[Iabs-talk] questions to ask disability services offices

[David Meyer]

Alexa,

I have been out of college for a long time, almost 40 years.  However, I
attended a school with one of the pioneering Disability Services offices.
As a result of my experiences with these offices, I would ask the following
questions.  1.  What is your policy regarding the taking of examinations?  I
firmly believe that one should have the right to take an examination in an
environment that is most comfortable to them.  In other words, if one wished
to take an exam in a location other than the Disability Services office,
they should have the right to do so.  For me, one of the things that made a
big difference was being able to choose my own reader for an examination.
It was my experience that when I took exams through a Disability Services
office, I had to use the reader I was offered.  Though the reader was always
curteous and well intended, they didn't always do as good a job of reading
examinations as the readers I would have chosen would have done.  2.  Will
the Disability Services Office assist in insuring the right for either
preregistration or early registration for classes you need to take?  Back
when I was a student, we were responsible for seeing that our textbooks were
reproduced in time to take a course.  In many instances, that meant turning
a book into an agency several months prior to a school term in order to have
the book produced.  I remember one quarter when I desired to take a class
and neither the disability services office nor my academic advisor would
permit me to preregister for the course.  Over the summer, I called six
bookstores and three libraries attempting to find a book necessary for this
course.  I eventually wrote the publisher in order to secure the book.  In
the mean time, I had to register at my regularly scheduled time.  By the
time my turn came to register, the course was full and for a short time, I
was not permitted to get in to the course.
3.  Do you have the option to use or not use Disability Services to assist
you as a student?  Again, this question may impact decisions ranging from
whether or not you have the right to choose your own readers for exams, to
whether or not you might be permitted to independently navigate a cafeteria
line.

I'm sure there are other questions, but my memory sometimes fails me and
it's been a long time since I was in school.  Good luck with your interviews
both at Marquette and elsewhere. 

-----Original Message-----
From: Iabs-talk [mailto:iabs-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Ryan
Parrey
Sent: Sunday, October 07, 2012 7:41 PM
To: Illinois Association of Blind Students List
Subject: Re: [Iabs-talk] questions to ask disability services offices

Hi Alexa,

You'll want to make sure you put together a list of the sorts of services
(accommodations) you will want both in class and with course materials.
Then, make sure they assist with those things and, most importantly, ask
about their turn-around time for in-house services, that is, anything they
will do for you as opposed to things they will help you do for yourself.
Also, you will want to gauge their attitude towards students with
disabilities-do they see you as a "client" or as a "student", they may not
use these terms per se but you want to know if they'll treat you like Alexa
or like student #527, this can make a big difference in how they work for
you as well as with you.

Good luck in your college search!

--
Ryan Parrey
PhD Candidate-Disability Studies
Graduate Assistant-Chancellor's Committee on the Status of Persons with
Disabilities University of Illinois, Chicago Board Member, Disability
Geography Specialty Group, AAG
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