[blindlaw] Blindness and Choosing A School

Thu Dec 1 15:47:12 UTC 2016

Sai,
It has been a long time since I was in law school and I would say that Tai's
thoughts on this, along with others, are much more current. Frequently, law
schools are affiliated with universities, but they very much manage their
own issues not using the university structure for doing so. The law school I
attended was affiliated with a college but I never worked with the college
for any accommodation issue. In my case, it was the Office of the Dean of
Student Life, I think and part of that including disability accommodations
and minority affairs. I think that Disabled Student Services offices serve a
function for the school or law school or whatever academic institution one
swishes to consider of assuring uniformity of treatment -- if you are blind,
you get these accommodations because these are what we give blind people.
The ADA is not supposed to be a "one size fits all," but life is easier for
institutions if it is. If making a law school choice today, one of the
things I would want to do is determine how those accommodations would be
provided and try to understand the part my actual needs as articulated by
me, would play in that process. We had exams where we could take many of
them over a two week final exam period. We would come in during blocks
assigned during that time, accommodations like extra time were know, and you
would take the test. Stamped out and stamped in. My guess is that the
undergrad would not have understood this so it was better to work with the
law school about any accommodations issues that might be necessary. Our
tests were done by some in blue books; some including mine on a computer.
Each of us had a code though for anonymity. I sought permission to have a
proctor and for her to do a format review in order that my exams to be
turned it did not have visual give aways that broke my anonymity. Those I
asked for this accommodation understood the school process, the goal of
having that process and so forth; they were close enough to the process to
make a meaningful decision that people on a campus a half mile away would
not have been. It is my personal view that disability support probably would
not be the deal breaker for me. If one school has a better reputation, or
has focus areas that interest me, or professors from whom I would like to
learn the law, in other words, nondisability factors, these would be most
important. If I felt like those doing accommodations and supports were not
going to be at all collaborative with me though, maybe that would take them
off the list of schools to consider.
Best
Jim 

-----Original Message-----
From: BlindLaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Sai via
BlindLaw
Sent: Thursday, December 01, 2016 10:13 AM
To: Blind Law Mailing List
Cc: Sai
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Blindness and Choosing A School

> The law school took care of most accommodations and did not work much 
> with the disability services office,

Could you elaborate on that? Who did the coordination for your
accommodations, if not the disability office?

- Sai

On Thu, Dec 1, 2016 at 9:41 AM, Tai Tomasi via BlindLaw
<blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> I would encourage you to apply well before June, as many classes have been
completely filled by that date. Many schools have rolling admissions. While
it helps to know other blind students who have attended a given school, I
would base my decision on the academic reputation of the school and its
efforts to welcome a diverse student body. The quality of a disability
services office doesn't necessarily indicate whether a law school will be
accommodating to a blind student. My school had many website accessibility
issues affecting my ability to access required online course materials. I
had to educate the law school, university IT department, and student
disability services office regarding these issues. I took charge of ensuring
many of my accommodations, including finding my own readers. The law school
took care of most accommodations and did not work much with the disability
services office, except in procurement of textbooks. Best of luck, and feel
free to contact me off list.
>
>
> Tai Tomasi, J.D.
> Staff Attorney
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: BlindLaw [mailto:blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of J 
> Steele-Louchart via BlindLaw
> Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2016 8:09 PM
> To: blindlaw at nfbnet.org
> Cc: J Steele-Louchart <jsteelelouchart at gmail.com>
> Subject: [blindlaw] Blindness and Choosing A School
>
> Hi, all,
>
> I don't have to begin applying to law schools until June, but I'm starting
to get a list of them together so that I'm prepared for the various
application requirements in advance.
>
> Can I ask, how much does, did, or should blindness play a role in our
decisions about which schools to apply? Have some schools proven to have a
dreadful Disability Student Services? Are some schools'
> libraries mostly hardcopy, with little to no forethought toward
accommodation for print-disabled students? Does it matter in the first
place?
>
> Warmth,
> J
>
>
> --
> J Steele-Louchart
>
> I Will Find A Way or I Will Make One
>
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