[humanser] LCSW Experience

[Sherria Young]

Life is only what you make it. You are  to blessed to be stressed

> On Jul 27, 2015, at 1:52 PM, Alyssa Munsell via humanser <humanser at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> 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
> 
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Congratulations I'm so happy that you were able to overcome those challenges