[humanser] LCSW Experience

[Alyssa Munsell]

Hi everyone,

 

I know that, in the past, people have been interested in sharing experiences
relating to getting ASWB licensure, so I thought I'd share mine. I passed
the LCSW exam last Friday but not without serious issues along the way.
Please forgive me for the long narrative. I want to ensure I share all
relevant details and a lot happened.

 

At the suggestion of an ASWB representative, I submitted my request for
accommodations in taking the exam about a month before I actually graduated
with my MSW and could officially apply to take the test. At first, this
appeared to pay off because my request was already approved by the time the
ASWB said I can take the exam. The process for setting up an ASWB exam with
accommodations, at least in MA, is that the candidate must first talk to
representatives at the ASWB who handle accommodation requests. Those
representatives and the candidates discuss what accommodations are going to
be in place, and then they hand the candidate off to the Pearson View
Accommodations department. It is the Pearson View Accommodations department
that takes over the process from there. First, the ASWB representative
explained that the exam is not accessible with JAWS, which I knew from
members on this listserve sharing their experiences. She said that the exam
will need to be put on a laptop that has an accessible version of it, and
that a person will need to be with me to record my answers. I asked if I
could have both a zoom feature and JAWS on the laptop with my exam because I
work most effectively with the use of both, and she said that they cannot
set up both a zoom feature and JAWS- it has to be one or the other. In that
case, I had no choice but to go with the JAWS because I could not take the
exam with just the zoom feature.  Having to take the exam on a separate
laptop with a person recording my answers was definitely not ideal for me,
but since the test platform does not work with JAWS, I had no other choice. 

 

For candidates who don't need disability accommodations, they can easily
schedule a time and place to take their exam through Pearson View's online
scheduling system, and the link to do this is given to them shortly after
they're approved to take the exam. Candidates needing accommodations cannot
use this online scheduling system because the Pearson View Accommodations
department needs to work with the candidate's desired testing site to set up
the accommodations. Therefore, the ASWB rep gave me the phone number for the
Pearson View Accommodations department and said I need to set up my exam
with them. I called them right away to set up my exam. The way this
department works is that receptionists answer the calls and then gives
messages to the accommodations team, who are the people who actually set
everything up. I asked if I could have the direct phone number of who would
be helping me set up my exam, and I was told that the staff do not have
direct phone numbers. I called this Accommodations Department numerous times
over a period of 5 to 7 weeks and would repeatedly be told that someone will
get back to me. By the end of it, I was calling them every day and getting
the same answer. A few times, they even gave me specific time periods when
someone would call me but nobody did. Finally, someone did call me back and
scheduled my exam for a couple weeks out. This process was extremely
frustrating for me because many classmates I know whom I graduated with had
already taken the LCSW exam and passed, and I was still trying to schedule
mine. This is very important because, in MA, having a LCSW credential gives
employment candidates a fairly significant advantage. This means that,
ultimately, I was put at a disadvantage for employment opportunities because
I have a disability and need testing accommodations.

 

As if the situation thus far was not frustrating enough, there were a lot of
issues when I actually tried taking the exam. The staff knew I was receiving
accommodations but was not familiar at all with the technology needed. There
were a few technical glitches in the beginning of the test-taking process,
and staff had to repeatedly call the technology department to ask what to
do. It was very stressful in the midst of the already anxiety-provoking
process of taking a major licensing exam. Thankfully, I passed despite all
the hurdles. However, I just found out that it is going to take the ASWB
about 2 weeks to approve me to pay the fee to officially become licensed. I
am not licensed until I hear from ASWB and then pay that fee. Therefore, I
cannot put that I have my LCSW in job applications until at least another 2
to 3 weeks. 

 

I applied to ASWB to take the LCSW exam the day after I graduated, which was
May 15th. I could not take the exam until July 24th. I know from talking
with classmates without disabilities that the process did not take them more
than 2 to 3 weeks, and it took me 10 weeks.

 

Marion Gwizdala gave me the contact info for the legal representative
helping us with this issue, and I am going to submit this story. I really
hope that, in the near future, people with disabilities will not need to go
through this frustrating and unfair process to take an ASWB exam.

 

Alyssa