[blindLaw] Accommodations for bar exam

[Sanho Steele-Louchart]

Ugh. Disappointing, but not surprising, to hear that James had the
polar opposite experience than I did. I wonder if the board of bar
examiners pulled my accommodation documentation directly from my
school. I suspect I signed a release of information somewhere along
the way. In response to Nikki's scantron issue, I just typed my
answers in a Word document that was saved onto a USB and filled out
for me after the exam was finished. The essay answers were saved and
submitted just as though they'd been hand-written.

Warmth,
Sanho

On 10/31/22, Singh, Nandini via BlindLaw <blindlaw at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 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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>
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He/Him