachments in Word or Rich Text Format (.RTF).  I
look forward to hearing from you and, most important, to learning more about
ADA accommodations offered to post-secondary students across the country.

 

Best Wishes,

 

Michal