[blindLaw] Accommodations for bar exam

[Singh, Nandini]

Lauren,

I second James' documentation recommendations. Demonstrating a history of using what is for you a standard set of accommodations usually goes a long way (excluding the LSAC) in convincing the powers that be to approve accommodation requests. At this point, I am not quite remembering my process when I was working on getting accommodations for NY. I imagine some forms were involved, with a place to submit extra documentation. I also remained in close email contact with whoever was the testing accommodations coordinator. That individual was fantastic and really helped things go smoothly: my accommodations were approved, and aside for a completely random family emergency the day before, the exam days went well. I had an electronic exam, probably Word or HTML. I could use JAWS on my own laptop. I also used a Braille note taker to write out essays that I uploaded to a Word document via a card reader and memory card. I believe that the oddest item was having to announce my answers to my proctor/scribe, but it was not a big deal, as I had to do this for the MPRE. The proctor, as Sanho similarly described, got up from her chair from time to time to check that I was not doing anything untoward. Most of the time, she read a novel or worked on a crossword to pass the many hours in the exam room.

Regards,
Nikki

-----Original Message-----
From: BlindLaw <blindlaw-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of James Fetter via BlindLaw
Sent: Sunday, October 30, 2022 11:46 PM
To: Blind Law Mailing List <blindlaw at nfbnet.org>
Cc: James Fetter <jtfetter at yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [blindLaw] Accommodations for bar exam

[EXTERNAL]

Lauren,
I would suggest doing the following ASAP:
1. Gather all, and I do mean all, proof of accommodations you received on prior standardized tests, in college and law school, and whatever else they ask for.
2. Find someone you trust to help fill out inaccessible forms. Is this remotely fair or ADA compliant? No. Do boards of law examiners care? Also no.
3. Include in your application a letter detailing your requested accommodations and justifying each with reference to accommodations you received in the past.
4. Read, very carefully, any correspondence from your state board. And push back hard, if they don’t give you what you need to do your best. You absolutely should get an accessible electronic exam/Jaws and the ability to write essays on your computer, but your MBE answers will likely be recorded by a scribe. This is pretty standard.
Good luck! I went through the accommodations process in two different states. I still have PTSD from the Kafkaesque process in one of these states.

Sent from my iPhone

> On Oct 30, 2022, at 8:53 PM, Lauren Bishop via BlindLaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> Good evening All,
> Have any of you had success with advocating for an accessible electronic version of your bar exam, and the ability to use jaws? I was looking at the Florida accommodations petition, and I noticed that the only formats that they listed or braille, large, print, or audio CD. The petition doesn’t say anything about the use of a screen reader, and, although I am proficient in braille, I need to be able to type my essays because I’ve never worked with a scribe before. Also, I use jaws more than I use braille, and in past standardized, test administrations, I have use the screen reader to take the test.   I’m also noticing that none of the petition documents are fillable I a person using a screen reader.
> If any of you have information regarding this, I would really appreciate it.
> Lauren.
>
> Sent from my iPhone
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