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

Tue Jan 6 19:41:30 UTC 2015

You mentioned Harvard in your email.  I applied and was accepted by Harvard
before the Americans with Disabilities Act. There was no problem with
accommodations. The school approached the issue on an individualized basis.
Unfortunately, now that reasonable accommodation is a legal requirement, the
accommodation process has become unduly formalized and bureaucratic. Beware
the "one glove fits all" approach to accommodation.  We all come to graduate
schools or places of employment with different skill sets and different ways
of accomplishing various tasks.  Treating accommodation as something which
can be looked up in a manual is contrary to the principle of individualized
assessment on the issue of accommodation. 

Respectfully,
Russell J. Thomas, Jr.
emplmntattorney at gmail.com

-----Original Message-----
From: blindlaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Helga
Schreiber via blindlaw
Sent: Monday, January 05, 2015 9:54 PM
To: Michal Nowicki; Blind Law Mailing List
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Seeking Information about Disability Accommodations
Offered to Post-Secondary Students

Hi Michal, this is Helga. How are you? I just wanted to ask you, are you
talking about data basis about Law schools or Colleges and Universities? I'm
just wondering. I'm currently enrolled right now in a college where I need
to fight constantly for my accommodations rights of my classess. In other
words, I need to push my Dsability advisor to put my College Materials in
Braille  since she actually does not want to do them. My office with
dissabilities is actually ans small department. I still have issues with my
advisor. I will give you more detail if you want later. or you are free to
call me. Also, I think Anita talk about that Many Law schools discriminate
or or sabottage visually impaired or blind students, I just wanted to ask
you, are Harvard, Nova, and Miami Universities Law schools work very well
with visually impaired or blind law students? I'm just wondering since I'm
thinking in applying to these Law schools in the future. Hope to hear form
you soon. Thanks so much and God bless! 

Helga Schreiber

Fundraiser Coordinator for Phi Theta Kappa, Alpha Delta Iota chapter.
Member of National Federation of the Blind and Florida Association of Blind
Students.
Member of the International Networkers Team (INT).
Independent Entrepreneur of the Company 4Life Research.
Phone:  (561) 706-5950
Email: helga.schreiber26 at gmail.com
Skype: helga.schreiber26
4Life Website: http://helgaschreiber.my4life.com/1/default.aspx
INT Website: http://int4life.com/ 

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever
believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 Sent from
my iPhone 

> On Jan 5, 2015, at 2:22 PM, Michal Nowicki via blindlaw
<blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> 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
> 
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