[blindlaw] Law Schools Power over Readers or assistants for study and outside of classroom assignments if the individual is not paid by the school

mike mcglashon michael.mcglashon at comcast.net
Sat Nov 12 18:22:09 UTC 2016


Hi Guys:

I have been following this thread regarding the young lady who is worried 
about the academic integrity of utilizing a reader/assistant during her law 
school stent.  Keep in mind that as you read these remarks, I am not a 
licensed attorney as of the writing of this essay; nor am I currently 
enrolled as a student in an educational legal institution.  I have recently 
acquired a bachelor's degree in Paralegal Studies; and am in the process of 
applying to law school.  Having fired off these disclaimers, I shall address 
the matter from an overhead view of the situation.  It occurs to me that 
this is an issue of practicality versus legality.

The fact is, from where I sit, a reader/assistant is no more than a piece of 
necessary equipment to be used by blind individuals; no different than jaws, 
scanner, or some other technical device that a blind individual would 
utilize in everyday life let alone law school.  According to the young 
lady's testimony, the reader being sought/hired is backed by the "state". 
Since the law school is not directly involved in the selection and hiring 
process of said reader, they would have no standing to challenge or even 
interfere with the selection process.  Unless or until it is found by means 
of investigation that the reader and/or student engaged in some form of 
academic dishonesty, the school is on a need to know basis.  The fact that 
the student sought outside means to provide his/her own reader for 
assistance (including bnacking by the state), takes any and all insentives 
by a legal institution to interfere into such matters of which they are 
lacking familiarity.

It is this writer's position that the student is under no obligation to 
disclose to any educational institution that the student has acquired reader 
assistance in order to complete academic assignments adequately and in a 
timely manner.

Assuming that the state and the student in the instant case have engaged and 
negotiated all necessary hurdles such that the student has acquired the 
reader successfully, failure by the state to back the student's position in 
this matter could in fact, (not saying for sure) open doors of the state 
itself violating the "ADA" title III educational provision.  If the law 
school were to get jittery regarding the student's acquisition of a reader, 
it would behoove the state to interfere on her behalf.  In other words, the 
student would be best advised to step aside and let the school and the state 
duke it out and let the chips fall where they may.  After all, it is in the 
state's best interest to go to bat for the student, for they would not wish 
to endure a "ADA" claim where otherwise a reasonable remedy exists.

Therefore, the best practical relief here is for student to remain mum to 
the law school regarding the reader altogether and use the reader 
judiciously.  Having said this however, a recommendation to the student 
might be in order here.  Under no circumstances would I allow a reader to do 
any research for me.  Also, the reader's tasks may include formatting and 
font checks throughout documents to be presented.  In no way would I ask a 
reader to check the actual physical construct of citations;  simply that the 
formatting (small caps and font etc) is correct in comparison to a model of 
which the professors would most certainly provide; or, where such model 
could be obtained from the "blue book" or from one of the legal service 
libraries themselves; whichever the assignment calls for.

Finally, if the student takes such a high-road as expressed here, it is well 
within the student's best interest to become acquainted with fello 
colleagues in order to kick legal theories around and gain a better 
understanding of concepts.  Furthermore, from where I sit as an objective 
viewer of the situation, it would be most beneficial to the student to 
"always" be prepared for in class "on the fly" examination by professors. 
For this will go a long way in proving up the student's knowledge and desire 
to successfully complete his/her endeavor.  Moreover, these two plans of 
attack will benefit the student in such that the professors will go to bat 
on behalf of the student if necessary; they can testify as to aptitude and 
work ethic; thereby moving the law school's eyes from that of burocratic 
issues such as readers/assistants  to those of success by the student.

I say good luck to this young lady, and remember "your destiny is in your 
hands"; and, "you are your own captain of your own ship."  Fly her with 
dignity; but remember the seas of life are unforgiving so fly her with 
jurist prudence.

Sincerely,

Mike M.





-----Original Message----- 
From: Gerard Sadlier via BlindLaw
Sent: Saturday, November 12, 2016 10:27 AM
To: Blind Law Mailing List
Cc: Gerard Sadlier
Subject: Re: [blindlaw] Law Schools Power over Readers or assistants for 
study and outside of classroom assignments if the individual is not paid by 
the school

Hi,

Have you asked the school to clarify its position on these issues i.e.
to say whether the school would wish to peenalize you?

On 11/12/16, Rod Alcidonis, Esquire via BlindLaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> 
wrote:
> Aimee:
>
> The short answer is no. But if you are so concerned about it, I would 
> voice
>
> those concerns to your Dean of Students or Academic affair so that they 
> are
>
> fully aware of those concerns. This is what accommodation is all about. IN
> the practice of law, I typically get my asssistants to sign a
> confidentiality document to protect myself/client.
>
>
>
>
> Rod Alcidonis, Esq.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Aimee Harwood via BlindLaw
> Sent: Friday, November 11, 2016 9:56 PM
> To: Michal Nowicki via BlindLaw
> Cc: Aimee Harwood
> Subject: [blindlaw] Law Schools Power over Readers or assistants for study
> and outside of classroom assignments if the individual is not paid by the
> school
>
> Greetings everyone,
>
> I am getting a reader who is paid by the state.  This reader will perform
> reading of any material for school purposes that I need them to read. 
> They
>
> will also proof any assignments before I hand them in.  I will use them
> during research to help locate something on the screen that is hard to
> locate it is too time consuming to navigate to just to get that one bit of
> info. Basically the individual will assist with anything vision related.
>
> My school assigns a judicial opinion the first semester of the 1L year. 
> All
>
> graded assignments have restrictions on students getting outside 
> assistance.
>
> We are not allowed to let anyone see our work or assist us in any way
> regarding the assignment including research. If a student violates any of
> the restrictions, they violate the honor code.
>
> Now that you have the basic situation, can the school penalize me for 
> using
>
> a reader to assist me in any visual aspect of the assignment? If I use the
> reader to verify the formatting or point out any issues they see that I 
> may
>
> have missed because I didn't see it?  What about penalizing me for using 
> the
>
> reader to assist in research to find what I ask them to find  or highlight
> what I ask them to highlight? Basically, can they penalize me for the 
> reader
>
> performing non-essential tasks on graded assignments?  How much control 
> does
>
> the school have over the person paid by the state to assist with outside 
> of
>
> class activities as long as I am the one doing the legal work?
>
>
>
> Aimee
>
> Sent from my iPhone
> _______________________________________________
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